List of James Bond henchmen in Goldfinger

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A list of henchmen from the 1964 James Bond film and novel Goldfinger from the List of James Bond henchmen.

Contents

[edit] Oddjob

This article is about the James Bond henchman. For the graphic novel, see Oddjob (graphic novel).
For the informal type of labor, see Odd job.
James Bond character
Oddjob
Gender Male
Affiliation Auric Goldfinger
Portrayed by Harold Sakata

Oddjob is a henchman to the villain Auric Goldfinger in the James Bond film and novel, Goldfinger. In the film he was played by the Japanese American actor Harold Sakata.

Oddjob is the strongest character in the Bond series. He is superior in unarmed combat skills to Bond in both film and novel, and therefore must be killed by application of superior cunning (by depressurization in the book and electrocution in the film).

The character of Oddjob, from his unusual appearance, manners, strength and method of killing, forms the archetype for many privileged senior henchmen of the Bond film series, including Tee Hee, Jaws, Nick Nack, Chang, and Gobinda.

[edit] Novel

Oddjob, so named by Goldfinger, is Korean-born, and, much like in the film, is extremely strong, proven in one sequence where he breaks the railing of a staircase with his hand and the mantel of a fireplace with his foot. An expert at karate, Oddjob is also expert with a bow and arrow, and with his metal bowler hat. He is a ruthless killer, but also acts as Goldfinger's personal guard, driver, and manservant (though not his golf caddy). He has a taste for cats as food, apparently acquired in Korea when food was in short supply (Bond frames Goldfinger's yellow cat for destruction of surveillance film, and as punishment, sees the cat given to Oddjob for dinner). He is killed when Bond uses a knife to shatter the window next to his seat on an airplane, which depressurises the plane and sucks Oddjob out of the window, a fate transferred to Auric Goldfinger in the film version.

[edit] Film

Oddjob demonstrates his deadly talent for Bond.
Oddjob demonstrates his deadly talent for Bond.

Oddjob acts as Goldfinger's personal chauffeur, bodyguard and golf caddy in the film. He is extremely strong and durable, demonstrating his strength in a number of scenes including one where he crushes a golf ball with one hand and other in which he is struck with a gold brick in the chest, scarcely flinching, but never mentioned to be a karate expert. He wears what appears to be a bowler lined with a metal razor disk in the rim, using it as a lethal flying disc of sorts (this is a bowler hat in the novel, and as such, would have had a round top). Physically, Oddjob is practically invincible to Bond's hand-to-hand combat tactics, even when Bond uses a wooden object as a club. The only time Oddjob shows anything resembling fear or wariness in the film is when Bond attempts to use his own hat against him. Bond misses him with the throw, causing his hat to get stuck between the metal bars in the Fort Knox vault. Oddjob is then outmaneuvered when, as he reaches to retrieve his hat, Bond uses a severed live electrical cable to electrify the bars, causing a lethal current to run from the bars through the metal hat to Oddjob, killing him.

[edit] Other appearances

  • In GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, Oddjob is a henchman of Goldfinger, and initially a companion of GoldenEye. He is killed when GoldenEye tosses him over a rail into a pit inside of Hoover Dam after he betrays and attacks GoldenEye for unknown reasons.
  • In the Game Boy game James Bond 007, Oddjob appears multiple times as a henchman for the game's main villain, General Golgov. The first time is when Bond encounters Oddjob at his hotel room in Maccarech. The two fight, and Bond is defeated and left stranded in a desert. Later on, Bond trails Oddjob to Tibet, only to be captured. Bond escapes confinement and obtains a shield to protect him from Oddjob's hats, which he uses to deflect back at him. Notably, in this game Oddjob actually speaks.
  • Oddjob appears in the animated series James Bond Jr. with a top hat, sunglasses and hip-hop style clothes.

[edit] In popular culture

Oddjob's lethal hat ranked tenth in a 2008 20th Century Fox poll of the most popular film weapons, which surveyed approximately two thousand films fans.[1] Oddjob has also inspired the following characters:

  • In the Italian parody film "Due Mafiosi Contro Goldginger" released in 1965, the equivalent of Oddjob is a huge black man called Moloch (played by ex-wrestler Alejandro Barrera) dressed in a black suit and bowler hat, who throws a deadly shoe to kill his opponents.
  • Another parody is in the game Fur Fighters, where a hat-throwing bear called Oddfelt appears in the last level.
  • Oddjob's trademark hat-throwing technique can also be seen in Toy Story 2, in which Mr. Potato-Head throws his own bowler hat to prevent two doors from closing.
  • In the Mortal Kombat video game series, a recurring character named Kung Lao has a similar blade-rimmed hat that can be thrown at opponents.
  • Spider-Man has fought in a one-page Hostess advertisement a supervillain called "Demolition Derby" who throws his derby hat that bounces and cuts Spider-Man's webbing [1].
  • Daredevil once fought a supervillain called Torpedo, who threw a cutting hat just like Oddjob. Daredevil remarked that he didn't expect Torpedo to pull an "oddjob" on him.
  • Also in one episode of the Warner Bros. cartoon show Duck Dodgers, Daffy Duck throws a hat to save himself during a mission and later says that he had learned it from someone called "Odd Ball", in which they cut to a scene where Oddjob angrily says "Odd Ball?!!" something that may prove that who Daffy meant is not a parody but the same Oddjob as in the movie/novel.
  • Oddduck - a "F.O.W.L" (Darkwing Duck) henchman is parody of Oddjob.
  • In the show Count Duckula, the villain called The Egg has a manservant called Oddbeak, who is a parrot made to resemble Oddjob, complete with bowler and suit.
  • In the Stormbreaker film, the guard in Sayle Tower throws his hat away as he prepares to kill Alex. He also shares a resemblance with Oddjob (this is one of the many similarities Stormbreaker has with the James Bond saga)
  • The arcade video game Sly Spy, itself a homage to the James Bond mythos, features a bowler-throwing character as a boss in one of the levels.
  • In the movie Inspector Gadget, Oddjob is seen in the Minions Anonymous meeting, along with Jaws. He is credited as "Famous Villain With Deadly Hat".
  • In the Disney cartoon show Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers episode "Double 'O Dale", which parodies the Bond series, Dale is watching a spy movie, there is a sidekick called Oddshoe, a small man but not allied with the villain nor sporting a hat and suit, but a Japanese traditional martial arts white robe with a black belt.
  • The television show MythBusters tested out the capabilities of Oddjob's weaponized thrown hat.

[edit] Pussy Galore

James Bond character
Pussy Galore
Gender Female
Affiliation Auric Goldfinger
Portrayed by Honor Blackman
Main article: Pussy Galore

Pussy Galore is a fictional character from the James Bond film and novel Goldfinger. In the film she is played by Honor Blackman.

[edit] Pussy Galore’s Flying Circus pilots

James Bond character
Pussy Galore’s
Flying Circus pilots
Gender Female
Affiliation Auric Goldfinger

The five pilots who make up Pussy Galore's Flying Circus pilots are initially under orders by Pussy Galore, who is under orders by Goldfinger, to spray Delta 9 nerve gas on the soldiers guarding Fort Knox. After falling for James Bond, however, Pussy Galore has the gas exchanged for a non-lethal gas, and informs the Fort Knox soldiers of Goldfinger's plot. The pilots spray the gas over Fort Knox and the soldiers play dead, allowing Goldfinger's men to proceed past the Fort's defenses. The soldiers then surround Goldfinger's men, trapping them in the fort.

[edit] Kisch

James Bond character
Kisch
Gender Male
Affiliation Auric Goldfinger
Portrayed by Michael Mellinger

Kisch is one of Goldfinger's henchmen who first appears at his Switzerland factory, where he operates the famous laser that almost bisects 007. When Goldfinger opts to let Bond live a little longer, Kisch shoots him with a tranquilizer gun. Later, Kisch is seen at Goldfinger's Kentucky ranch, Auric Stud. When Goldfinger decides to kill all of the American gangsters participating in Operation Grand-Slam, Kisch is the one who releases the poisonous gas into the room where all of the gangsters are. Later, as Operation Grand-Slam actually commences, Kisch, disguised as an American soldier, becomes trapped inside the gold vault at Fort Knox with James Bond, Oddjob and the nuclear bomb. The vault is sealed shut by Goldfinger once the American soldiers begin to make headway back into Fort Knox. Not loyal enough to Goldfinger to die for Operation Grand-Slam, Kisch states that he can save them by disarming the bomb, but is stopped by Oddjob who subsequently kills him by throwing him off the top floor guard-rail. Bond is able to retrieve the key to unlock his handcuffs in Kisch's jacket pocket moments before Oddjob makes his way to the floor where Bond is located.

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[edit] Mr. Ling

James Bond character
Mr. Ling
Gender Male
Affiliation Communist China,
Auric Goldfinger
Portrayed by Burt Kwouk

Mr. Ling, played by Burt Kwouk, is Goldfinger's apparent technical liaison. He is witnessed overseeing the operation of the industrial laser that nearly bisects Bond, and later, during the raid on Fort Knox, is seen supervising the priming of the atomic device intended to irradiate the gold reserves therein. After the American troops retaliate against Goldfinger's raid on Fort Knox, Goldfinger, disguised as an American army officer shoots and kills Ling in front of American soldiers in order to conceal his identity and make his escape.

[edit] Martin Solo

James Bond character
Martin Solo
Gender Male
Affiliation Auric Goldfinger
Portrayed by Martin Benson

Martin Solo, played by Martin Benson, is one of a trio of American mob bosses who join up with Goldfinger for Operation Grand Slam. He had a laser shipped from Switzerland to aid in Goldfinger's break-in of Fort Knox. He later decides to simply receive his payment of one million dollars in gold bullion now, obtaining a large amount of gold from Goldfinger and having Oddjob drive him to the airport. Bond slips a piece of paper with details of Operation Grand Slam into Solo's pocket, along with a tracking device for Felix Leiter to find him. Instead, Oddjob shoots Solo dead and puts the car in a scrap metal compactor, causing Leiter to lose the signal. Oddjob returns to the stud farm with the cube and Goldfinger begins the process of removing his gold; Bond recalls what Goldfinger said about Solo "having a pressing engagement".

[edit] Jed Midnight

James Bond character
Jed Midnight
Gender Male
Affiliation Auric Goldfinger
Portrayed by Bill Nagy

Jed Midnight, played by Bill Nagy, is one of a trio of American mob bosses who join up with Goldfinger for Operation Grand Slam. His role was to supply the nerve gas, shipped to the United States from Canada, that would be used to kill the guards at Fort Knox. He, Solo, and Strap were promised one million dollars in stolen gold bullion for their participation. However, they are being duped by Goldfinger, who, after explaining that he plans to irradiate the gold, not steal it, sadistically kills both Midnight and Strap, who he was simply using to boost his own ego.

In the novel, it is stated that the gang he belongs to is called the Shadow Syndicate.

[edit] Jack Strap

James Bond character
Jack Strap
Gender Male
Affiliation Auric Goldfinger
Portrayed by Hal Galili

Jack Strap, played by Hal Galili, is one of a trio of American mob bosses who join up with Goldfinger for Operation Grand Slam. His role is to ensure that Goldfinger's task force are safely smuggled from Mexico to the USA in order to begin Operation Grand Slam. He, Solo, and Midnight were promised one million dollars in stolen gold bullion for their participation. However, they are being duped by Goldfinger, who, after explaining that he plans to irradiate the gold, not steal it, sadistically kills both Midnight and Strap, who he was simply using to boost his own ego.

In the novel, it is stated that the gang he belongs to is the Spangled Mob, who are also the main antagonists in the novel Diamonds Are Forever.

[edit] Mei-Lei

James Bond character
Mei-Lei
Gender Female
Affiliation Auric Goldfinger
Portrayed by Mei Lingk

Mei-Lei, played by Mei Lingk, is Goldfinger's Thai stewardess aboard his private jet. Like everything else Goldfinger "owns", Mei-Lei is clothed completely in gold. She first meets Bond when she tells him that his attaché case is damaged, and makes him a martini. Later, she tries to spy on him as he takes a shower, though she does not take an aggressive role against him.

[edit] Capungo

James Bond character
Capungo
Gender Male
Affiliation Free-lance thug
Portrayed by Alf Joint

Capungo, played by Alf Joint, is a Mexican thug who attempts to kill Bond in the pre-title sequence for breaking up the Ramirz Heroin Ring, a gang he previously worked for. He hires a flamenco dancer, Bonita, to distract Bond while he sneaks up from behind and kills him. While kissing Bonita, Bond sees Capungo approaching with a club, and moves out of the way at the last second so that Bonita takes the hit. Bond then proceeds to throw Capungo into Bonita's bathtub, before electrocuting him with a fan, a fate to which Bond quips "Shocking."

Capungo is Spanish for thug.

[edit] Bonita

James Bond character
Bonita
Gender Female
Affiliation Free-lance
Portrayed by Nadja Regin

Bonita, played by Nadja Regin, is a double agent for the Ramirz Heroin Ring posing as a flamenco dancer. Capungo hires her to take Bond back to her house, where Capungo will then ambush him for breaking up the ring. While kissing Bonita at her home, Bond sees in her eyes the reflection of Capungo approaching with a club. Bond dodges at the last second, and Bonita is knocked out by Capungo's strike.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sophie Borland. "Lightsabre wins the battle of movie weapons", The Daily Telegraph, 2008-01-21. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. 
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