goldfinger film titles 1964 - Robert Brownjohn

Goldfinger Titles by Robert Brownjohn 1964

The title sequence for the James Bond film Goldfinger is BJ’s most famous and iconic work. The titles have been celebrated by both graphic designers and audiences universally. The sequence is a combination of conceptual brilliance and visual extravagance and is still the gold standard of film titles to this day.

BJ was quoted as saying: ‘There are a lot of designers in New York or London who could have done this job as well as I could. But it takes a lot of time wheeling and dealing for an idea to see the light of day. I’m lucky with Harry and Cubby (Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli, the Bond film producers) because they let me get on with it, leave me alone and don’t ask questions. But you need a little luck – the luck incident – being in the right place at the right time, to get ahead in this business.’ Saltzman and BJ had previously met at a Chelsea dinner party, at a time when filmmakers and graphic designers were forming a close-knit group. London was emerging as a vibrant creative scene and BJ’s design sensibility was perfectly timed for the 60’s Britain: provocative, sexy and witty with an eye for modernist graphic concepts. BJ extended his print design work to moving images, formed a film company and designed the sequences for the two classic Bond films, a high point in his career. Although never having worked with live-action, storyboards or scripts, he had the ability to play around with the camera and the lights to develop unique ideas and approaches.

As BJ wrote: ‘On Goldfinger I decided to adopt a follow-up solution after From Russia with Love, continuing with the use of projection. But whereas FRWL I had used still slides of type projected on to a moving dancer while the camera remained stationary, I wanted now to try projecting moving pictures on to a still figure while the camera tracked and panned. The idea was accepted by the producers. I painted a girl with gold make-up, had a gold bikini made for her, and with a 100 amp. back projection unit projecting moving pictures over her and filmed this in colour. The girl became, in effect, a three-dimensional gold screen with running figures, explosions and fight sequences moving across her body. The actual images I projected were scenes from all three Bond films and they formed a sort of moving collage. One might assume that double exposure or travelling mats would create the same effect. They don’t. Double exposure or travelling mats (masking) produce two flat images. Projection, on the other hand, creates fantastic three-dimensional distortions as the film plays over the body’s contours.’

The title sequence serves as a tightly-paced introduction of the film’s memorable cast of characters, with images of the villain Goldfinger, James Bond, Pussy Galore, Bond Girl Shirley Eaton and Goldfinger’s hitman Oddjob flickering seductively over Nolan’s body. The projected images develop new meanings where feminine contours act as a secondary landscape. A golf ball traces a trajectory into Nolan’s cleavage for the proverbial hole in one, Nolan’s knees turn into sand dunes in which Bond must navigate across and Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 makes its first appearance with its revolving license plates masking Nolan’s mouth. Neon signs, lights, explosions and fires flash over and around the actress, their inspiration drawn from pop art, modernism and nightlife. As scenes and characters shimmer across the starlet’s curves, superstar singer Shirley Bassey performs the film’s title song, composed by John Barry. The sequence images and title song amplify each other in an irresistible way. The Goldfinger film is said to have originated the tradition of using a pop genre tune as the Bond theme song, creating a template for the Bond sequence that was followed by later films in the series. It was clear that Barry was really proud of his work on Goldfinger. And, as Barry himself noted, ‘when I saw the final cut of the movie, with Robert Brownjohn’s wonderful titles, I thought it was total entertainment’. Female imagery and silhouettes in the titles, along with the iconic gun barrel -sequence, would later become a Bond hallmark. BJ’s use of the female form created the framework that has been adhered to in every subsequent Bond title. He intuitively recognized the semi-nude female as one of the main ingredients of Bond imagery. BJ’s Goldfinger titles morphed into a short, innovative cinema piece with its own version of the film’s narrative – a mini Bond movie. His sequence was seductive, thrilling, sensual, exciting and fun. It passed the film censor despite its sexual suggestiveness.

Goldfinger body still photograph by BJ London 1964

Goldfinger poster by BJ – London 1964

Goldfinger poster by BJ (that is his hand) – London 1964

Goldfinger title still – London 1964

Goldfinger – on set shooting titles – London 1964

Goldfinger – on set shooting titles contact sheet- London 1964

Goldfinger – on set shooting titles contact sheet – London 1964

Goldfinger – on set shooting titles – London 1964

Goldfinger – on set shooting titles – all on set photographs by Herbert Spencer London 1964

Goldfinger titles still – London 1964

Goldfinger – original slide for poster – BJ’s hand – London 1964

Goldfinger poster with gold body – by BJ – London 1964

Goldfinger – gold body for poster – photo by BJ – London 1964

Goldfinger – Original slide for poster – London 1964

Goldfinger – stills from the titles – London 1964

James Bond Royal Mail stamps – London 2013

BJ’s Goldfinger notebook

Goldfinger – Giant poster on London Street – 1964

Goldfinger premiered in London at the Odeon Theatre in Leicester Square on September 17, 1964. Outside the Odeon the crowds numbered in the thousands, filling the streets and sidewalks and blocking traffic for miles. Inside the packed cinema, right after the titles finished, the crowd erupted into a standing ovation, a reaction that had never happened before.

Assorted features on Goldfinger:

Goldfinger Article
London 1964