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Welcome to (the bloopers from) Miami!


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#1 Double Naught spy

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Posted 20 October 2013 - 12:43 PM

1)  As presented in the movie, the observation window into the Fontainebleau's swimming pool would appear to be directly to the (male diver's right) side of the diving platform.  However, if you look at the bottom of the pool, you can seen the swimming lane lines emanating directly away from the window.  Therefore, the window must be at one end of the pool, either directly underneath the platform or at the far end.  Since the ocean can be seen in the distance behind the indoor ice skating rink, the observation window must be at the far end of the pool (i.e. underneath the cabana area). 

 

2) While search for clues to Bond's room number at the Fontainebleau, I was pleased to spot "309" over his personal cabana.  The number can be seen as he dons his terry-cloth jumper.  However, after Goldfinger descends from the staircase and greets Mr. Simmons, the number changes to 308.  A young couple is now standing in front of room 309's cabana.  "308" can be clearly seen as Felix says, "That Goldfinger's a fabulous card player."

 

3) As Bond crouches down by the refrigerator to look for more champagne (which he refers to as "passion juice" under his breath - what a cheesy line!) there's a box of hamburger patties on the top shelf.   However, when he wakes up from Oddjob's karate blow, the box of patties has been replaced with a bottle of champagne!  Perhaps Oddjob got hungry while he was painting Jill, then felt guilty for eating Bond's hamburgers, and left him a bottle? 

 

4) This isn't a blooper, but an observation.  Imagine you're Mr. Simmons and you've been losing all week to Mr. Goldfinger.   Aside from the painfully obvious fact that you're a masochist with a gambling problem, what would you make of Goldfinger's reaction to losing his first card game?  The guy's been taking you to the cleaners all week and suddenly, when he loses a hand, he snaps his pencil in half!   For me personally, being unaware that 007 is ordering my opponent to lose the hefty sum of $15,000, I'd think Goldfinger was a reeeaaallly sore loser (and a psychotic nutcase) and would excuse myself from the card table.

 

(Side note:  Maybe Goldfinger's display of anger against the pencil isn't because Bond has gotten the better of him but rather is because he suddenly realizes that Operation: Grandslam is on such a tight budget  that, without the extra 15K, he now won't be able to afford to use his laser on Fort Knox's front gate as well as the loading bay's garage door.)



#2 Dustin

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Posted 20 October 2013 - 01:55 PM

Goldfinger could start cutting expenses by not having the Lincoln Continental dumped with Solo's corpse on board in the metal press...

#3 Double Naught spy

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Posted 20 October 2013 - 04:14 PM

Lol!  Speaking of Goldfinger and cars - he apparently did save some money by purchasing some sub-standard vehicles to patrol around his Auric Enterprises factory.  Why else would the one that got caught in the Aston Martin's oil-slick suddenly burst into flames the second it began descending down the embankment?  It's as if the moment it got off the smooth roadway, the bumpy ground leading towards the embankment was too much for it to handle and it just explodes!   



#4 AMC Hornet

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Posted 20 October 2013 - 05:51 PM

...and why did Bond pan the binoculars down to Golfinger's right hand after ordering him to start losing? How could he know that there would be a reaction to witness just then?

I suspect the scene was originally shot full-screen, then someone decided in post that it should be altered to reflect Bond's POV. The preceding argument ensued and it was decided that it would be such a good dramatic moment that no one would question the logic of it.

Moreover, no viewer had the ability at that time to freeze and reverse the films to ponder these moments.

Same goes for pretty much every lapse in continuity throughout the series.



#5 Double Naught spy

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Posted 20 October 2013 - 09:17 PM

AMC Hornet,

 

You hit the nail on the head regarding your "every lapse in continuity" comment.  With the introduction of DVR, as well as DVD and BluRay players, the job of "continuity supervisor" (or whatever the job title may be) must have gotten a lot harder in the last decade or so.  (I wonder - have the hiring practices in "Hollywood" become more stringent on this job over the past decade or so?) Still, its fun to spot these minor continuity flaws.  For me here in the States, I was doing laundry this morning and stumbled across Goldfinger playing on the Universal network (despite the fact I've got perfectly good copies of it on DVD and BluRay upstairs!) and decided to nitpick-apart the first few minutes of the movie while folding my clothes.

 

That said, there are some "continuity flaws" (not just in 007 films) that I shake my head at - no matter how old the movie is.  But as for Bond films, examples like the alternating position of the Mustang in the Las Vegas alleyway in Diamonds Are Forever make me think that, even back then, those "continuity supervisors" were occasionally 'asleep at the switch.'  I image bungles like those were even visible to the one-time-viewing cinema audience back in the day.  For example, even in the midst of watching 007's latest adventure in 1965, I could see someone in the audience noticing the color change of his scuba mask in Thunderball.

 

Anyway, "Cheers!" to the modern-day "continuity supervisor."  If for nothing else than the above-mentioned advent of DVR, etc. it must be an ever-increasingly hard job.  Speaking for myself, the person who can wrangle a movie throughout it's production without a single continuity error is as important to me in viewing a film as a film with a "no-flaws" script, or a flawless music score, or a stellar acting performance by the "talent."


Edited by Double Naught spy, 20 October 2013 - 09:19 PM.


#6 Double Naught spy

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Posted 20 October 2013 - 09:51 PM

Sorry AMC Hornet - I forget to respond to your question about 007 scanning down to Goldfinger's pencil-crushing hand.  After years of being a 00-agent, Bond's instincts just knew that, after getting the better of his opponent, Goldfinger would break whatever object was in his hand at the time.  He's just that good. :)



#7 AMC Hornet

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Posted 20 October 2013 - 10:01 PM

If he's that good, then why didn't he or Felix ever notice that there were two Disco Volantes?

I never noticed it myself until I saw the UE edition of Thunderball on my 32' flatscreen.

Look for yourself - when the Disco returns to Nassau while Bond and Domino are bantering over conch chowder, and when Bond and Felix are discussing their rendezvous site for an underwater night recce.

It must be the yacht that the original Flying Fish's 'cocoon' was based on, but the bows are distinctly different.

Cameo appearances by the original mode, perhaps?

It's just one of those things you can't see on square-screen VHS, even on a 25" tube.



#8 Double Naught spy

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Posted 20 October 2013 - 11:29 PM

Two different Disco Volante yachts?  My, what sharp eyes you have AMC Hornet. :)  Kudos!



#9 AMC Hornet

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Posted 21 October 2013 - 02:40 AM

Then Bond jumps a red & white Glastron GT 150 with an Evinrude outboard over Sheriff Pepper's car, and next time we see him he's whipping past driving a bronze inboard. In closeup, his outboard begins to stutter, so he swaps his red & white 150 for a bronze inboard and race off again.

 

It's just one bit of film, but like the launching of a Gemini capsule from Irkutsk and a Soyuz from Cape Canaveral in YOLT, couldn't it have been corrected before release, rather than just shrugging and saying "perhaps no one will notice?"

 

I'd better stop here, because I have a million of 'em.



#10 Jonathan Cape

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Posted 21 October 2013 - 06:13 PM

The reason there seems to be differences with the shooting at the Fontainebleau is because there was two of them.

 

Shooting started there at the beginning of 1964 but after they packed up and returned to Pinewood Studios they tried to recreate certain parts of the Fontainebleau.

 

I don't think they got their continuity right because I imagine it was a "economical" recreation without wanting to re-build too much of the hotel.



#11 AMC Hornet

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Posted 22 October 2013 - 01:06 AM

I always thought it was rather well done, they way they used Cec Linder on location to link with Connery in the studio shots. Using back and forth reactions shots against the back projection did create the illusion (for me, back when) that both characters were really at the Fontainbleu.

 

I already commented on all this in a thread comparing Goldfinger to Murderer's Row when it comes to just this sort of budgetary sleight-of-hand.



#12 Jonathan Cape

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Posted 22 October 2013 - 07:23 AM

I hadn't noticed the differences until I read this thread.

 

Its like a magic trick - you think you really want to known how they did that until you find out and it spoils it.



#13 Binyamin

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Posted 22 October 2013 - 09:55 PM

 

It's just one bit of film, but like the launching of a Gemini capsule from Irkutsk and a Soyuz from Cape Canaveral in YOLT, couldn't it have been corrected before release, rather than just shrugging and saying "perhaps no one will notice?"

 

This one bugged me the last time I watched YOLT. It's SO OBVIOUS on BlueRay. Palm trees at the Russian launch site!



#14 Double Naught spy

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Posted 23 October 2013 - 05:44 PM

AMC Hornet,

 

I agree that the transition between the Fontainebleau shots and the studio shots are well done.  However, the main two points I brought up in my original posts - the changing cabana room number and the 'missing hamburger patties' - are both shots that were entirely done in the studio.  And as such, are 'bloopers' in the truest sense.  At some point during the filming, someone on set must have forgotten which cabana room they had previously filmed in front of, as well as forgotten what was in 007's refrigerator. 

 

As for my pointing out that 'real location' of the swimming pool observation window - perhaps I should have prefaced it by saying it wasn't as much of a "blooper" as it was an example of the film makers 'bending the truth' a little to get the shot of Felix turning away from the window as the diver enters the water.  In reality, what you actually see is a diver jumping into the water near the far left side (if you're facing the diving platform) corner of the pool.   

 

What intrigues me though is the fact that somebody on the film crew concluded that hamburger patties (WTF?) would be the 'perfect' item for Bond to have in his refrigerator!  I'm guessing that somewhere out there, there's somebody who tells his/her friends, "Hey, ya know the 007 movie Goldfinger?  My grandfather worked props on that film until after they realized he had placed hamburger patties in Bond's Fontainebleau refrigerator and had security escort him from the set.  But when they began filming Thunderball, his ex-bosses took mercy on him and hired him back.  Unfortunately though, he was in charge of keeping track of Connery's scuba masks and..."   


Edited by Double Naught spy, 23 October 2013 - 05:46 PM.


#15 Matt Monro

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Posted 23 October 2013 - 07:03 PM

AMC Hornet,

 

I agree that the transition between the Fontainebleau shots and the studio shots are well done.  However, the main two points I brought up in my original posts - the changing cabana room number and the 'missing hamburger patties' - are both shots that were entirely done in the studio.  And as such, are 'bloopers' in the truest sense.  At some point during the filming, someone on set must have forgotten which cabana room they had previously filmed in front of, as well as forgotten what was in 007's refrigerator. 

 

As for my pointing out that 'real location' of the swimming pool observation window - perhaps I should have prefaced it by saying it wasn't as much of a "blooper" as it was an example of the film makers 'bending the truth' a little to get the shot of Felix turning away from the window as the diver enters the water.  In reality, what you actually see is a diver jumping into the water near the far left side (if you're facing the diving platform) corner of the pool.   

 

What intrigues me though is the fact that somebody on the film crew concluded that hamburger patties (WTF?) would be the 'perfect' item for Bond to have in his refrigerator!  I'm guessing that somewhere out there, there's somebody who tells his/her friends, "Hey, ya know the 007 movie Goldfinger?  My grandfather worked props on that film until after they realized he had placed hamburger patties in Bond's Fontainebleau refrigerator and had security escort him from the set.  But when they began filming Thunderball, his ex-bosses took mercy on him and hired him back.  Unfortunately though, he was in charge of keeping track of Connery's scuba masks and..."   

 

Try reading the books sometime.  I don't remember which one, but Bond actually does eat hamburgers in one.  With Leiter, no less.  It's memorable because it's unusual, but it does happen.  And it's still more believable than "yogurt and green figs" in FRWL.



#16 Dustin

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Posted 23 October 2013 - 07:34 PM

I don't remember which one, but Bond actually does eat hamburgers in one. With Leiter, no less. It's memorable because it's unusual, but it does happen. And it's still more believable than "yogurt and green figs" in FRWL.


What's so odd about the yoghurt and figs? A frugal breakfast in a country where breakfast generally isn't as opulent as some are used to, Bond included. Only Bond isn't blasè enough to insist on his own regular order and does as the Romans do. Well, Turks in this case.

#17 Double Naught spy

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Posted 23 October 2013 - 07:45 PM

Matt Monro,

 

Whether or not Bond has ever ordered a hamburger at a restaurant in the novels is beside the point I was making.  I'm sure you'd concede that Bond ordering a hamburger and him having a box of hamburger patties in his hotel room are two, entirely different things.  As evidenced by the lavish room service tray at the foot of his bed, the Hotel Fontainebleau's kitchen and room service could have made him a wonderfully-prepared hamburger at the snap of his fingers. Given all the focus and attention the producers displayed back then in portraying (the right clothes, etc.) the film-version of 007 as a suave, debonair, playboy secret agent, it strikes me as odd that they'd let it slip that he'd have such a sub-standard (dare I say... TV dinner-quality) product in his refrigerator. 

 

That being said, I sincerely applaud you on having such an obscure-worthy moniker on this site.   As with "Major Talon" and "AMC Hornet" (which only "true" Bond fans would 'get'), you must be a truly devoted Bond fan to pick one of the most little-known singers (not that Matt Monro the artist is "little-known", its just that his contribution to the pantheon of 007 songs is "little-known") as your moniker.  (Mine originates from Jethro Bodine and the Beverly Hillbillies! :) )


Edited by Double Naught spy, 23 October 2013 - 07:48 PM.


#18 Civilian_Bishop's Mitre_*

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Posted 24 October 2013 - 03:33 PM

Goldfinger could start cutting expenses by not having the Lincoln Continental dumped with Solo's corpse on board in the metal press...

 

 

Yes, that always looked a bit pointless to me on the screen. Strange moment from the film - why not just dump Solo's body? Why do Goldfinger and Oddjob give themselves so much trouble? Echo answers why.  


Edited by Bishop's Mitre, 26 October 2013 - 04:16 PM.


#19 AMC Hornet

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Posted 24 October 2013 - 04:49 PM

I'd never noticed the hamburger patties until DNS mentioned them, so I checked my BluRay cop, and sure enough...

Can't even pass them off as Steak Tatar, not with '4 hamburgers' clearly printed on the box.

Thanks, Lowry - another detail to drive ourselves crazy over.

 

And another thing, though not a 'blooper' in GF, but Felix casually says, "You must be slipping, 007, letting the opposition get that close to you" with other people around, without getting a sock to the abdomen like he got in Nassau a year later (where Bond says "sorry Felix, but you were about to say 007" right in front of the guy he was trying to keep from hearing it). I suppose it's not even a continuity blooper, since different people worked on Thunderball and we already seem to have almost unanimously agreed that 'continuity' is not a word to be taken seriously in regards to this particular series.



#20 Matt Sherman

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Posted 24 October 2013 - 06:36 PM

The room numbers were added later in production. Two rooms were used in the Fontainebleau on a different floor. I took a tour group to them last year.