Goldfinger recap

Bond first exposes Auric Goldfinger cheating at cards, then receives an official assignment to investigate his gold smuggling. After defeating him at golf, Bond follows him across Europe with Tilly Masterton. Both are captured at Goldfinger's factory, where Bond learns that gold is concealed in the bodywork of a Rolls-Royce. Kept alive as clerical help, Bond hears Goldfinger recruit American gangs for Operation Grand Slam, a plan to disable Fort Knox and contaminate its gold with a nuclear device. Bond sends a warning that reaches Felix Leiter, and Pussy Galore also turns against Goldfinger. American forces foil the raid, though Oddjob kills Tilly and Goldfinger escapes. Goldfinger later hijacks Bond's aircraft; Bond kills him, Oddjob is blown from the plane, and Bond and Pussy survive a sea landing and rescue.

In Miami, Junius Du Pont asks Bond to investigate why Auric Goldfinger repeatedly defeats him at canasta. Bond discovers that Goldfinger's companion Jill Masterton watches Du Pont's cards from a nearby balcony and reports them by radio. He takes over the radio, forces Goldfinger to repay the winnings, and tells Jill to leave her employer. Bond and Jill spend time together before Bond resumes his journey. The episode establishes Goldfinger as wealthy, calculating, and intensely unwilling to lose, while giving Bond no reason yet to treat him as more than a dishonest private citizen.

Back in London, M and Bank of England specialist Colonel Smithers brief Bond on illegal movements of gold and their suspicion that Goldfinger is a major smuggler. Bond is assigned to investigate. He encounters Goldfinger at a golf club and enters a high-stakes match. Goldfinger cheats by manipulating the ball in play, but Bond detects the method and secretly reverses it, defeating him. The contest deepens Goldfinger's hostility while allowing Bond to approach him under the cover of a gambler with a personal interest rather than as an intelligence officer.

Bond follows Goldfinger's Rolls-Royce through Europe and notices Tilly Masterton conducting a separate pursuit. He learns that Jill, her sister, died after Goldfinger punished her for the Miami betrayal by having her body covered with gold paint. At Goldfinger's Swiss works, Bond discovers that the car's body contains gold that can be recast after crossing borders, explaining part of the smuggling system. Tilly is trying to kill Goldfinger in revenge. Bond's surveillance is detected, and Goldfinger's enforcer Oddjob helps capture both intruders before they can escape with the evidence.

Goldfinger threatens Bond with an industrial cutting machine and demands to know why he has been following him. To remain useful, Bond offers his and Tilly's services as administrative workers. Goldfinger takes them to the United States and makes them prepare materials for a meeting of criminal leaders. He then presents Operation Grand Slam, a plan directed at Fort Knox. The invited gangs are promised enormous rewards for providing transport, personnel, and specialist help. Pussy Galore, who leads her own group, is among the participants. Bond searches for a way to send a warning while appearing to cooperate.

Goldfinger's plan is to poison the Fort Knox water supply, make the defenders appear dead, enter the reserve, and use a nuclear device to contaminate the United States' gold for decades, greatly increasing the value of his own holdings. Bond hides a written warning where he hopes it will be found, and the message reaches Felix Leiter. Pussy Galore also shifts against Goldfinger and helps alert the authorities. American forces substitute harmless material for the poison and stage their collapse, allowing the raiders to believe the operation is proceeding while troops prepare to close on them inside the reserve.

The staged defence becomes an armed counterattack, defeating Operation Grand Slam before the nuclear device can ruin the reserve. Oddjob kills Tilly when she tries to join Pussy, but Goldfinger escapes. Bond is later drugged during a flight and wakes aboard an aircraft hijacked by Goldfinger, with Pussy also present. Bond fights and strangles Goldfinger. During the struggle a window is broken and Oddjob is blown out of the aircraft. Bond and Pussy control the damaged plane long enough to ditch near a weather ship, whose crew rescues them. Goldfinger and Oddjob are dead, Fort Knox is safe, and Pussy's decision to oppose the scheme has helped ensure its failure.

Bond's warning enables American forces to replace Goldfinger's intended poison and stage the apparent collapse of Fort Knox's defenders. The authorities attack when Goldfinger's people enter, and his plan to contaminate the gold reserve with a nuclear device fails. Oddjob kills Tilly as she tries to reach Pussy Galore, while Goldfinger escapes the battle. Later, Bond is drugged and placed aboard a flight that Goldfinger has hijacked. Bond fights Goldfinger and strangles him; Oddjob is blown out through a broken aircraft window. Bond and Pussy manage the damaged aircraft long enough to ditch near a weather ship and are rescued. Goldfinger and his principal enforcer are dead, the reserve is safe, and Pussy has helped turn the operation against its organiser. Bond and Pussy are together during their immediate rescue and recovery, without a settled long-term outcome.