Indeed, all he has to do is remain silent and the laser will slice Bond from stem to sternum. But Bond dissuades him with some quick thinking, and is released to become Goldfinger's prisoner. This stretch of the film is founded on a fundamental absurdity. Goldfinger has assembled the heads of all the Mafia families of America at his Kentucky farm. He pushes buttons, and the most elaborate presentation in movie history unfolds.
Screens descend from the ceiling.
Film of Fort Knox is shown. Goldfinger tells the mobsters what he plans to do, Bond listens in, and then shutters fall to lock the Mafioso in the room, and they are immediately killed with poison gas. Connery had the sleek self-assurance needed for the role, and a gift with deadpan double entendres. When his eyes narrowed and his body tensed up, you knew the playing was over and the bloodshed was about to begin. Fleming's James Bond novels took off in the states only after it became known that they were President Kennedy's favorite recreational reading.