20 Things You Didn’t Know About Goldfinger (1964)

5. Golden Notes He Will Pour In Your Ear

Composer, John Barry described Goldfinger as one of his favourite projects as “it was the first time I had complete control, writing the score and the song”.

However, Barry was not amused when, upon playing the opening notes of the now-iconic main title theme to lyricists, Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, they turned to each other and sang “wider than a mile” from the Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) song, Moon River.

Barry praised Dame Shirley Bassey’s performance of the song as, not having read the script or seen the film, she helped to convince cinemagoers that they should watch Goldfinger. She recorded the song before a screening of the opening titles and held the closing note until they ended, removing a restricting bustier to keep herself from fainting.

Harry Saltzman considered the song to be old-fashioned and favoured replacing it, but Cubby Broccoli convinced him that it was just what the film needed.

Whilst the song reached Number Eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Number Two on the US Adult Contemporary charts (giving Bassey her only Top 40 hit in the US), and Number 21 in the UK Singles chart, Barry’s soundtrack reached Number One in the Billboard Pop Albums chart in 1965.

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I started writing for WhatCulture in July 2020. I have always enjoyed reading and writing. I have contributed to several short story competitions and I have occasionally been fortunate enough to have my work published. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I also started reviewing films on my Facebook page. Numerous friends and contacts suggested that I should start my own website for reviewing films, but I wanted something a bit more diverse - and so here I am! My interests focus on film and television mainly, but I also occasionally produce articles that venture into other areas as well. In particular, I am a fan of the under appreciated sequel (of which there are many), but I also like the classics and the mainstream too.