‘Goldfinger’ plays at Pickwick for Bond classic’s 50th anniversary

By Laura Emerick/For Sun-Times Media

“Goldfinger” (1964), which many film buffs regard as the best of the long-running James Bond franchise, kicks off the second season of the Pickwick Classic Film Series at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

The third in the series based on British author Ian Fleming’s spy novels, it set the template for Bond films, with its extensive gadgetry, pre-opening credit sequence and irreverent approach. It stars Sean Connery — the definitive Bond — as Agent 007, Gert Frobe as the title villain (“The man with the Midas touch”) and Honor Blackman as the series’ most lasciviously named Bond girl.

The Pickwick screening, which begins with a pre-show at 7 p.m. featuring organist Jay Warren, comes almost exactly 50 years after the film’s world premiere (Sept. 17, 1964, in London). To help mark this 50th anniversary, members of the Ian Fleming Foundation will attend the screening at the Pickwick, 5 S. Prospect Ave., in Park Ridge. Admission is $7; seniors, $5.

For more information, go to www.parkridgeclassicfilm.com.