Honor Blackman

A man kidnaps the wife of a cavalry commander in order to exchange her for a Gatling gun that's being sold by a gun runner. Joe Baker has a dream. He wants to do 'something big.' When he needs a Gatling gun to accomplish this, he seeks out a black marketeer. The price he wants for the gun? A woman! So Baker kidnaps a woman off of the stagecoach, only to find that she is the wife of the commandant of the local Cavalry detachment. Things get further complicated when a girl named Dover McBride shows up. She has come to force Baker to marry her and return east, as he promised to do four years earlier. —Alfred Jingle Intent on making it big--before his tough fiancée, Dover McBride, arrives from cold Pennsylvania--instead, the grizzled renegade, Joe Baker, finds himself back to square one and penniless. Still unsuccessful after four long years in the dusty New Mexico Territory, Joe knows that time is running up; however, in a desperate attempt to fulfil his aspiration, he summons up the strength for one last heist. As a result, one precarious agreement and yet another bad decision later, Baker has one more problem to deal with: the veteran U.S. Cavalry commander, Colonel Morgan. Under those circumstances, will Joe manage to pull off a surprise victory? Is he destined to do Something Big in his life? —Nick Riganas

A group of European aristocrats go hunting in New Mexico in the 1880s. Here they quickly come into conflict with the Apaches, who are reluctant to see guests on their reservation. Only the recluse Shalako seems able to save them. Shalako, the hunter and tracker, has to save a party of European hunters who are in danger from an Indian uprising. —John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>

After destroying a drug laboratory in Latin America, MI6 agent James Bond (Sir Sean Connery) vacations in Miami Beach. His superior, M (Bernard Lee), via CIA agent Felix Leiter (Cec Linder), directs Bond to observe bullion dealer Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) at the hotel there. Bond discovers Goldfinger cheating at a high-stakes gin rummy game, aided remotely by his employee, Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton), who prompts him using binoculars and a one-way radio. Bond interrupts Jill and then blackmails Goldfinger into losing. After a night with Jill, Bond is knocked out by Goldfinger's Korean manservant Oddjob (Harold Sakata). Bond comes round to find Jill dead, covered in gold paint, having died from "skin suffocation." Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell) In London, the governor of the Bank of England Colonel Smithers (Richard Vernon) and M tell Bond that fluctuating gold prices are allowing someone to profit by selling bullion internationally (Gold costs $30/ounce in UK, but $110/ounce in Pakistan). Bond's objective is determining how Goldfinger smuggles gold across countries' borders. Goldfinger is a licensed jeweler which allows him to operate legal metallurgical sites where he can melt the Gold and shape it into any shape he wants. But how he transports it across borders is unknown. Q (Desmond Llewelyn) supplies Bond with a modified Aston Martin DB5 and two tracking devices. Bond meets Goldfinger at his country club in Kent and plays a round of golf with him, wagering a bar of recovered Nazi gold (provided by MI6) against £5,000 of Goldfinger's money. Goldfinger attempts to cheat (using a magnetic golf ball), but Bond tricks him (Bond switches Goldfinger's ball, which he doesn't notice, and as per the rules he lost for playing the wrong ball) into losing the last hole and the match. Goldfinger warns Bond against interfering in his affairs, and Oddjob demonstrates his own formidable strength and the danger of the steel-rimmed hat he wears. Bond trails Goldfinger to Geneva, Switzerland (Goldfinger travels with his Rolls Royce in the plane). There, Bond meets Jill's sister, Tilly (Tania Mallet), who attempts to shoot at Goldfinger with a rifle and fails. Bond sneaks into Goldfinger's refinery (by tracking Goldfinger via a tracking device that he put in his car at the golf club) and overhears him telling Chinese nuclear physicist, Dr. Ling (Burt Kwouk) (A Communist Chinese nuclear fission specialist who provides Goldfinger with the dirty bomb to irradiate the gold inside Fort Knox), that he always travels with his Rolls-Royce Phantom III, hiding some of his gold in secret compartments, and melting the rest to incorporate it into the car's bodywork. Bond also overhears Goldfinger mention "Operation Grand Slam." Leaving, Bond again encounters Tilly, who again tries to kill Goldfinger. An alarm is tripped and Oddjob kills Tilly with his lethal hat. Bond is captured and strapped to a table with an overhead industrial laser, the beam slicing through the surface toward him. Bond lies to Goldfinger, saying that MI6 knows about Operation Grand Slam. Goldfinger spares Bond's life so the MI6 agents keeping an eye on the compound can see him and think 007 is safe. Pilot Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman) flies the captive Bond to Goldfinger's stud farm near Louisville, Kentucky in a private jet. Bond activates his personal location beacon while he is on the plane and hides the transmitter in his shoe. Once there, Bond escapes his cell and witnesses Goldfinger's meeting with American mafiosi, who are supplying materials needed for Operation Grand Slam. Goldfinger plans to breach the U.S. Bullion Depository at Fort Knox by releasing Delta 9 nerve gas into the atmosphere, killing the personnel. Pussy recaptures Bond, and Goldfinger has all the mafiosi executed. Mr Solo (Martin Benson) is The lone gangster who refuses to take part in Operation Grand Slam and is later killed by Oddjob then crushing his dead body in the car in which he is riding. Bond has put his message (about the dawn raid on Fort Knox) to the Felix in Solo's pocket without him noticing, along with his personal location finder. When the car is crushed, the beacon stops transmitting and Felix loses the location. Oddjob drives away with the crushed car in the back of his pick-up. Felix though tracks down Oddjob and reaches the ranch where Bond is being held captive. Bond tells Goldfinger it would be impossible to move that much gold before American military forces intervened. Goldfinger hints he is not intending to steal it, and Bond deduces that Goldfinger plans to detonate a dirty bomb inside the vault to irradiate the gold, contaminating it with radiation for over half a century. Goldfinger's own gold will then increase in value and the Chinese gain an advantage from the resulting economic chaos. Goldfinger warns that any attempt to locate the bomb or interfere will result in the bomb being detonated at another vital U.S. location. That night Bond seduces Pussy and convinces her that Goldfinger is mad. Operation Grand Slam launches with Pussy Galore's Flying Circus spraying gas over Fort Knox, seemingly killing the military guards and government personnel, including Felix Leiter. Goldfinger's private army breaks into Fort Knox (they blow up the main gate with dynamite and use the laser to cut into the vault) and accesses the vault as Goldfinger arrives in a helicopter with the bomb. In the vault, Goldfinger's henchman, Kisch (Michael Mellinger), handcuffs Bond to the bomb. Unbeknownst to Goldfinger, Bond seduced Pussy and convinced her to alert the American authorities, after which the gas was replaced with a harmless substance. As the troops attack Goldfinger's men, he locks the vault. He removes his coat to reveal a U.S. Army colonel's uniform and escapes. Bond, Oddjob, and Kisch are trapped inside the vault. Kisch attempts to disarm the bomb, but Oddjob, loyal to Goldfinger, throws him to his death. Bond frees himself, but the physically stronger Oddjob batters him before he can stop the bomb. Bond kills Oddjob by electrocution, then forces open the cabinet containing the bomb but he is unable to disarm the complex mechanism. After killing Goldfinger's men, U.S. troops open the vault. An atomic specialist rushes in, and, with seven seconds left on the countdown clock, simply turns off the device. Bond is being flown to the White House for lunch with the president. En route with Pussy, Goldfinger hijacks the plane. In a struggle for Goldfinger's revolver, the gun fires, shooting out a window, creating an explosive decompression. Goldfinger is blown out through the ruptured window. With the plane out of control, Bond and Pussy parachute safely from the aircraft before it crashes into the ocean. Sometime after, Leiter's search helicopter passes over the pair, who have landed in a wood, presumably close to the sea. Bond declares, "this is no time to be rescued," and draws the parachute over himself and Galore.

Pelias (Douglas Wilmer) usurps the throne of Thessaly by killing King Aristo. However, there is a prophecy that he will be overthrown by a child of Aristo wearing one sandal. When he kills one of Aristo's daughters after she had sought and been granted the protection of Hera, Pelias makes an enemy of the goddess. Twenty years later, Jason (Todd Armstrong), Aristo's son grown to manhood, saves the life of Pelias during a chance encounter, but loses a sandal doing so. He does not know that he has rescued his father's murderer, but Pelias recognizes his nemesis. Pelias keeps his identity secret. However, he cannot just kill Jason; the prophecy also says that he himself would die. When he learns that Jason is undertaking a dangerous quest to obtain the fabled Golden Fleece to rally the people of Thessaly, Pelias encourages him, hoping that he will be killed in the attempt. Men from all over Greece compete for the honor of joining Jason. Since their ship is named the Argo after the ship's builder Argos (Laurence Naismith), they are dubbed the Argonauts. Among those chosen are Hercules (Nigel Green) and Acastus (Gary Raymond), the son of Pelias, who is sent by his father to sabotage the voyage. Jason is taken to Mount Olympus by Hermes (Michael Gwynn) to speak to the gods Zeus (Niall MacGinnis) and Hera (Honor Blackman). Hera tells him that she wishes him well, but that Zeus has imposed restrictions on her assistance (Jason, like all mortals, is a piece in the game which the gods play against each other. This is an accurate portrayal of Greek theology and rarely found in any modern medium). Jason is told that he can only invoke Hera's aid five times (the same number of times his sister called on the goddess by name for help before she was slain). In response to Jason's unasked questions, Hera tells him to search for the Fleece in the land of Colchis, on the other side of the world. Many dangers threaten the expedition. When the Argonauts run perilously low on supplies, Jason turns to Hera. She guides him to the Isle of Bronze, but warns him to take nothing but provisions. However, while chasing some goats, Hercules and his young friend Hylas (John Cairney) find a partially-open treasure chamber of the gods, surmounted by an enormous bronze statue of Talos. Despite Hylas' warning, Hercules steals an enormous brooch pin the size of a javelin. The statue comes to life and attacks, causing much mayhem before Jason can destroy it using Hera's advice. Hylas goes missing and is presumed dead, but the guilt-ridden Hercules refuses to leave until he knows for certain. The other Argonauts will not abandon Hercules, so Jason is forced to call on Hera for the last time. She confirms that Hylas is indeed dead and that Hercules is destined not to continue with them. Hera also directs them to seek out Phineas (Patrick Troughton), the blind seer, for the way to Colchis. They find him tormented by two blue-skinned, bat-like Harpies sent by Zeus to punish him for misusing his gift of prophecy. In return for imprisoning the flying creatures, Phineas tells Jason what he needs to know and gives Jason his only possession, an amulet. To reach Colchis however, they must pass between the Clashing Rocks, a strait flanked by towering rock cliffs that shake and drop boulders to sink any ships attempting to pass between them. Fortunately for the Argonauts, they learn this second hand. Another ship tries to run the strait from the other direction and founders. In despair, Jason throws Phineas' gift into the water; the god Triton emerges and holds back the rocks long enough to let the Argo pass through. On the other side, they pick up three survivors of the other ship, including Medea (Nancy Kovack), the high priestess of the goddess Hecate. They sight Colchis the next day. Acastus and Jason disagree on how to approach the King of Colchis. The argument escalates into a swordfight. Eventually Acastus is disarmed and jumps into the sea to escape. Believing him dead, Jason and his men accept an invitation from King Aeëtes (Jack Gwillim) to a feast, but once they are off guard, they are captured and imprisoned. Acastus has betrayed them, telling Aeëtes about their mission. However, Medea helps Jason and his men escape. Acastus tries to steal the Fleece himself, but is fatally wounded by its guardian, the many-headed Hydra. Jason succeeds in killing the monster and taking the Fleece. But Aeëtes is not far behind. He strews the teeth of the Hydra on the ground and prays to Hecate. The planted teeth sprout out of the ground as armed skeletons who pursue and battle Jason and two of his men (in a famous four minute stop motion sequence that took special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen four and a half months to produce[1]). Seeing that his companions have been slain, Jason escapes by jumping off a cliff into the sea. The quest fulfilled, he, Medea and the surviving Argonauts start the return voyage to Thessaly.