Brad's Music Room

Goldfinger is the soundtrack for the 1964 film of the same name, the third film in the James Bond film series, directed by Guy Hamilton. The album was composed by John Barry and distributed by EMI. Two versions were released initially, one in the United States and the United Kingdom, which varied in terms of length and which tracks were within the soundtrack. Shirley Bassey was chosen to sing the title track.

The first time I went to a drive-in theater was in 1965.  I was seven years old and my parents took me to the Hi-M Drive-in on Highway M in Springfield, MO. The featured movie was Goldfinger.

I remember dad pulling into the parking slot and rolling down the window in order to retrieve the speaker from the pole.  I watched as he hung the speaker on the inside of the car window so we had audio for the action unfolding on the giant screen that loomed large into the night sky.

As far as the movie goes, I remember Sean Connery saying that famous line, “Bond.  James Bond,” and thinking, Man, that guy is cool.  I want to be like him.  I also remember how scared my seven year old self was with the bad guy Oddjob who could throw his hat across the room like a frisbee and decapitate people.  

Years later, Bert and I drove ourselves to the drive-in.  I recall sitting in the driver’s seat of my 1962 Ford Galaxy, looking straight-faced at the ticket seller and asking for two tickets.  Meanwhile, three or four people were stuffed in the full-sized trunk.  When I began driving the Pinto station wagon this became a little trickier but nothing a blanket couldn’t camouflage. I suspect that it sounded a little bit like this episode  from Cheech and Chong’s “Pedro and The Man At the Drive-In”

Once we reached our parking spot, we would unlock the trunk and our stowaways would pile out of their dark hiding place.  We would spread the blanket on the ground, pull out our trusty cooler stocked with refreshments, and lean against the front of the car to watch whatever movie was being featured.  One of the most memorable flicks we saw was in 1974, when Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles came to the big screen.  The American satirical Western comedy was unlike anything we had ever seen before.

And who can forget the industrial grade metal speaker emitting LOW Fidelity quality sound that was WORSE than any current day fast food drive-through speaker.  (another clip from Pedro and the Man At the Drive-In”)

Anyone out there have a drive-in movie memory they would like to share?