Goldfinger (novel) "was presented as a complex character". Continuation author Raymond Benson agrees, and sees "Goldfinger" as a transitional novel, with Bond becoming more human than in previous books and more concerned with what Benson calls "the mortal trappings of life", which manifest itself with the opening chapter of the book as Bond sits in Miami airport and thinks through his fight with and killing of a Mexican thug. Benson also sees that Bond has developed something of a sense of humour in "Goldfinger", verbally abusing Oddjob, to Bond's own amusement. Auric Goldfinger was described by Raymond Benson as "Fleming's most successful
Goldfinger (film) Court, producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman turned to "Goldfinger" as the third Bond film. "Goldfinger" had what was then considered a large budget of $3 million (US$ million in dollars), the equivalent of the budgets of "Dr. No" and "From Russia with Love" combined, and was the first Bond film classified as a box-office blockbuster. "Goldfinger" was chosen with the American cinema market in mind, as the previous films had concentrated on the Caribbean and Europe. Terence Young, who directed the previous two films, chose to film "The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders" instead, after a pay dispute