As a young man, I worked as an assistant writer for Alfred Hitchcock on Foreign Correspondent. He told me: “Audiences shouldn’t have time to think about logic. If I have 13 bumps, I know I have a good picture.” By bumps, he meant shocks, high points, thrill… The old lady in Goldfinger who suddenly appears with a machine gun - she’s a bump! From the beginning of Dr. No, the producers and I have not been satisfied with 13 bumps. We always aim for 39! To make every foot of film pay off in terms of excitement, comedy or drama. Nothing must drag. As Hitch said: “Dear boy, don’t be dull.”
— Richard Maibaum, screenwriter of the James Bond movies. I always forget this part of Goldfinger somehow, somehow!, so I’m always just delighted when it happens.
