Is Goldfinger's electrocution of Odd Job possible?

Leading scientists and engineers have studied stunts in James Bond films.

Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC

James Bond (Sean Connery) can't hurt Odd Job (Harold Sakata) with a punch, a kick or a wrestling move. However, when Goldfinger's (Gert Fröbe) henchman tries to retrieve his bowler hat, stuck in-between some iron railings in Fort Knox, 007 grabs a nearby live electric cable and jams it into the railings.

The current flows through the metal, through the hat and into Odd Job, electrocuting the villain.

Professor Ian Cotton, director of Manchester Energy and professor of high voltage technology at University Of Manchester, says it is completely feasible for the electricity to discharge when someone touches it, as the feet on the ground make it a full circuit (person to ground to circuit back to substation where the supply came from).

'This can be done through any conventional electricity supply,' Professor Cotton says.

'The fireworks and sparks you see in the film are also possible. The cable whips around. When the cable is pulled apart from something, like the floor, sparks are made. They can also be created at that magnitude,' he adds.

Source: James Bond 007: 7 Bond stunts - E & T Magazine

Goldfinger's electrocution of Odd Job: POSSIBLE

Goldfinger's use of Odd Job's hat trick - is it possible?

Leading scientists and engineers have studied stunts in James Bond films.

Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC

Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) warns Bond (Sean Connery) not to meddle in his affairs by instructing Odd Job (Harold Sakata) to throw his metal-brimmed bowler hat at a stone statue a few metres away.

The hat flies through the air like a Frisbee, decapitating the statue with a single clean cut.

Metin Tolan, professor of experimental physics at the Technical University of Dortmund says that it is possible to do this, but the hat would need to be very heavy and thrown very fast.

'There is a contradiction here as it is not easy to throw something that heavy, that quickly,' he says.

'You would need the strength of Odd Job for this. It would be beyond an ordinary person.'

He adds that to take the statue's head off, the density of the metal in the hat rim would have to be higher than that of the stone. Also, the pressure at the point the brim of the hat hits the statue must be high.

Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC

Professor Tolan explains: 'Pressure is force divided by area. When the hat strikes, the area that hits the stone statue is very small, so the pressure very high. If you just throw a stone, the area striking the statue is much larger and therefore the pressure is much smaller.'

Source: James Bond 007: 7 Bond stunts - E & T Magazine

Goldfinger's use of Odd Job's hat trick: POSSIBLE

Bond villain: Auric Goldfinger

Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC

Bond villain: Auric Goldfinger

007 Film: Goldfinger (1964)

Actor: Gert Fröbe

Mission:

Detonate an atomic bomb in Fort Knox, irradiating the bullion stored there to make it useless, thereby increasing the value of his own gold.

Fate of the Bond villain:

Sucked out of a depressurizing plane through a shattered window.

See more information here

See more Bond villains here