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Goldfinger handcuffs

23 visible archived posts · 23 preserved total · topic ID 1124

Jack Tanis 12 Feb 2006

Hello,

In the 1964 film Goldfinger, James Bond is handcuffed to a bomb in the Fort Knox scene. The handcuffs have an elliptical shape, suggesting La Pegy, Clejuso 12D or La Massenotte. I videotaped the scene during a television broadcast of the film, yet am unable to get a clear enough close-up to identify the handcuffs definitively. If anyone can or if anyone has, I will appreciate knowing which handcuffs were used.

Cheers,

Jack

Rothen 12 Feb 2006

If it would help, I have the DVD of this so I can get a still which should be of better quality than you get off VHS.

Jack Tanis 12 Feb 2006

That should work. The Fort Knox scene is not lengthy and occurs in the last twenty or so minutes of the film. There are a few very brief good shots of the handcuffs, yet my antiquated VCR can not take advantage of them. Video technology has come a long way. (Even M would be impressed.) Thanks for whatever you can and will do.

Cheers,

Jack

Novice 13 Feb 2006

Hope you don't mind me butting in - took this image from my own DVD, does it help?

Ian.

Unresolved image reference ↗

stan willis 13 Feb 2006

Looks like an early model LaPegy.
Stan

larho01 13 Feb 2006

It sure is, the first version of them.

/Lars

Jack Tanis 13 Feb 2006

Hello,

A kind thanks for the image, Ian, and for your comments, Stan and Lars.

I have wondered about this for about six years. My first impression was La Pegy until a friend of mine asked, just more tactfully, "How do you know?"

I backed off, thinking, "Because they look just like La Pegy; and, as that is my favourite handcuff, why should Sean Connery be subjected to anything less?" yet stated, "Well, perhaps I don't know, at least not for sure."

How delightful. Thanks again, one and all.

Cheers,

Jack

Anonymous 13 Feb 2006

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Unresolved image reference ↗

Anonymous 13 Feb 2006

Unresolved image reference ↗

Anonymous 13 Feb 2006

#10

Unresolved image reference ↗

stan willis 14 Feb 2006

#11

This is a slight variation of the first model cuff, which is shown in the thread above this one.

Unresolved image reference ↗

Mark Lyons 14 Feb 2006

#12

I say that James Bond was not handcuffed to a bomb (at least not in this picture).
His hand might be in it, but the cuff is not locked so he wouldn't really be cuffed.
For what it's worth...

mark O-O

Rothen 14 Feb 2006

#13

Filmmakers. Always cutting corners!

Presumably it makes production easier if people don't have to keep unlocking actors between takes.

Jack Tanis 14 Feb 2006

#14

Dear Mark,

The photo above is not of Bond, but of one of Goldfinger's gang.

Of course "Bond was not handcuffed to a bomb", as it really wasn't a bomb at all. It really wasn't James Bond, either, who was just a figment of Ian Fleming's imagination, but Sean Connery.

Still, I really am pleased that the handcuffs really are La Pegy, because (1) I thought so in the first place and (2) La Pegy really is my all-time favourite handcuff.

After all these years, this happy news pretty much compensates for the devastating discovery that Mr Ed really couldn't speak, at least not English, at all. That was a terrible blow to suffer. This marks, Mark, my full recovery. Okay, not a full recovery, but as close to one as I am likely ever to get.

Cheers,

Jack

Mark Lyons 14 Feb 2006

#15

Jack, Are you telling me that Mr. Ed did not speak English? Everyone knows that he was capable of speaking so perhaps he spoke Arabic if was an Arabian and they had to dub in the English.
I am glad that the picture above was not from Austin Powers because nearly locked up in your favorite cuff would be someone associated with GoldMember. I would not want to see that picture!

mark
O--O

Jack Tanis 15 Feb 2006

#16

Hello,

My initial enquiries suggested the name La Pegy was derived from La Pègre, meaning "the gangster underworld". Today I received a message from someone in France who told me the derivation came from the French pronunciation of the initials PJ, for police judiciaire, meaning Criminal Investigation Department.

I am sharing this here with anyone who finds it of interest.

Mark, it actually was Wilbur Post who did not speak English. The crew put peanut butter in his mouth. When he consequently moved his mouth, giving the appearance of speaking, Mr Ed did the voiceover. This is, or was until now, a well-guarded television industry secret.

Cheers,

Jack

Mark Lyons 15 Feb 2006

#17

Jack,

Thank you for clarifying that. I thought that it was movie cowboy Allen "Rocky" Lane that did the voice over work for Mr. Ed. I did know that between Wilbur and Mr. Ed, one of them was a smart a** and the other was a horses a**. Not sure of who was who.
Alan Young played one of them as well as hanging out with the Eloy, which brings us back full circle.
m

Joseph Fox 15 Feb 2006

#18

This topic/thread is going WAY OFF BASE...but here goes anyway...

Yes, Cowboy Rocky Lane was the VOICE of Mr. Ed in the TV series. Alan Young was the actor who played Mr. Ed's owner, and was the only one who Mr. Ed would talk to "face to face".

The "Peanut Butter" theory is an old-wives tale told by Mr. Young through the years in order to preserve the REAL method of how "Ed" was made to talk.
You'll find my discussion of this topic below, as published in "The Straight Dope" series of books:

HOW THEY GOT MR. ED TO TALK: TAKE TWO

Dear Cecil:

In your discussion of how they got Mr. Ed to talk, you cite actor Alan Young's claim that it was peanut butter stuck between Ed's cheek and gum. This is Mr. Young's stock answer. However, the enclosed video shows indisputable evidence that the "marionette theory" [i.e., Ed's handler pulled strings to make him talk] was at work at least some of the time. The video shows excerpts from a few episodes where the lighting and camera angle reveal the very visible nylon "bit" being pulled for each word Ed spoke. If you don't see the nylon under Ed's neck, then look for it running behind Ed, out of camera range. Some may claim that a nylon bit was needed in order to have Ed turn his head or perform some other movement without his trainer having to be in the camera shot, but the evidence is clear that the bit was also used when Ed was standing still and merely had to talk. Alan Young has every right not to reveal the whole truth about Ed's talking methods; it is the wonder and mystique of "how was it done?" that keeps the Mr. Ed television series alive. I do think peanut butter may have been used some of the time, but though I am a great admirer of Mr. Young, I thought you should know he was not telling you the whole truth. --Joseph Fox, Los Angeles

Dear Joseph:

Huh. Well, it could be a nylon bit, I suppose. But I say it's dental floss to get rid of that damn peanut butter.

--CECIL ADAMS

Mark Lyons 16 Feb 2006

#19

Joe,
interesting info....

I remember reading an article about Francis the Talking Mule which, as you know was a feature length movie that was the premise for Mr. Ed. I recall it stating that peanut butter was used for him to "talk"
I suppose that if they fed him the wrong brand peanut butter, he would rear up and start kicking down the movie sets so his handlers probably used those Slave irons/ horse hobbles to restrain him.
There, we are back on track with what the forum was created for...Full circle again!

mark
O--O

Ian McColl 16 Feb 2006

#20

Hi Ian(novice), can you tell me how you got a still shot from a DVD? Do I need certain software? Or just take a digital camera shot of the TV ( as I do now)

regards

Ian McColl

Novice 16 Feb 2006

#21

I just played the DVD on my PC using "InterVideo WinDVD". It has a capture facility built in. I think most software players do, but I'm used to WinDVD. Whichever you decide to use, it's certainly a handy feature!

Ian.

Wolflock 29 May 2006

#22

Ian McColl

Most Software packages allow you to do that. I know that with Windows Moviemaker you are able to get still shots as Pictures.

Regards
Wolflock

PETCHI 30 May 2006

#23

I confirm you the origin of the name LA PEGY. Yes indeed JACK the derivation comes from the French pronunciation of the initials PJ for Police Judiciaire (Criminal Investigation Department).
In FRANCE when we talk about this police we use the initials "la PJ" for la Police Judiciaire

A good occasion to show you a third version of this vintage brand