In Goldfinger, a radio announcement begins with the above line, only for Bond to switch it off and quip, “That makes two of us,” in a simple but effective piece of screenwriting. The scene briefly gestures toward the wider world of geopolitics and then Bond literally shuts it out and reasserts control over the moment. Instead of listening to the announcement of why the President was satisfied, our attention is redirected to his private victory with Jill Masterson.

The scene seems all the more relevant recently as I find myself wanting to “shut off” the constant self-congratulatory statements from the current US President. I’d much prefer to focus on scenes like this in Goldfinger, for example. Or Jill Masterson as well…