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In Goldfinger, 007's Mission was to prove Goldfinger is a criminal and get him behind bars. But midway through the movie, Goldfinger almost killed 007 on the laser table and then kidnaps him and imprisons him.

But the movie makes it clear James Bond could escape at any point he wanted to, by either simply running off or using the GPS tracker to alert Felix.

So why not just escape and have Goldfinger arrested? I'm pretty sure kidnapping people is going to get you a few years.

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    Two thoughts: Goldfinger has more than enough money to bribe any authorities, and his associates may have carried out the plan even if he were arrested
    – OrangeDog
    Dec 24, 2020 at 13:08
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    Third thought: Bond is a secret agent, Goldfinger knows he's a secret agent, and I'm sure Goldfinger would be more than willing to blow Bond's cover at any criminal proceedings that might ensue.
    – F1Krazy
    Dec 24, 2020 at 13:13
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    Are you absolutely certain that was the mission? I haven't seen the movie in decades but wikipedia says, "Bond's objective is determining how Goldfinger smuggles gold across countries' borders." Aside from that, when has the plot of a Bond movie ever been "Bond finds villain, rings the cops. The End"? There is such a thing as narrative imperative & that device in Bond was always 'Bond blows up the secret hideaway'.
    – Tetsujin
    Dec 24, 2020 at 13:39
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    Not related to the question but GPS did not exist when Goldfinger was released.
    – Todd Wilcox
    Dec 24, 2020 at 20:33
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    @ToddWilcox GPS didn't exist, but the British Secret Service launched their satellites on the hush-hush using the Black Knight, launched from Woomera (Black Knight ... a long way from home)
    – user_1818839
    Dec 24, 2020 at 23:08

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Because that is not Bond's mission.

The mission is to establish how Goldfinger is illegally transferring gold out of the country so the government can seize his assets.

As yet, we have failed to discover how he transfers his gold overseas, and Lord knows we've tried.

If your department can establish that it is done illegally, then the Bank could institute proceedings to recover the bulk of his holdings.

Even if Bond reported the kidnap and attempted murder to the authorities, he has no proof of this happening, it would not accomplish his primary mission.

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    Who cares about Bond's life, as long as we get the gold back?
    – Florian F
    Dec 26, 2020 at 15:41
  • But Bond's mission is already completed. It was finished when he overhears Goldfinger explaining to Mr Ling how the bodywork of his car is 18-carat gold and that he makes six trips a year to the continent. So the first part of the film is over: Bond can head off, report to M and leave it to the authorities. And he tries to. Instead, Bond discovers (stumbles upon) Masterton, tries to escape, gets caught and enters the second part of the film: Operation Grand Slam and all that goes with it. (As an aside, I can't see how Bond could escape when he liked, which OP says, but that's not this point.)
    – TonyM
    Sep 18 at 16:49
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Secret Agents don't like having to stand up in court

Bond's career as a secret agent is over if he has to give testimony over his kidnapping, even though having Goldfinger arrested would buy them a lot of time to uncover the how of the gold transfer.

Instead he has to find secondary evidence to start proceedings. Similar to how Al Capone's downfall was his tax evasion.

International cases are complicated.

Goldfinger is rich, even before he fiddles the price of gold. Money can buy lawyers, and a failed court case, say where Bond is accused or trespassing threatens to make any later legal action against Goldfinger much more difficult.

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