Kisch, played by Michael Mellinger in the film Goldfinger, is one of Auric Goldfinger’s henchmen who first appears at his Switzerland factory, where he operates the famous laser that almost bisects 007. When Goldfinger opts to let Bond live a little longer, Kisch shoots him with a tranquiliser gun.

Michael Mellinger as Kisch in ‘Goldfinger’.

Later, Kisch is seen at Goldfinger’s Kentucky ranch, Auric Stud. When Goldfinger decides to kill all of the American gangsters participating in Operation Grand-Slam, Kisch is the one who releases the toxic gas into the room where all of the gangsters are.

As Operation Grand-Slam actually commences, Kisch, disguised as a US Air Force staff sergeant, leads Goldfinger’s faux US Army convoy of vehicles to Fort Knox.

Goldfinger’s men dynamite the electrified gate and Kisch detonates the explosives, clearing a path for the convoy. Once outside the bank, Kisch operates the industrial laser hidden inside the Army ambulance, and then orders the men to reverse to the security doors. When Goldfinger’s men open the gold vault door, the atomic bomb arrives at the bank via helicopter, Kisch handcuffs 007 to the bomb so that Bond can left behind to die with the explosion.

Kisch becomes trapped inside the bank’s gold vault with Bond, Oddjob and the atomic bomb after he handcuffs Bond to the atomic device. The vault is sealed shut by Goldfinger once the American soldiers begin to make headway back into Fort Knox. Not loyal enough to Goldfinger to die for Operation Grand-Slam, Kisch states that he can save them by disarming the bomb, but is stopped by Oddjob who subsequently kills him by throwing him off the top floor guard-rail. Bond is able to retrieve the key to unlock his handcuffs in Kisch’s jacket pocket moments before Oddjob makes his way to the floor where Bond is located.

See also:

• Bond henchmen