A Prize of Gold

Richard Widmark was sometimes quite good in his more edgy, grittier parts - but shove him in an uniform and he is really just a pretty boy - like he is here. When a cache of gold is discovered by some remarkably honest folks dredging a river in Berlin, it is turned over to the joint British and American authorities and "Joe" (Widmark) is charged with shifting it. Meantime, he and his pal "Morris" (George Cole) have their jeep pinched by a youngster. Giving chase, he arrives at a bombed-out building being used as a makeshift orphanage by "Maria" (Mai Zetterling) and "Dr. Zachmann" (Karel Stepanek). He wants to help, and so with his pal and a pretty ruthless "Hammell" (Nigel Patrick) finds a way to divert the gold and... Donald Wolfit is quite effective as the pretty devious "Alfie", but the rest of this blurs a decent adventure caper with too much romance and Widmark really isn't on very good firm. The dialogue is wordy and rambling and though the ending is rather befitting - for Patrick anyway, it is all just a bit routine and humdrum.

Never viewed this Richard Widmark film and was very disappointed at the entire picture. In this picture Widmark plays the role as an Air Force Sgt Joe Lawrence who is stationed in Berlin and is eager to retire but he always manages to get himself into trouble. Joe leaves his jeep on a street and it gets stolen by a homeless young German boy who runs the jeep into a ditch and destroys the axle. Joe follows the boy to where he lives and meets up with a pretty blonde named Maria, (Mai Zetterling) and they both fall in love with each other. Joe becomes interested in making a quick buck by stealing some old Nazi precious goods and the story takes another twist and becomes very detailed and confusing.

This was part of Watwick deal with Columbis,where they made made films in the UK with an American star,normally in colour.This was one of their lesser films.There is a good cast,but sadly the film misfires.Part of the problem was the necessity to provide a happy ending.This requires some twists of the plot which are totally unbelievable.

Strong points of this film are scenes of Berlin, still showing signs of the war, and glimpses of London back streets in the mid-1950s, plus a strong cast, with Widmark, Patrick and Wolfit having the most striking screen presences.

APOG started off slowly, then became more interesting as the plot to steal the gold developed. But the last 30 minutes or so saw some implausibilities, not least in the actions of a couple of the characters, their changes of heart and the coincidental meeting right at the end.

I suppose everyone makes at least one indie European flick during his career. Montgomery Clift made The Big Lift, Kirk Douglas made The Juggler, Burt Lancaster made The Leopard, and Richard Widmark made A Prize of Gold. The story is both common and fresh, and Dick adds great energy to the film, especially because he doesn't usually get to have a love interest. He plays an American soldier stationed in post-war Germany, and when he falls in love with Mai Zetterling, plans for his future change. Mai works in an orphanage, and she wants money enough to transport the kids to a safer country. Dick is poor, and her boss is wealthy; true love isn't enough to buy airfare.

So, Dick turns to a life of crime. It's very sad to see him turn to the dark side because of a woman (and does she even feel the same way, or is she playing him to get money?), especially since he's so conflicted about it. But he does a good job, and even though this movie feels distinctly indie and European, it is entertaining if you're a Widmark fan. Everyone else can probably skip it and just rent their favorite actor's European corresponding adventure.