Lust for Gold

Lust For Gold is one of those movies where the title tells the story. Everyone in this story from the leads down to the most insignificant extra is just eaten up with a mad, insatiable obsession with gold. I should say everyone in both stories, since this movie presents a story within a story. The modern (1949) story starts with a murder mystery, not resolved until the last reel, after a flashback to the 1880's which takes up most of the running time.

This is a well filmed, well directed, and well acted picture with an intriguing story line, yet it fails to be truly entertaining because it lacks a single well developed character who is likable. The three principle players of the Old West story, Glen Ford, Ida Lupino, and Gig Young are absolutely unredeemable, cruel, wicked scumbags willing to lie, steal, cheat, betray, commit murder and adultery to get the gold and keep it. Even the bland, young hero of the New West story, played by William Prince, though basically decent, seems foolish and unpleasant because of his single-minded obsession with finding the lost gold mine. In the Old West story every minor character is portrayed as vicious, snippy, gossipy, and above all greedy. There is some suspense in the story, or at least it holds your attention and keeps you interested in what happens next. Yet it is not truly suspenseful, because that requires that you care about what happens to the characters. And you can't care about the type of lowlifes who inhabit this unremittingly grim picture. If there had been just one major character I could have cared about, I would have rated Lust For Gold a star higher. As is, it is a very unsatisfying movie.

It's probably a coincidence the producers of this movie decided the print it in sepia tone, but it provides the appropriate look for the type of person who views life thru feces-tinted lenses. Lust For Gold will thoroughly validate this this type's nihilistic philosophy. Those with a happier outlook on life may wish to skip it.

I saw this film in first release, and still remember it well. It is a rehash of the more enjoyable legends of the Lost Dutchman's Mine in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona. The casting of solid pros for all the roles probably lifts the film beyond the level of programmer. Gig Young was years away from the recognition that came with "They Shoot Horses Don't They?" and somewhat a prisoner of his classical good looks. Glenn Ford, not conventionally handsome, was a star at the time. People still search for the Lost dutchman, or "Dutchman's Lost Mine" in Arizona to this day. It would be a shame if someone found it.

From its initial release in 1949, to the VHS forty years later, to the DVD this year, Columbia Pictures never had a clue how great this movie is. Always under promoted, always passed off as just another cheap western; until it was listed on eBay where buyers have been hungrily going for it. The unique structure has a present day (1948) narrative set in Florence, Arizona, as the Dutchman's grandson seeks the Lost Dutchman mine. This part is the first 20 minutes and the final 20 minutes of the movie. In the middle is a gritty, excellent flashback that tells the Dutchman's story: Greed, romance, betrayal, more betrayal, and more greed. Frankly, I've watched the 40 minute middle of this movie over 50 times. It always grabs me. I was 11 years old when I saw this movie at the Silver. It impressed me then, but more so now. Be sure you see this one.

"Have a gumdrop," offers the cranky Jacob Walz as he woos the scheming Julia Thomas (Ida Lupino). Not the most romantic way of winning a lady's affections, but then Walz can afford a million gumdrops, having just found the fabulous Lost Dutchman gold mine. No wonder she looks pleased taking a little gooey one.

Don't let this fool you-- the movie's a fine under-rated adventure yarn, skillfully weaving together two time-lines surrounding the West's most legendary lost mine. So who's murdering unwary fortune hunters in the real time-line (1949)? Maybe if we follow the flashback to the 1880's we'll find out. It's then that Walz stumbles onto the mine first worked by Mexicans who ended up being massacred by Apaches. From that point on, the story really takes off.

Excellent production values. The earth-shaking special effects are unexpected and expertly done by the usually budget-minded Columbia studios. Ditto the cliff-side sets that blend well with background. Note how efficiently the script establishes the relationship between Julia and husband Pete (Gig Young) in their first scene, one that maybe more importantly satisfied censors of the day.

It's a complicated story-line, but very well coordinated by director S. Sylvan Simon. Note how effectively legend, fact, and melodrama are combined into a coherent tale of enchantment. Who would not be enticed by the real life clues leading to the mine's location-- all the coded pictographs, mysterious window rocks, and elusive sun spots. I expect more than a few would-be adventurers set- out because of this 90 minutes. However, let's hope they didn't set-out like many characters in the movie-- apparently without necessary provisions, that is, nary a burro, pack-horse or jeep in sight. Even Julia unfortunately appears in the desert sans hat!

Still and all, it's a fine cast. Was there ever a better sleek-looking gigolo than Gig Young, or a more soulful emoter than Lupino. She sure gets her chance, sweating her way up those sharp rocks in a nice slice of poetic justice. Ford's really excellent in those early scenes as the hard-bitten outsider. Note, however, how quickly he becomes Americanized losing his distinctive Dutch accent in the later scenes. And too bad Will Geer, the hayseed sheriff, disappeared from movies for decades courtesy the Hollywood blacklist. His grin here is one of the slyest on record.

Topping things off, the movie finishes up in an exciting action-filled climax with an especially droll final word. All in all, I wouldn't be surprised that the project was inspired by the success of the previous year's Treasure of the Sierra Madre, a movie with a similar theme of gold and adventure. I'm just sorry this little nugget hasn't achieve greater recognition for the highly entertaining sleeper it is.

I saw this on TV years ago and was very impressed and needless to say the recent DVD release got me really excited. I am pleased to say LUST FOR GOLD lives up to my memory. The first thing that struck me was the film noir aspects of LFG - the flashback structure, the first person narration, the anti-heroes of the flashback story and those dark shadows and sinister characters. I have always loved Ida Lupino and what a great femme fa-tale she makes - cold, greedy and obsessed with "lust for gold". Glen Ford is at his most villainous and gruff - although his German accent comes and goes.Gig Young is the perfect scorned husband patsy. There are surprises galore like the abrupt ending of the flashback and the parallel "natural" threat that is a warning to the modern day hero and the undoing of the villain. Coming a year before WINCHESTER 73, LFG is one of the earliest noir westerns ( like Blood on the Moon and Pursued) and has a cast of noirish actors fulfilling their doomed roles. A real classic!