Lust for Gold

An excellent movie with a complicated plot. The story starts & ends in the present (1948); a long flashback sequence in the middle describes the time period 1880-1887. The grandson of the rediscoverer of the richest goldmine in America (worth $20 million back in those days!) goes to search for the mine, but becomes involved in a series of unresolved murders. The stars of the movie (Ford, Lupino, & Young) are all part of the flashback sequence. There's mystery, action, murders, romance, treasure, singing, double-crossing & more in this exciting western. All the actors do a fine job (Edgar Buchanan is great in a small role & we get to see Jay Silverheels just before he started doing Tonto in the Lone Ranger TV series). The plot is long & winding & holds the viewer's interest, & the conclusion is highly ironic & oh-so frustrating! Highly recommended for western & treasure & romance fans. This one rates a 10!

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.

There is nothing more exciting than a quest for treasure. In fact, even if the treasure is only a legend, people will look for it. In "Lust For Gold", the treasure seekers exhibit the lust, greed, and paranoia that often overtakes logic. Glen Ford as Jacob Walz is so afraid that his hidden mine will be found out by the angry crowds following him, that he falls prey to the scheming Ida Lupino and her jealous husband, Gig Young. The story of how the mine was lost, and the supposed reliable clues of how to find it, are told in a very logical flashback scenario. The movie moves quite quickly and is beautifully photographed. Even if there never was a treasure, "Lust For Gold" is a treasure itself. - MERK

Like it's academy award winning predecessor, "The Treasure of Sierra Madre", Gold and the greed that comes with it make for a compelling motion picture.

"Lust For Gold" is really two stories, one set in the present (at least 1949 when the film was made), one set some 50 years earlier. The contemporary part of the story begins with a man named Barry Storm searching for gold. He is no ordinary prospector though. His grandfather was the legendary Jacob Walz who had discovered the "Lost Dutchman Mine". Storm is not the only one looking for the gold however. Among the others are an explorer, and a killer.

A powerhouse trio of stars, Glenn Ford, Ida Lupino and Gig Young, are the protagonists of the historical part of the story. Ford plays Walz, an evil man who finds the gold mine and Lupino, is a no good woman one of many trying to get her hands on the treasure, and Young is equally villainous as Lupino's husband.

There are many elements to this story and they are blended to perfection. S Sylvan Simon, more known as a "B" film director for MGM, had the perfect read on this one. He came into his own as a helmsman with this picture. Unfortunately, this was his last film, succumbing to a heart attach at the age of 41 not long after the completion of this.

Besides, Ford, Lupino and Young, William Prince as Barry Storm has the best role of his acting career. The film boasts a supporting cast of several people who went on to fame and fortune on television. Among them, Edgar Buchanan (Petticoat Junction) Paul Ford (The Phil Silvers Show), Jay Silverheels (The Lone Ranger) and Will Geer (The Waltons).

This film, not made on a big budget, is a real sleeper. It is a great example of what can happen when professionals like these go out to mine a great film. It comes up solid 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.