# Gold (1934 film)

Gold is a 1934 German science fiction film directed by Karl Hartl. The film involves a German scientist's attempt to create a machine that turns base materials into gold, a project that attracts the unwelcome attention of a British industrialist. Gold was made in both German-language and French-language versions with Brigitte Helm reprising her role in both.

## Plot

A German scientist, Achenbach, has discovered a theoretical means of transforming lead into gold through "atomic fracture." Working with engineer Werner Holk, he is literally moments from proving his theory when his lab is blown up by a saboteur bribed by the British industrialist John Wills. Achenbach is killed and Holk only survives thanks to a blood transfusion from his fiancée Margit. Holk is then hired by Wills and goes to Scotland to see his friend's work recreated on a massive scale in a secret laboratory beneath the North Sea. Bent on revenge, he agrees to help Wills and uses the machine to create a small sample of gold, vindicating Achenbach's theory and gaining the millionaire's confidence. In the meantime he wins the trust of the workers and of the millionaire's estranged daughter Florence (Helm), who is romantically drawn to him. Holk puts together a plan to destroy the machine before the artificial gold it would create can wreak havoc on the world economy. Just as the machine is set to go into operation, Holk delivers a speech turning the workers against the millionaire and sets the machine to self-destruct. Wills and the lab are blown up in a spectacular sequence of explosions and strobe lighting. Holk himself escapes by the skin of his teeth and returns to his fiancée in Germany.

## Production

Director Karl Hartl developed Gold after the international success of his previous science fiction film Der Tunnel. Gold was the studio Universum Film AG's superproduction of that time and reportedly took 14 months to shoot. Actor Hans Albers sued the production asking for nearly double his salary but lost the case. During this production period, a French-language version of the film, L'Or, was also made which kept Brigitte Helm as the lead actress but changed many of the supporting characters roles. Serge de Poligny directed the scenes in French with the script adapted to French by Jacques Thierry.

## Release

Gold premiered in Berlin at the Ufa-Palast am Zoo theater on 29 March 1934. The French-language version was shown on 1 June 1934. When the film was reviewed by the Allied Censorship boards after World War II, the viewers pondered whether German scientists had been able to build a nuclear reactor long before it was originally thought they did. Parts of the stock footage scenes in Gold were later used again in the 1953 American film The Magnetic Monster.

## Reception

In 1934, the New York Times gave the film a positive review stating "So well is this mixture of pseudo science, love and near-love photographed that persons ignorant of German need have no fear of inability to follow the action" and noting that "the audience is kept interested in the steps leading up to the dénouement, despite the inordinate length of the film." Wonder Stories praised Gold as "a masterful scientifilm fantasy". Film Daily praised the cast and called the film an "entertaining drama [that] is essentially interesting from the technical angle."
Variety reviewed the French-language L'Or stating that the film "depends for its effect on sensational machinery - a Frankenstein electric machine to make synthetic gold - and such makes a certain impression.... Aside from that, pic is commonplace."