Lust for Gold

Plot synopsis:
In modern times, a newspaper reports that "noted explorer and writer" Floyd Buckley (Hayden Rorke) claims to have discovered the location of the lost gold mine. He is approached by Barry Storm (William Prince), who believes he has some claim to it, as the Dutchman was his grandfather. Buckley brushes him off, but when he heads into the Superstition Mountains, Storm secretly follows him.
However, an unseen killer shoots Buckley, making him the fourth recent murder victim. Storm notifies Sheriff Early (Paul Ford) and his deputies Covin (Will Geer) and Walter (Jay Silverheels). Covin tells Storm more about the mine; a hundred years before, Pedro Peralta had hidden $20 million in gold in the most inaccessible of his mines, only to be killed by the Apaches for defiling a place holy to their "thunder god". His greed whetted, Storm investigates further.
A flashback follows. In 1880, Jacob "Dutchy" Walz (Glenn Ford) and his friend Wiser (Edgar Buchanan) overhear Ludi (Arthur Hunnicutt) carelessly call his companion "Peralta" (Antonio Moreno). Recognizing the name, they trail the pair into the mountains. After Ramon Peralta finds his brother's mine, Walz and Wiser gun the two other men down in cold blood; then Walz treacherously shoots Wiser too.
When Walz returns to Phoenix with huge gold nuggets, the news spreads quickly. Scheming, discontented Julia Thomas (Ida Lupino) becomes acquainted with Walz, without telling him she is married to Pete (Gig Young). His suspicions of her motives are allayed by the fact that she can speak German. They soon fall in love. When she finally tells him about her husband, Walz gives her money to bribe Pete into giving her a divorce. However, Walz later learns that Julia has lied to him repeatedly. Unseen, he watches as Julia placates her husband by telling him she will soon learn the location of the mine.
Walz gives Julia directions to the treasure. Though Julia seems to care for Walz, Pete forces her to show him the map. When the couple reach the mine, Walz pins them down with his rifle. In the ensuing gunfight, Pete eventually runs out of bullets. Walz cruelly toys with them, letting them go without water. Finally, Julia stabs Pete in the back and pleads with Walz to believe she loves him. Before he can act, an earthquake triggers a rockfall that crushes her and closes the mine.
The film returns to the present. Storm has uncovered enough information that he believes he knows where the mine is. When he gets to the key landmark, he encounters Covin, who pulls a gun on him. It turns out that the deputy has been searching for the mine for twenty years and has been disposing of his competitors. A fight breaks out; Covin is about to push Storm off the mountain when a poisonous snake bites him; he falls to his death. Afterwards, Sheriff Early points out that, even with the new clue, Storm does not know the exact location and would have to dig up the entire mountainside. At that point, Storm gives up the search.

Tags: suspenseful, murder, violence, flashback, melodrama, revenge

Review:
Therefore this film easily adds to the story of greed and blood that covers the wealth of that forgotten mine.I liked the negative performances of the leads (Ford, Lupino, and Young), none of whom are likable or redeemable.
But here they all cut their teeth quite well in the film as low lives.The interesting thing is that they are not the only villains - greed also percolates in the modern part of the movie, where the hero (William Prince) discovers the most unlikely, deadly villain facing him at the end.Altogether a worthwhile film..
This is the story of the lost Peralta mine in Arizona's Superstition Mountains near Pheonix better known in legend as The Lost Dutchman's Mine.
The film goes back in time to 1880 and tells the story of the German-born prospector John Walz erroneously called The Dutchman.
This film takes some liberties from the story of Walz who didn't come to the area until he was 58 years old and by the time of the film's setting in the 1880's he was in his 70's.
Glen Ford stars as Walz in this unusual film noir/western.
In the excellent supporting cast are Edgar Buchanan, Will Gere, Jay Silverheels, Arthur Hunnicut, Paul Ford and William Prince as Barry Storm who wrote the book Thunder God's Gold from which this film is adapted from.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The stars of the movie (Ford, Lupino, & Young) are all part of the flashback sequence.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It stars Ida Lupino, Glenn Ford, Gig Young and William Prince.
Music is by George Duning and cinematography by Archie Stout.Superstition Mountains, home to the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine, and home to many deaths because of it...Is it a mythical legend or is it fact?
What we do know is that the story of The Lost Dutchman Gold Mind, apparently located somewhere in the Superstition Mountains, East of Phoenix, Arizona, is one hell of a story and makes for an entertaining and interestingly structured Western flavoured movie.
The film even has a tricky little back story that saw author Barry Storm, who was portrayed in the film by William Prince, sue the makers for misrepresentation of his character.
This is because the picture covers three different time periods in history, with the beginning and end taking place in present day (1949 that is), and the centre bulk of the story set in 1880 as Dutchy Waltz (Ford) finds the gold and promptly finds hassle (the whole town) and treachery (Lupino's sultry femme fatale Julia Thomas) comes as part of the deal.
None of it is confusing, but the flow of the film is inevitably stop-start, and with Prince's character (Barry Storm is related to Dutchy Waltz) providing a one note narration, film isn't as "great" as it should be.However, there is a lot of "great" things "in" Lust for Gold.
Originally shot in Sepia tones, the DVD release of the film is in crisp black and white (the Region 2 DVD offers a quality print), where the Superrstition Mountains make for an imposing presence throughout the tale, the beauty and hazards of the rock formations are expertly realised by Stout's photography.Although one can imagine Marshall would have stitched the story together better, and possibly got more mileage out of Gig Young's hapless husband character, Simon doesn't scrimp on the action sequences.
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.
Shot on location in the area of Superstition Mountain in Arizona, Lust For Gold ranks as one of the best westerns ever made, best films Glenn Ford ever made, best films Ida Lupino ever made and definitely the best item from director Sylvan Simon.
This is one no holds barred tale of greed that makes Treasure Of The Sierra Madre look like Mary Poppins.It's the story of the famed Lost Dutchman Gold Mine which actually didn't belong to a Dutchman at all.
It was on a sacred Indian site, that first the Spanish discovered and then was rediscovered by Glenn Ford's character Jacob Walz, a German immigrant who was called 'Dutchman' as many Germans were back in the day.The story is a two track item, the modern story centers on William Prince who is hunting for the legendary lost gold mine his grandfather Ford had rediscovered.
There have been some murders committed in the Superstition Mountain area, but that doesn't deter Prince even after he finds the latest victim and reports the crime to Sheriff Paul Ford and his deputies Will Geer and Jay Silverheels.
But he gets involved with some equally bad people in Ida Lupino and her husband Gig Young who would like to find out where Ford's mine is and steal it from him.The flashback story has several cast members coming to a violent end, both by homicide and by earthquake in one case.
I saw Lust For Gold over forty years ago and it still stays with me.The cast is great, the cinematography on Superstition Mountain is breathtaking and the movie will never leave you once seen..
Glenn Ford and Ida Lupino star in this film about gold, gold, GOLD!
Despite the fact she's married to Gig Young, she sets her sights on Glenn and his gold.
Based on a very real place and certain events, this film delivers the goods with excellent actors, all looking out for themselves and for that pot of gold..
Storm appears in the first and third Acts, both rather brief relative to the middle Act. Storm's purpose is mainly to introduce the film's two big "stars".This middle Act features Glenn Ford and Ida Lupino.
The length of this flashback is way too long, making it dreadfully disconnected from the first and third Acts.Another problem is that, despite the claim that this is "the true story of the Superstition Mountains", I found it hard to tell which elements of the film were actually true and which were fictional.
I dislike the casting of Glenn Ford and Ida Lupino, which conveys the impression that the film is really intended as a career vehicle for these two Hollywood actors.To enjoy this film, one needs to forget the legend of the Lost Dutchman, and focus instead either on the obvious theme of greed in the Old West or the casting of two big-name "stars", as some viewers always do..
William Prince (Barry) goes in search of gold in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona.
He is the grandson of Glenn Ford (Dutch) who discovered the Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine located there in the 1880s.
The rest of the film is told in flashback as we learn of the history of Ford's discovery of the mine and his association with crafty baker Ida Lupino (Julia) before we return to solve the outstanding mystery of who the killer is.
Ida Lupino starts well but ends up overdoing the melodrama while Glenn Ford is clearly no good at all with a German accent.
I actually found myself in sympathy with the character of Gig Young (Pete) who plays Lupino's husband, even though he isn't very nice.
My personal triumphs in this film include the following 2 moments - 1) spotting tarty saloon girl Myrna Dell (Lucille) who I have just seen in another western from the same year entitled "Roughshod" which is as good as this film, and in which she has a more substantial role, albeit a tragic one; 2) correctly naming the killer at the beginning of the film.The storyline is nicely layered with different sections and you find yourself siding with different characters at different times even though you are aware that nobody is particularly likable in this film.
The picture itself seemed to offer a preview of hell's future citizens with it's gripping story of the Lost Dutchman Mine, discovered by Jacob Walz in the 1880's at the end of a Sharp's rifle and a host of dead bodies.
In it, the Apache Indians led by Cochise look like the most realistic tribe of Native American Indians I've ever seen portrayed in cinema, including I suppose "Dances With Wolves".The cast is respectable and well suited for their roles, all appearing in the movie's main flashback story.
Prospector Walz is portrayed by Glenn Ford, while Ida Lupino impresses as the gold digging (no pun intended) wife of Gig Young's character, in hiding from a murder rap back in Wisconsin.
The locals of Florence Junction get a howl out of Pete's (Young) remark to Walz at the barber shop - "You can have my place", Walz not yet realizing what the town gossipers have been guffawing about.In all of these period pieces I get a kick out of reminders of an earlier, simpler time - how about the sign in Julia's (Lupino) bakery shop - 10 cents a dozen for doughnuts!Besides the main characters, it's also cool to see Will Geer, Paul Ford and Jay Silverheels in supporting roles, with a feisty Edgar Buchanan shuffling cards in his hat looking for that elusive ace of spades.
In fact, with the mountainous terrain at the center of this picture, that might have been a good name for this flick as well.With it's gold fever theme, colorful cast of characters, and greed at every turn, this is a worthwhile follow up to the better known "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", released a year prior in 1948.
Sylvan Simon, features Glenn Ford as Jacob "Dutch" Walz, a German who discovers "the richest goldmine in the world" in 19th century Arizona.
But he is soon onto them and it ends on an interesting showdown on Superstition Mountain.Despite its serious tone, the film has some light-hearted moments, never more wonderfully presented as Juliet shows Jacob her family album and he comes across a photograph of her as an "au natural" baby, or the moment after Jacob hands off the cookies he bought from Juliet's shop to a young boy, who collapses under the weight of two massive baskets full!
His attempt at a German accent falters in some sequences, but this does not deter from his performance.This aspect of the movie is actually shown in flashback, the opening being of Jacob's grandson Barry Storm (William Prince) trying to find the mine and solve the mystery of the many puzzling, tragic deaths of those who have attempted to discover it.
He's a mean German who finds a fortune in gold in the Lost Dutchman mine in the Superstition Mountains near Phoenix, Arizona.
This is the story of one such man whose name was Jacob (The Dutch) Walz played by Golden Globe winner and is a renowned western star Glenn Ford.
Jacob Walz has previously heard the tall tales of the Superstition Mountains and there have been many men before him who have lost their lives in trying to find this treasure trove of gold hidden somewhere in the Superstition Mountains.One day another old miner named Wiser played by the cagey old character actor Edgar Buchanan suggests that he has over heard some key information from one of the three (3) surviving Mexican brothers who originally discovered than buried their gold in Superstition Mountains.
Such is the case in Lust for Gold where greed, deception in both business partnerships and love will rear its ugly head, and of course there is vengeance as this town of wolves who walk on two legs all pine for this hidden treasure of the gold in the Superstition Mountains.I would not turn my back on any one of these greedy characters and this feature film is a reminder that instant wealth is not reality and most likely will lead to heartbreak and pain, and maybe even loss of life for a fool's gold.
The legend of the gold mine buried in Arizona's Superstition Mountains, is what attracts young Barry Storm to come get the treasure.
As the story opens, Barry witnesses the killing of a man who he believes is also looking for the illusive gold.
Julia and Pete follow Dutch into the area where the gold is hidden, but a natural disaster intervenes in their claim to richness.The interesting aspect of this 1949 MGM film, directed by S.
For those days, where special effects were in their infancy, Mr. Simon stages fights at the rim of cliffs that one wonders how they were staged.Glenn Ford makes a good Dutch Walz.
Will Geer has a good opportunity as Ray. Edgar Buchanan, Wiiliam Prince and Paul Ford are also in the supporting cast.A seldom seen treat..
Well, that answer is apparently yes.Ida Lupino, never one of my favorites, is quite good here as the mastermind behind stealing Glenn Ford's gold.
If you are lucky, you will discover that scene or particular speech in an adulthood and finally have a title to add to the memory.That is the case for me with "Lust For Gold", an adult western with certain elements of film noir, much like " Pursued" and "The Furies".
Starting in the present day with Ford's grandson William Prince trying to find it, then flashes back 60 years to Ford's discovery of it and how it ruined his life.Along the way, he falls for the secretly scheming Idea Lupino, a married woman who pretends to be in love with him to get her hands on the bulk of the hidden claim.
Sort of like a period version of " Double Indemnity", it ends up with the two playing cat and mouse with each other which leads to an ironic conclusion.A very intelligent opening narration by William Prince sets the intrigue in motion and there is a fine cast of character actors in support, among them Paul Ford, Hayden Roarke and Edgar Buchanan.
The beginning and end of the film are set in the present day--with the grandson of the man who discovered the mine trying to locate it once again.
Then, the middle portion is about that man who discovered it--a very unsavory character played by Glenn Ford.
After the first 20 minutes of the film, I was asking myself, where are the main stars: Ida Lupino, Gig Young and Glenn Ford?
My question was soon answered when a grandson of Ford, looking for the elusive mine filled with gold, stumbles on to an old age home where an old-timer relates the story of his grandpa and the others within his orbit.I must say that flashback was used effectively here but the film boils down to a western atmosphere, where our 3 ruthless stars are caught up in the gold madness, after the Ford character discovers the gold.In modern times, 20 people were murdered while searching for the treasure.
The role of the greedy- woman was tailor made for Ida Lupino, and Gig Young is effective as her murderous husband, agreeing to her scheme, before realizing that he is being used as well.