Watch Lust for Gold For Free

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Simply A Masterpiece

Good movie but grossly overrated

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

What would you do if you really thought there was an opportunity to become wealthy beyond your wildest dreams but you also knew there was a real risk that your very life is at stake? 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. So Wiser suggests to Dutch that they partner up with the result being a 50/50 split and so they agree to shadow the Mexican who has come back to reclaim his previous mined gold. Of course Dutch who is much younger than Wiser agrees to the 50/50 split with Wiser but you can guess what the outcome is if one of these two partners were not able to make it back out of the Superstition Mountains.This film is filled with endless greed, the power of instant wealth and the hypnotic effect that gold can have on the residents of an entire town. Yes there is a beautiful and conniving woman in the name of Juia Thomas (Ida Lupino) who has been married for the past five (5) years to a dreamer and unsuccessful businessmen named Pete Thomas (Gig Young). Now this married couple also want to get their hands on the gold so that they can live their own dream of unbridled wealth and freedom the gold could bring them. This film depicts that gold conquers one's marriage vows and we can see that either Julia and/or Pete would be just as happy to claim the gold for themselves than to have to share it with their loving spouse.What all of these greedy gold seekers forget is that when you place a dead carcass in front of a pack of hungry wolves only the strongest will get to eat. Even then the strongest wolf needs to fear that the next day there will be someone stronger than he is who is hungrier as well. 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. I give this western drama a worthy 7 out of 10 rating.

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. Before that the Indians had sealed it up after the Spanish had discovered it. To the Indians, the area represents a sacred ground dedicated to the "Thunder God" as there are many storms in the area.Well, Willy Prince follows another explorer Hayden Rorke (Buckley) who claims he knows where the mine is located, only Rorke doesn't make it as he is shot by a sniper. It seems that a sniper has been killing anyone who gets close to this particular gold mine. Prince rushes back to report the crime to Sheriff Paul Ford (Lynn) and Deputies Will Geer (Ray) and Jay Siverheels (Walter). 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. And whether or not there is any gold for the taking.As regards the cast, the acting is OK with a few faults along the way. Ida Lupino starts well but ends up overdoing the melodrama while Glenn Ford is clearly no good at all with a German accent. Thankfully, you don't really notice at first - he sort of slips in and out of something that isn't really German anyway. And his singing in a saloon sounds more Russian to me. Lupino does impress when she speaks in German to him, though. 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. William Prince is a bit naïve and his narration at the beginning is fairly monotonous. 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. It's still very watchable, though. Anyway, I'm off for another visit to Arizona. The plan is to stay up in the Superstition Mountains for a year just watching the moon. I'll hopefully crack this case once and for all. This film has been really useful for my preparation. I'll be taking plenty of water, some rattlesnake anti-venom serum, an umbrella for shelter from the storms and falling rocks from earthquakes, some gumdrops and lots of meat to feed the mountain lions (although the film didn't mention these).

I rather enjoyed the description of the Superstition Mountain area of Arizona in the film's opening narrative as 'Satan's Private Art Gallery'. 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. Though I don't know how much of the story's background is true historically, the legend of the Mexican Peralta brothers is displayed in a noirish flashback within a flashback. 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. Stay sharp and you also might recognize Billy Gray as the 'cookie boy'. As for Lupino, it seems I only ever see her playing roles with a dark side, as she did in team ups with my favorite actor Humphrey Bogart - 1940's "They Drive By Night" and 1941's "High Sierra". 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. Not as strong as 'Sierra', it's still pretty much a sleeper hit for fans of this unique genre, a mix of Western and gritty film noir.

I haven't seen this film in a long time and it seems to be a relatively unknown film but this is worth looking for. 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 begins in the present day of the film's release of 1949 and we discover there have been several murders recently related to the unknown whereabouts of the mine. The film goes back in time to 1880 and tells the story of the German-born prospector John Walz erroneously called The Dutchman. Between 1880 and his claims to have discovered the mine that had been known by the native Arizona Indians long before, and up to 1949 some 20 murders have been associated with the mine. 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. Ida Lupino is Julian and Gig Young is Pete. 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. S. Sylvan Simon was a versatile director best known for comedies he directed for such comics as Red Skelton and Abbot & Costello but also a film noir director of such films as Grand Central Station, I Love Trouble and Washington Melodrama. Archie Stout who would win an Oscar along with Winton C. Hoch for their photography in The Quiet Man is this film's cinematographer. Ida Lupino would tap Stout to be the cinematographer of her directorial debut in Never Fear, the first of three films they would do together. I would give this an 8.5 out of 10.