Lust for Gold (1949)

The Lost Dutchman Mine is a fascinating legend from the 19th century. Gold is said to be buried somewhere in the Superstition Mountains, near Phoenix, in the Arizona desert. If this film had really been about the legend, it could have been as poetic and mysterious as the old song by Walter Brennan, "Dutchman's Gold".Alas, the film script, while it is set in the right geographic location, veers away from the legend too much and into a dreary love triangle between three scoundrels. That's my main complaint. The opening narrator, Barry Storm (William Prince), is not the main character. 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. They play two of the three scoundrels in the love triangle. None of this middle Act has much to do with the Lost Dutchman legend, except as backstory, which is told in one very long flashback, and initiated by a minor character. 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 had to research the topic afterwards to determine that an earthquake apparently did occur during the time period, as the film suggests. But the true-life existence of some characters is highly questionable. Also, the main geologic landmark in the area, Weavers Needle, looks nothing at all like it is portrayed in the film. Thus, the film is as frustrating and confusing as the legend. The best Act is probably the third, which has some good suspense, as two characters fight one another on a high cliff.B&W photography and acting are acceptable. Production design is largely irrelevant. Background music consists mostly of nondescript elevator music, common in old movies. 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.

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. While visiting a nursing home for some of the old pioneer settlers, Prince hears about his grandfather who had in fact run out on his grandmother and child to search for gold in Arizona. Ford is one evil man in this, one of his few times he plays a bad guy. 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. The modern story however, the ending for the murderer on Superstition Mountain will haunt you forever once you've seen it. 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.

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.

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!