LUST FOR GOLD

US, 1949, 90 minutes, Black and white.
Ida Lupino, Glenn Ford, Gig Young, William Prince, Edgar Buchanan, Will Geer, Paul Ford.
Directed by S. Sylvan Simon.

Lust for Gold begins in the 1940s, focuses on a celebrated Lost Dutchman goldmine in Arizona and then goes back to the story of the origins of the mine, the search by Jacob Walz, a Dutchman who gained gold, fell in love – and lost.

The film serves as a western with the touch of the film noir so popular at this period of American film-making. It also serves as a moral parable, especially concerning human greed. It is interesting to note that the previous year John Huston made The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, the classic film about the search for gold, loss and greed.

The film has a strong cast with Glenn Ford, very popular at this time, and veteran actress Ida Lupino, who had appeared in a number of strong films in the late 30s and 1940s for Warner Bros.

The film was directed by S. Sylvan Simon who made a number of low-budget films in the 30s and 40s, a number of Red Skelton and Abbott and Costello comedies. Lust for Gold was his last film as he died of a heart attack in 1951, aged forty-one.

1. The impact of the title? The style of the film? was it too old-fashioned? the story? The explanation before and after it? The style of the commentary and its perhaps overwrought vocabulary?

2. Comment on the structure of the film. The nature of so many complications of motivation because of the means of their being explored? Was this effective or too complex?

3, The film began with a murder. This was not solved until the end. Did it give suspense to the film? How?

4. How well was the theme of gold and greed developed in the film? the initial death and the report of other deaths? The flashback of the traditions of lust for gold? How moralising was the film in this way? Did this matter?

5. The significance of the flashbacks to the Indians and the explanation of their heritage, religious customs and the gold? The superstitious and religious overtones for later seekers of the gold? Was this important for the film?

6. What kind of a person was Jack? His greed for the gold? the uglier aspects of his personality? with the child? Audience sympathy for him as being betrayed by Julia and her husband? His loss of the gold and the irony of this? Was Jacob a strong enough central character to make the film stand?

7. The impressions of Julia? her seeming sincerity? The nature of her deceit? The greatness of her greed? the irony of her hold over Pete? The punishment of her death? Was she a strongly drawn character sustaining the film?

8. The importance of Pete and his dependence on Julia? The fact that she turned against him? The significance of the shooting and the twists of plot as each manipulated the other? The sequences where he and Julia were thirsty? Was Pete a typical weak character? Why?

9. Why did Thomas go after the gold, was he a strong or a weak character? His ambitions to find the gold? The final clash with the villain? Was the gold worth his trouble?

10. Were you surprised that he was being used by the sheriff to discover the killer? Did the sheriff have the right to use him in this way, considering that someone had been killed?

11. Was the sheriff's fight important for the film? How was it filmed? Suspenseful? Far-fetched? The snake? Or was it appropriate for this kind of film?

12. Were there too many coincidences in the film? Did this matter? Is the film better seen as a parable of lust for gold rather than as being realistic?

13. What values did the film stand for? Was it appropriate moralising? Was it entertaining?