HAUNTED GOLD
US, 1932, 59 minutes, Black and white.
John Wayne, Jean Terry, Blue Washington.
Directed by Mack V. Wright.
This is a slight film, a western context but something of a haunted house scenario. Hence the title. The film is of interest only historically and because of its place in John Wayne’s career.
John Wayne had appeared in a number of westerns and made this one at the age of 25. These were his roles in the 1930s but his career changed with John Ford’s 1939 Stagecoach. During the 1940s, he was a prominent star in all kinds of genres, westerns, dramas, comedies, war films – and this was to continue throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
He plays the part owner of a goldmine but has never bothered to check out the mine until he receives a mysterious note, signed by The Phantom. When he arrived in the town, he finds a young woman whose father was a co-owner of the mine, some mysterious characters in an old mansion, as well as a gang of crooks, led by man whose father swindled the girl’s father out of his share in the mine. They have all been summoned by The Phantom – and, throughout the film, in the vein of haunted house films, a slide opens and eyes appear, looking at all that is going on.
Within the short space of time, there is some action, a touch of romance, the revelation of the mystery of The Phantom – the girl’s father having served a jail sentence has returned. There is a great deal of rough-and-tumble, John Wayne being tied up, falling down mineshafts, some action in a stunt on a trolley in mid-air, but this is 1932 and there are not so many precedents for this kind of thing. Wayne is amiable and a screen presence but it took a long time for him to make a broad impact.
Of greater interest in retrospect is the character of Clarence, Wayne’s sidekick, played by the African-American? actor, Blue Washington. A lot of his style is in the bug-eyed fear and shock mode popular at the time. He has a whole lot of slapstick comedy, being terrified by ghosts and phantoms. He is referred to by the thugs as “Darky” and is asked to wait outside in the hallway at times. However, despite the stereotypes, he has a significant role as Wayne’s partner and in the rescues, another step in the presentation of African-Americans? in American movies.
