Gold (1934 film)

Gold

German theatrical poster for Gold
Directed by Karl Hartl
Written by Rolf E. Vanloo[1]
Music by Hans-Otto Borgmann
Cinematography

[1]

Edited by Wolfgang Becker[1]
Production
company
Release dates
  • 29 March 1934 (1934-03-29) (Germany)
Running time
 120 minutes
Country Germany

Gold is a 1934 German science fiction film directed by Karl Hartl. The film involves a British scientist who is attempting to create a device that turns base materials into gold. He later forces the German scientist's assistant Werner Holk (Hans Albers), who was working on a similar experiment, to come to his underwater nuclear reactor to help him.

Gold was made in both German-language and French-language versions with Brigitte Helm reprising her role in both.

Plot

In the United Kingdom, a British scientist is convinced that one can turn base materials into gold by using a giant underwater atomic reactor. A German scientist also works on a similar experiment but is killed by a mysterious explosion. His assistant Werner Holk (Hans Albers) is then taken in by the British scientist and forced to work on the project. The project eventually works but later malfunctions which leads the British scientist to destroy his plant and all who remain in it. Holk manages to escape in the last minute with the alchemist's daughter Florence (Brigitte Helm) before a flood destroys the area.

Production

Director Karl Hartl developed Gold after the international success of his previous science fiction film Der Tunnel.[2] Gold was the studio Universum Film AG's superproduction of that time and reportedly took 14 months to shoot.[3] Actor Hans Albers sued the production asking for nearly double his salary but lost the case.[3] During this production time, a French-language version of the film was also made which kept Brigitte Helm as the lead actress but changed many of the supporting characters roles.[4]

Cast

German-language version

[1]

French-language version

[5]

Release

Gold premiered in Berlin at the Ufa-Palast am Zoo theater on 29 March 1934.[1] The French-language version was shown on 1 June 1934.[5] When the film was reviewed by the Allied Censorship boards after World War II, the viewers pondered whether German scientists had been able to build a nuclear reactor long before it was originally thought they did.[3] Parts of the stock footage scenes in Gold were later used again in the 1953 American film The Magnetic Monster.[4]

Reception

In 1934, the New York Times gave the film a positive review stating "So well is this mixture of pseudo science, love and near-love photographed that persons ignorant of German need have no fear of inability to follow the action of "Gold" and "the audience is kept interested in the steps leading up to the dénouement, despite the inordinate length of the film."[6] Wonder Stories praised Gold as "a masterful scientifilm fantasy".[7]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Gold". Filmportal.de. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  2. ↑ Hull, 1969. p.56
  3. 1 2 3 Hull, 1969. p.57
  4. 1 2 Erickson, Hal. "Gold". Allmovie. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  5. 1 2 "L'Or". Filmportal.de. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  6. ↑ "Gold (1934) A German Gold-Making Film". New York Times. 22 October 1934. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  7. ↑ "Movie Review", Wonder Stories, February 1935, p.1147

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 08, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.