Lust For Gold (1949) Movie Review, Cast & Crew, Film Summary

Crackerjack little film noir-western-true crime thriller based on the legend of the Lost Dutchman mine in the Superstition Mountain of Arizona. It’s taken from a book by Barry Storm, played in the bookend sequences by William Prince, a money-hungry but decent descendent of the legendary Dutchman. He stumbles upon contemporary murder in the rugged, lonely locale. In researching the area’s history, he hears the grim story of the Dutchman himself, Jacob Waltz (Glenn Ford), who killed three men on discovering the buried treasure, originally excavated by a family of Mexican prospectors who were killed by an Apache raid. Waltz is a true noir anti-hero; he’s actually a desperately lonely, paranoid immigrant who gets sucked in by his own personal femme fatale, baker’s wife Julia Thomas (Ida Lupino), whilst her hubby (Gig Young) seethes, awaiting the chance to seize the gold. Both storylines build to violent, intense finales.