Desert Gold (1936)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I picked this film up because I've discovered that I like actor Tom Keene. When I put it in and started it I was a bit confused since the billing in this film is a bit odd. Buster Crabbe is listed first as the star, but he has a key role that's actually a supporting role. Bob Cummings is listed second or third but is the goofy side kick. The hero of the tale, Tom Keene is listed fourth or fifth. I shouldn't have been concerned since once the film gets going Keene steps to the forefront.The plot of the film has a bad guy trying to get the location of a hidden Indian goldmine from chief Crabbe. Crabbe won't give it up because he's been warned by the Indian council white people are not to be trusted. Meanwhile mining engineer Keene and his assistant Cummings have been hired by the same no good nick to find the mine and excavate the gold. Keene of course changes sides once he finds out what is really going on, falling in love with the bad guys girl in the process.An action packed film, with a healthy dose of comedy this is a solid little western that really works. I liked how the film keeps moving. It never stops it just goes from one thing to the next building as it goes. Even the comedy, which can be a bit much, is often used to build character or to move the plot along.This is a brisk moving winner

"Desert Gold" was another in the series of well produced 60 minute (or less) Zane Grey adaptations that Paramount turned out in the 1930s. Although there are considered "B" films, they had bigger budgets, better production values and a vast store of stock footage to set them above the average "B" western.The story starts out with Maya (Buster Crabbe) being made chief of the local Indian tribe. It seems that there is a hidden gold mine on Indian grounds and villain Chet Kasedon (Monte Blue) is after it. Kasedon has sent for mining engineer Randolph Gale (Tom Keene) to help him find the mine.Aboard the stagecoach with Gale are the comely young Judith Belding (Marsha Hunt) who, as it turns out is engaged to marry Kasedon. Travelling with Gale is his assistant, now get this, Fordyce Mortimer (Robert Cummings in an early role) and Judith's father Doc Belding, the town doctor.At first Gale is unaware of Kasedon's misdeeds but when he finds him whipping Maya to make him talk, he promptly switches sides and pursues Judith on the side.It's fun to watch these old films and see up and coming players in early roles. Cummings though a little over the top is nonetheless hilarious as the comic relief. Marsha Hunt was never prettier as the heroine. Keene does a creditable job as the hero. Its interesting to note that when RKO revived the Zane Grey series in the mid 40s, Keene, who had by then re-invented himself as Richard Powers, played the villain in a couple of installments.Watch for Leif (billed as "Glenn") Erikson as Kasedon's brother and Si Jenks in a hilarious bit as the stagecoach driver. Veteran heavy Walter Miller also appears as (what else?) one of the bag guys.Pleasant little film with great outdoor photography.

Western fans, especially John Wayne fans, remember in Chisum when newly arrived storekeeper Andrew Prine after seeing Forrest Tucker's business methods changes his mind and goes to work for Wayne. The premise for the whole plot of the Zane Grey story Desert Gold is just about the same.Tom Keene and tenderfoot sidekick Robert Cummings come out west and take one look at Monte Blue's methods and decide not to work for him. Coming west on the same stage is Marsha Hunt who is to marry Blue. Of course she starts to have some second thoughts as well.Keene and Cummings are mining engineers and what Blue is after is a secret mine that the local Indians have access to. What they witness is Indian chief Buster Crabbe tied to a post and being whipped by Blue to divulge the location of his mine. I don't think I have to mention any more.In that series of Zane Grey stories that Paramount filmed in the Thirties this one is one of the best. It's got plenty of western gunplay to satisfy any fan of the genre. And it is one of the first roles of substance for Robert Cummings.Television fans remember Cummings for his Love That Bob show from the Fifties, a TV Land classic. Some of the comic timing is plainly evident in his sidekick role. And that's unique too. Sidekicks are usually the salty oldtimers. But Cummings has some very funny moments as the fish out of water tenderfoot in the old west. He shoots at a gopher snake and misses because he mistakes him for a rattlesnake. After getting a lecture by Keane about gopher snakes he nearly gets himself killed by a real rattler. Of course Cummings is of little help in that final gun battle with the bad guys. When he thinks he's wounded, that's another funny moment.Zane Grey aficionados should have little to complain about this one.

This is not bad at all for a low-budget Western, with a decent story and an interesting combination of names in the cast. The plot of "Desert Gold" is based on a story by Zane Grey, and the movie version is not unworthy of Grey's skilled story-telling.The story follows the search for a mine owned by an Indian tribe, which several different parties would like to get their hands on. Although some of it is predictable, there are some interesting conflicts and battles of wits along the way.Tom Keene, as a mining engineer, has one of his better roles, in that it gives him opportunities to work with a wider variety of material than he had in many of his B-movies. It is quite interesting to see Robert Cummings in one of his early roles, as Keene's youthful assistant, who is new to the West. As written, Cummings' character is pretty goofy, but it's a good role for him, and he makes the character work well. Buster Crabbe has a smaller but worthwhile role as an educated Indian, and Marsha Hunt also is pretty good in a smaller role.This is one of the better movies of its era and genre, and there should be enough here to make it worth watching for those who enjoy the Westerns of the era.