Gold (1974)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Peter R. Hunt

Writers:

Wilbur Smith (screenplay) and
Stanley Price (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

16 October 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

The world's most daring conspiracy against the world's most precious metal! And only one man can stop it!

Plot:

Rod Slater is the newly appointed general manager of the Sonderditch gold mine, but he stumbles across an ingenious plot to flood the mine...

Plot Keywords:

Gold | South Africa | Nudity | Mining Accident | Ambulance

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Roger Moore	...	Rod Slater
Susannah York	...	Terry Steyner
Ray Milland	...	Hurry Hirschfeld
Bradford Dillman	...	Manfred Steyner
John Gielgud	...	Farrell
Tony Beckley	...	Stephen Marais
Simon Sabela	...	Big King
Marc Smith	...	Tex Kiernan
John Hussey	...	Plummer
Bernard Horsfall	...	Dave Kowalski
Bill Brewer	...	Aristide
Norman Coombes	...	Lemmer
George Jackson	...	Mine Doctor
Ken Hare	...	Jackson
Ralph Loubser	...	Mine Captain

Also Known As:

The Great Gold Conspiracy (USA)

Runtime:

120 min | USA:119 min (DVD)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 | Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | UK:A (original rating) | UK:12 (video rating) | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Johannesburg Airport, South Africa

Company:

Avton Films

Trivia:

Roger Moore was reluctant to accept the role at first, owing to the character being a cigarette smoker (he had recently stopped smoking cigarettes and gravitated to Monte Cristo cigars). As it was necessary for Rod Slater's character to smoke cigarettes rather than cigars Moore's objection was overruled, though his smoking scenes were reduced to a bare minimum.

Quotes:

[having knocked Kowalski cold]
Rod Slater: Kowalski! Kowalski!
[slaps him]
Rod Slater: KOWALSKI! The next time you touch a face darker than mine, you're out!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge: (#1.1)" (1994)

Soundtrack:

WHEREVER LOVE TAKES ME

A gripping and very entertaining mining thriller.

Gold is a superb adaptation of Wilbur Smith's novel. The plot concerns a group of greed-driven businessmen conspiring to flood a South African gold mine.

Roger Moore is terrific as our mine manager hero (and unknowing pawn) and he shares an entertaining chemistry with co-star, Susannah York. Bradford Dillman also impresses in his role as one of the more conflicted of the conspirators. With Ray Milland, Sir John Gielgud and Simon Sabela supporting, it's a great cast all round.

Director Peter Hunt (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) ensures that the audience feels the ominous, claustrophobic atmosphere of the mine, and he doesn't shy away from showing the impact of a flood in such surroundings. Along with Hunt, many James Bond veterans worked on Gold, and this shows particularly in how smoothly the location work in South Africa has been integrated with the soundstage work at Pinewood.

Composer Elmer Bernstein uses Jimmy Helms' title song as an orchestral theme to stirring effect, while Maurice Binder (another Bond veteran) gets the ball rolling with his uniquely designed opening credits.

Gold comes highly recommended!