The Way to the Gold (1957)

Joe Mundy is being released from prison and an old convict, whom he has befriended, tells him the location of a stolen cache of gold. Leaving the prison, Joe is followed to Glendale, ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert D. Webb

Writers:

Wendell Mayes (screenplay), Wilbur Daniel Steele (novel)

Stars:

Jeffrey Hunter, Sheree North, Barry Sullivan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeffrey Hunter	...	Joe Mundy
Sheree North	...	Henrietta 'Hank' Clifford, waitress
Barry Sullivan	...	Marshal Hannibal
Walter Brennan	...	Uncle George Williams
Neville Brand	...	Little Brother Williams
Jacques Aubuchon	...	Clem Williams
Ruth Donnelly	...	Mrs. Williams
Tom Pittman	...	Sid Songster Jr.
Philip Ahn	...	Mr. Ding, cafe owner
Geraldo Mandia	...	Brokaw
Ted Edwards	...	Sid Songster Sr.
Alan Jeffrey	...	Brokaw's driver
Ken Scott	...	Intern
Jonathan Hole	...	Mr. Felton
Frank Mazzola	...	Teenager

Storyline

Joe Mundy is being released from prison and an old convict, whom he has befriended, tells him the location of a stolen cache of gold. Leaving the prison, Joe is followed to Glendale, Arizona by Little Brother Williams. There Joe meets Henrietta Clifford, a waitress, who befriends him after he is badly beaten by Williams. Marshal Hannibal questions Joe, who is unable to identify his assailant. At the boarding house where Henrietta is staying, Joe meets Mrs. Williams and her sons, Little Brother and Clem. Mrs. Williams' husband had participated in the gold robbery but had been killed before he could reveal the location of the cache. Joe also encounters Uncle George, Mrs. Williams' eccentric brother. Joe and Henrietta leave town to find the gold and are followed by the marshal. The two come to a road where they find Mrs. Williams, her sons and Uncle George waiting for them with a shotgun, and order them to proceed to the gold. (But not before Joe is beaten up by Little Brother for the ...

---

Plot Keywords:

lake mead | u.s. marshal | treasure hunt | women fight | beating | 

---

Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 May 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Spur zum Gold

Filming Locations:

Arizona State Prison - 1305 E. Butte Avenue, Florence, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A January 1957 Hollywood Reporter news item adds that Frank Eyman, the warden of the Arizona State Prison, and Leo Hochstatter, the Captain of the Guards, appeared as themselves in the prison scenes filmed at the state penitentiary in Florence, AZ.

---

Soundtracks

"Strange Weather"
Music by Lionel Newman
Lyrics by Carroll Coates

User Reviews

Williams Family Values

Before leaving prison Jeffrey Hunter is told where a huge cache of buried gold, loot from a robbery that the old man who was Hunter's cell-mate stole and hid before he was caught. Hunter gets out with memorized directions on The Way To The Gold.

This is a neat though low budget story of Hunter's quest for instant riches. His problem is that as it turns out when he gets to town he boards with a family named Williams whose relatives have a branch that we see over in Deliverance. There's Mama Ruth Donnelly, her fine scholarly cosmopolitan sons Jacques Aubuchon and Neville Brand and crazy old Uncle Walter Brennan. Donnelly's husband and Brennan's brother was in on the job, but he was killed and they've spent close to thirty years looking for the loot.

Hunter's only friend is hash house slinging waitress Sheree North who also boards with the inbreds. And there's a very shrewd sheriff played by Barry Sullivan who's just watching and waiting to see how things break.

The Way To The Gold is a really good film despite what I think was a miscast Jeffrey Hunter. Hunter was too white bread for the part of an ex-con. Paul Newman or Steve McQueen would have feasted on this part.

And you'll love the genteel family Williams.