John and Janet get a weird letter telling them to go to a ghost town which has an abandoned mine. There they contend with bad guys looking for hidden gold. They are aided by a mysterious Pha... Read allJohn and Janet get a weird letter telling them to go to a ghost town which has an abandoned mine. There they contend with bad guys looking for hidden gold. They are aided by a mysterious Phantom.John and Janet get a weird letter telling them to go to a ghost town which has an abandoned mine. There they contend with bad guys looking for hidden gold. They are aided by a mysterious Phantom.
- Ranch Hand
- (uncredited)
- Cowhand
- (uncredited)
- Rider
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- Bud
- (uncredited)
- Bill Carter
- (uncredited)
- Slim
- (uncredited)
Featured reviews
It also gives Blue Washington the chance for some great "scared reaction" comedy (ala' Mantan Moreland or Willie Best).
I don't much care for westerns, but the "supernatural" elements in this film make it worth watching!
Spooky town, sliding panels, mysterious tunnels, spooky eyes, and a phantom all have to be dealt with in this film. More still unrealistic characters, stilted dialog, and a suggestion that the phantom had a watermelon accent.
The basic story is different owners and quasi owners of an abandoned gold mine were invited by cryptic letters promising it is worth the trip. One of the owners of the mine is a young John Wayne.
If you are wondering why Duke is a better actor than most of the other characters, that is because he had six moves in his acting career and dialog aside has the most visual cliffhanger action. One of the most memorable scenes in this film is when Clarence (Blue Washington) is in a phantom suite and Duke is ready to kill. Clarence asks, "Duke don't you recognize me," and Duke shakes his head no. Clarence takes off the phantom hood and asks Duke again. This time Duke shakes his head yes.
This has all the feel of a serial. And we are not sure it will wrap up.
He then finds himself taking on some bandits in a haunted mine with a crazy catacomb of tunnels, under a ghost town, complete with creepy shadows, trap doors, secret passages & even organ music. As stated above it's just a fun who-dun-it. A weird kind of mix of mystery meets western. To the best of my recollection this had never been done prior to this movie ... and even if it had it was still a bit refreshing for me.
There's great spooky atmosphere in the early scenes but the scary stuff is soon abandoned in favor of a more conventional tale featuring bandits and the theft of a gold mine.
The photography and sets are exquisite and the action scenes are top-notch, even if the script is typical. Fans of John Wayne and nineteen-thirties B-westerns will find it interesting if not entirely spectacular.
However, Haunted Gold is tainted a bit by the racial stereotypes represented by Wayne's annoying sidekick Clarence, played by Blue Washington. The modern viewer might get a little embarrassed while watching it.
There's a mysterious 'phantom' at work and Haunted Gold is starting to bare a resemblance to Abbott and Costello's Hold That Ghost. Never mind that it's a remake of an old Ken Maynard silent western.
The comedy here comes from Blue Washington who plays Clarence Washington Brown, cook at Wayne's ranch and self-appointed bodyguard to his person. Sad to say that Blue Washington conforms generally to prevalent black stereotypes of the period. But actually if you take away the racial component, Washington really does act a whole lot like Lou Costello.
As in all of Wayne's Warner Brothers films of the time, the Duke is aided and abetted by Duke the Wonder Horse. Most exciting scene is a fight with John Wayne and one of Harry Woods's gang of bad guys in a cable car above the mine. Duke the Horse comes to Wayne's rescue twice during that scene, actually quite exciting.
It's too bad the racial stereotyping was there, but wouldn't a film with John Wayne with Lou Costello as a sidekick been real interesting? The mind boggles.
Did you know
- TriviaThe statuette of the Maltese Falcon, previously used in the original version of The Maltese Falcon (1931) can be seen in the background inside the house several times and very prominently in the scene where the film's heroine, Sheila Terry, is playing the organ.
- Quotes
Joe Ryan: Benedict, just why are you back in town? And what are you trying to pull, up at the Mary-Ann?
Benedict: No one's been near that worthless mine for years
Joe Ryan: I'm not so sure it's worthless. You ain't hanging on here for nothing.
Benedict: Joe Ryan, your father was a bad man in this town. What are you trying to do - live up to his record?
Joe Ryan: Listen to me you old carcass, there's plenty of gold in that mine somewhere, and half of it belongs to me. And I've got a deed right here to prove it.
Benedict: Yes, and I got a pretty good idea how you got it
Joe Ryan: Why you old...
[he grabs Benedict as if to strike him]
John Mason: Just a minute...
Joe Ryan: And who invited you into this game?
John Mason: Looked to me like someone was getting a dirty deal. Just thought I'd cut in.
Joe Ryan: Cutting in here ain't the healthiest thing you could do.
John Mason: Well, I'll take that chance. You boys better get moving.
- Crazy creditsDuke is listed 2nd in the opening credits (above the title) but not mentioned in the comprehensive cast list. IMDb's policy for such a case is to list the opening credits first and fill in the rest with the comprehensive list.
- Alternate versionsTurner Classic Movies (TCM) has been showing a re-released version of this film (the PCA certificate number ends with "R" on it). The original version has Erville Alderson's name misspelled as "Anderson." That version was broadcast on TCM's sister station, TNT, in 1990.
- ConnectionsEdited from The Phantom City (1928)
Details
- Runtime58 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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