Synopsis
Using an atomic reactor, two scientists try to create gold.
Gold
1934 Directed by Karl Hartl
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Spoilers ahead.
Only superficially about making precious metal, Karl Hartl's Gold is much more interested in a pair of moral dilemmas than it is in alchemy. The first is a philosophical one: what are the global costs of unlimited gold production? Who does it hurt? Does anyone care?
The second is personal, the one faced by Werner Holk (Hans Albers) after the machine he and his mentor Professor Achenbach have created to turn lead into gold explodes on its final test, an act of sabotage that takes the life of Achenbach and nearly kills Holk. With the machine gone and Achenbach's reputation in tatters, Holk is driven by twin desires: to seek out the man responsible for the sabotage and…
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A serious revenge-driven German science fiction thriller from the 30s starring the always great Hans Albers and Brigitte 'Maria from Metropolis' Helm. The set design is beautiful and everything feels like a big extravagant production that just looks epic in scale.
Hans Albers is fantastic and has both his usual fun coolness and an intensity of a man willing to do whatever it takes. His speech near the end is amazing.
It's always so nice to see classic German movies embracing genre elements and including social commentary and this is a great one. -
About 3/4 of the way through this film, director Karl Hartl and editor Wolfgang Becker include a newspaper/newsreel montage that crystallizes the stakes of the story and reminds viewers that it’s more a product of the Great Depression than the Nazi regime. (Reportedly, Gold was in production for 14 or 15 months, its March 1934 release date meaning UFA was working on it before Hitler came to power at the end of January 1933.) Working with unscrupulous millionaire Michael Bohnen, scientist Hans Albers has perfected a process that enables him to transform lead into gold. Bohnen promises the wealth produced through this process will usher in a new golden age, but the news throws ordinary citizens around the world into a…
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"Gold" drehte Karl Hartl, wie auch den vorherigen großen deutschen SF-Film "F.P.1 antwortet nicht" (1932), ebenfalls mit Hans Albers - ein Genre, das im Dritten Reich sonderbarerweise massiv vernachlässigt wurde, obwohl es sich leicht propagandistisch instrumentalisieren ließe. "Gold" ist weitgehend frei von Propaganda und erzählt seine Geschichte um die Transformation von Blei in Gold glaubwürdig, aber auch geschwätzig. Gleichzeitig werden nach erfolgreicher Erfindung die drohenden Auswirkungen auf die Weltwirtschaft thematisiert, wenn mit einem Goldpreisverfall und mit Inflation gerechnet wird. Der Film stellt dem charmanten und maskulinen Hans Albers die nicht minder starke Brigitte Helm an die Seite, bekannt aus "Metropolis" (Lang 1927) und bereits in einer ihrer letzten Rollen, da sich sich 1936 aus der Schauspielerei zurückzog. Der Film wirkt…
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(Old prospector storms out of movie theater, glares at marquee)
Prospector: Whizzled by a Dutchman’s fancy! (spits)
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Large-scale revenge picture that doubles as a critique of currency manipulating elites. The bigness of the picture, including it’s STILL incredible finale, impresses. The expressive cast makes one wish modern filmmakers would consider the power of a film actor’s face.
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Finalement, toutes les scènes les plus impressionnantes de The Magnetic Monster sont tirées de Gold – un film de science-fiction produit sous le régime nazi dans lequel les Britanniques tentent de voler le secret de l'alchimie à des savants allemands en plus d'être entièrement responsables d'une crise économique mondiale. Les gens qui pensent que ce n'est pas de la propagande ne comprennent visiblement rien au populisme de droite, mais ça reste un film fascinant qui fait constamment écho au Metropolis de Fritz Lang.
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Expressionist-film realpolitik deteriorating along with the collapse of the Weimar state -- the Langian qualities are starting to curdle into a low-budget, mass-market sensibility, Monogram kind of thing. The madscience lab is pretty dazzling and the last reel goes all-out in somatic intensity; I'd worry it could trigger epileptic seizures. Dayumm.,
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Spannender SF Thriller mit Hans Albert und Brigitte Helm.
Albers spielt wie gewohnt den lässigen Held mit schief sitzendem Schlapphut. Die Schurken kommen (wie häufig zu der Zeit) aus Großbritannien.
Leider lässt der Film kein Spielraum fürs selber Denken. Jede Motivation der Figuren wird bis ins kleinste Detail auserklärt. Aber Spaß hat er trotzdem gemacht.
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Wonderfully pulpy science-fiction revenge film, that has a great sense of scale via the impressive sets. Hans Albers impressively carries the film, and though the two hour runtime seems a little drawn out for a film that would have been handled as a 70-80 minute cheapie thriller by Universal or Warner, I wasn't put off by the time taken to develop the story. I got a bit of the vibe of the Rialto krimi films, though those films never approached the scale of Gold.
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German Sci-fi! With Brigitte Helm in one of the parts. Wish she'd been more part of the plot because Helm always looks amazing on screen. There is just something about the 'Metropolis girl' that makes her look like a goddess. Instead of her we get to look at an older German dude most of the time. That being Hans Albers as the scientist that can make gold using atomic power.
While Gold does drags a little in some places and could need some more tension-editing in the suspense parts, Karl Hartl still makes a interesting and entertaining movie about greed, revenge and cool looking machinery. This sci-fi is more elegant then mad-professor based, but it's got little elements to love all over the place and I'm sure with just a few minor tweaks and plot adjustments Gold would still be on peoples lips and not almost forgotten like it is today. -
Schöne Bühenbauten, Albers geht bei mir ohnehin quasi immer und zum Schluss sogar ein paar Blicke auf Warnemünde.
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