The Naked Hills

Released Jun 17, 1956

1 hr. 13 min.

Western

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Tracy Powell (David Wayne) is an Indiana farmer with an insatiable thirst for gold. Inspired by the California Gold Rush, Powell sets out for Stockton, Calif., leaving behind the only life he has ever known. But, failing to find his fortune, he returns to Indiana, farming and the loving arms of his girlfriend, Julie (Marcia Henderson). Sadly, even the birth of his son cannot assuage his gold fever. Before long, Powell has once again headed west -- this time leaving behind a wife and child.

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Prospector western, that's never dull, but never great, and told in the 3rd person. It's a b-movie.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

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From The Mill Creek 50 Westerns Collection. Film is listed as being in color but this copy was in Black and White, The Naked Hills follows the four seasons of one man's life from youth to old age without bothering to worry too much about ageing the character who plays the lead role. David Wayne is our hero, and the only thing that occasionally saves him from blandness is the fact that he is so badly miscast. Hearing other characters call him 'son' and 'boy' when they are quite clearly the same age - or possibly even younger - than him just makes everyone look faintly ridiculous. The fact that Wayne isn't a particularly good or charismatic actor doesn't help either. Watching him struggle through the role you can't help thinking what a better job someone like Alan Ladd would have made of the role. Wayne plays a young man seduced by the lure of easy riches when gold is struck in the wild and woolly west. He heads there with his best friend, but they soon go their separate ways when, blinded by his desire for wealth, Wayne falls in with bad guy Keenan Wynn. Together they steal a claim from a couple of Mexicans and work it for themselves, only for Wynn to double-cross him when it comes to payday. Wayne finds himself a good woman and tries to settle down to a life of domesticity, but the call of the gold in them thar hills proves too much for him and it's not long before he's abandoning wife and young son for another attempt with his new best friend Jimmo (a great performance from James Barton). For a while it looks like he has struck lucky, but things soon take a turn for the worse. The film's main theme - the overriding and destructive desire for wealth portrayed as an addiction - is fairly timeless, I suppose, and it's doubtful that, human nature being what it is, we will ever learn much from cautionary tales such as this. To hammer home the destructive qualities of Wayne's obsession his greed for gold is paralleled with his appetite for booze. To be fair to Wayne he makes a pretty good drunk: he allows his eyes to cross ever so slightly and adopts a vaguely quizzical expression. And while the theme is a righteous one, it's diluted by the fact that the film skips over the early scenes so that we know nothing about Wayne's character before gold fever grips him. Considering the film is quite clearly made on the cheap, it's entertaining enough, but you won't remember much about it after a week or two. 3 Stars 9-27-13

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

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Josef Shaftel

Director

David Wayne

Tracy Powell

Keenan Wynn

Sam Wilkins

James Barton

Jimmo McCann

Marcia Henderson

Julie

Jim Backus

Willis Haver

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

A mediocre morality lesson Western set in California during the Gold Rush.

Rated: C

Sep 25, 2017

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Synopsis

Tracy Powell (David Wayne) is an Indiana farmer with an insatiable thirst for gold. Inspired by the California Gold Rush, Powell sets out for Stockton, Calif., leaving behind the only life he has ever known. But, failing to find his fortune, he returns to Indiana, farming and the loving arms of his girlfriend, Julie (Marcia Henderson). Sadly, even the birth of his son cannot assuage his gold fever. Before long, Powell has once again headed west -- this time leaving behind a wife and child.

Director: Josef Shaftel
Screenwriter: Josef Shaftel
Distributor: Allied Artists Pictures
Production Co: La Salle Productions
Genre: Western
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 17, 1956, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 11, 2016

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