Black Gold | |
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![]() Film poster | |
Directed by | Phil Karlson |
Written by | Agnes Christine Johnston, Caryl Coleman |
Produced by | Jeffrey Bernerd |
Starring | Anthony Quinn Katherine DeMille Raymond Hatton |
Cinematography | Harry Neumann |
Edited by | Roy V. Livingston |
Music by | Edward J. Kay |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Allied Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Black Gold is a 1947 American drama western film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Anthony Quinn, Katherine DeMille and Raymond Hatton. [1] It was the first Monogram Pictures film released under the Allied Artists banner and had the highest budget in Monogram's history at the time. [2] It was also the first leading role for Anthony Quinn. [3]
Charley, an Indian, finds a Chinese boy, Davey, and adopts him. Charley has a mare, Black Hope, with whom he wishes to win the Kentucky Derby, so he trains Davey as a jockey.
The film was loosely based on the true story of the horse Black Gold, who won the 1924 Kentucky Derby. [3]
Karlson later said: "I made such a strong statement that the Indian nations all picked it up. They realized what we were saying in there. The average guy that would go see a motion picture in those days went to see entertainment. We weren't making statements, we were making cops 'n' robbers and good guys and bad guys. But to look at something and see the truth, for a change, was something that was unusual in those days." [2]
Karlson also said that the film took a year to make because "I wanted the seasons. I went to Churchill Downs for the Derby and had to do the races here, and I had to get some desert scenes... a lot of time lapses in the picture." [2] He directed four other films while making Black Gold. [2]
Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca, better known by his stage name Anthony Quinn, was an American actor. Born in Mexico to a Mexican mother and a first-generation Irish-Mexican father, he was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental virility" in numerous critically acclaimed films both in Hollywood and abroad. His notable films include La Strada (1954), The Guns of Navarone (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Guns for San Sebastian (1968), The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968), The Message (1976), Lion of the Desert (1980), Jungle Fever (1991) and Seven Servants (1996). He also had an Oscar-nominated title role in Zorba the Greek (1964).
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