The Girl of the Golden West (1938 film)

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The Girl of the Golden West
The-girl-of-the-golden-west-1938.jpg
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard
Written by Isabel Dawn
Boyce DeGaw
Based on The Girl of the Golden West
1905 play
by David Belasco
Produced byRobert Z. Leonard
William Anthony McGuire
Starring Jeanette MacDonald
Nelson Eddy
Walter Pidgeon
Cinematography Oliver T. Marsh
Edited by W. Donn Hayes
Music by Herbert Stothart
Production
company
Distributed by Loew's, Inc.
Release date
  • March 16, 1938 (1938-03-16)(Los Angeles) [1]
Running time
121 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,680,000 [2] [3]
Box office$1,597,000 (Domestic earnings) [2]
$1,285,000 (Foreign earnings) [2]

The Girl of the Golden West is a 1938 American musical Western film adapted from the 1905 play of the same name by David Belasco, better known for providing the plot of the opera La fanciulla del West by Giacomo Puccini. A frontier woman falls in love with an outlaw. [4]

Contents

Plot

In a remote mining camp in California, a group of miners seek their fortune during the Gold Rush. The miners frequent a saloon run by Mary, who is known as the "Girl of the Golden West" and is beloved by the miners.

Notorious bandit and outlaw Dick Johnson arrives in town under the alias of Ramirez. He is on the run from the law, and when he takes refuge in Mary's saloon, he and Mary quickly fall in love. Mary, unaware of his true identity, shelters and protects him.

Sheriff Jack Rance, who is infatuated with Mary, becomes suspicious of the newcomer and starts investigating Dick's background. Rance discovers Dick's true identity and plans to capture him. Mary, torn between her love for Dick and her loyalty to the miners and her sense of justice, must make a difficult choice. When Jack shoots Dick , Mary hides him in the loft of her cabin. Blood dripping through the ceiling alerts Jack to Dick's presence while Dick lies unconscious on the floor. Mary and Jack play cards to determine whether Dick will live or if Mary will stay with Jack. Mary wins by cheating, but Jack discovers it. He frees Dick and embraces a weeping Mary.

The boys throw a farewell party for Mary and Jack, who leave for Monterey to be married there. In Monterey, Mary hears Dick humming and orders him to flee. Jack overhears her confession of love and returns home. Dick and Mary are in a covered wagon singing “Señorita” and kissing.

Cast

Soundtrack

Reception

The Los Angeles Times called the film "in most ways an ideal vehicle for its stars" but lamented that it "could stand a stronger finish" in comparison to the stage adaptation. [1]

According to MGM records, the film earned $2,882,000, resulting in a profit of $243,000. [3]

References

  1. 1 2 "Music Film Opens on Two Screens". Los Angeles Times . p. 10.
  2. 1 2 3 Turk, Edward Baron "Hollywood Diva: A Biography of Jeanette MacDonald" (University of California Press, 1998)
  3. 1 2 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  4. ↑ The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1931–40 published by The American Film Institute, c.1993
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