Karl Hartl has picked all the right parts of early-30s German sci-fi to make Gold. The technology in the film suggests Metropolis, the appearance of Brigitte Helm suggests Metropolis, and the underground chamber filling with water at the end suggests Metropolis. There’s a lot of electricity in the air and scientific language like “atomic,” and there’s a scientist with a girlfriend and a mission. And there are spies and bad guys who are out to conquer the world. It should be a rollicking good ride.
But it isn’t; Gold drags as a sci-fi action/romance feature. One of the biggest problems is Hans Albers’ inability to bring any charisma to the hero. Werner Holk’s devotion to his martyred mentor, Prof. Achenbach, seems more dutiful than heartfelt, and it’s hard to imagine how an elegant, dynamic woman like Florence Wills, who dominates the screen whenever Helm brings her on, could be attracted to a frumpy, middle-aged man like Holk. Michael Bohnen imparts far more range and energy to Holk’s nemesis John Wills than Albers does to the story’s lead, and the result is that the center of the film is dull.
Another problem is that script bogs down in places and unhelpfully fritters away time. The opening section runs long in establishing Holk’s situation; the sabotage of the experiment dawdles, and the time Holk shares with his love, Margit, could have been reduced since there’s little screen chemistry between them anyway. Too much is also made of the initial encounters between Holk and John Wills, and while the time Helm is on-screen is some of the best in the film, the long evening between Florence and Werner indeed seems long. Then there’s an extra character introduced when Holk arrives on Wills’ boat. Holk’s long-lost buddy has very little function in the film and even creates some confusion later when we see Holk with him at the film’s end on a boat that is different from the one he commands. This character is a long and repeated digression.
The one part of the production that Hartl gets right is how the film looks on the screen. With the Metropolis team, Hartl gives us a huge, flashy atomic apparatus for changing lead to gold. There is more than ample action around this machine, which itself creates tension because it can barely contains its own power when it operates. Other great technology includes a train-pod for underground transportation, an innovation that we see in later sci-fi, and there are massive doors and elevators. In addition to the technology, the world of Florence Wills offers striking visuals. Florence’s statuesque beauty dominates the screen when she has a full-figure shot, and her sculpted facial features demand our gaze when she talks in close-ups. She may have the highest eyebrows in cinema. Hartl adds to her visual power by dressing her in striking gowns, like the dotted one she wears when she first meets Holk and the one she wears later that has an outlandishly feathered collar. There’s lots to look at on the screen in Gold.
Hartl also uses engaging cinematic techniques. For example, after Holk is taken to a hospital when his experiment explodes, Hartl uses a long pan that goes from Margit and around the hospital room until it stops on Holk’s face. The camera holds there and shot dissolves into the same pose with Holk healed and in his home office, a tour de force camera sequence. In addition, Hartl uses rapid cuts to build up each of the major explosions in the film, creating suspense by using quick cuts to various people and places around the apparatus as the soundtrack hums and crackles. And Hartl avails himself of the low key Expressionist lighting that is not uncommon in his time. All these techniques create a visual interest that can engage us when the story becomes slow or the actors fail to touch us.
Although it was a major hit at the time, Gold isn’t must-see cinema. It certainly looks good frame-to-frame, but it fails to move an audience because of its several shortcomings. And while the film was completed shortly after the National Socialists came to power in Germany, it’s very unlikely that the party was able to exert much influence on a project that was already so far along in development. While Gold has a slap at capitalists, especially British ones, the economic critique here is far more cinematic than it is ideological. Gold is an interesting experience but not a necessary one.
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