''Sutter's Gold'' is a 1936 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film. It is a fictionalized version of the aftermath of the discovery of gold on Sutter's property, spurring the California Gold Rush of 1849. Edward Arnold plays

John Sutter John Augustus Sutter (February 23, 1803 – June 18, 1880), born Johann August Sutter and known in Spanish as Don Juan Sutter, was a Switzerland, Swiss immigrant who became a Mexican and later an American citizen, known for establishing Sutter ...

. The supporting cast includes

Lee Tracy William Lee Tracy (April 14, 1898 – October 18, 1968) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He is known foremost for his portrayals between the late 1920s and 1940s of fast-talking, wisecracking news reporters, press agents, law ...

Binnie Barnes Gertrude Maud Barnes (25 March 1903 – 27 July 1998), known professionally as Binnie Barnes, was an English actress whose career in films spanned from 1923 to 1973. She was known for as a leading lady in films such as ''The Private Life of He ...

, Katherine Alexander,

Montagu Love Montagu Love (15 March 1877 – 17 May 1943) was an English screen, stage and vaudeville actor. Early years Born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, Love was the son of Harry Love and Fanny Louisa Love, née Poad; his father was listed as accountant ...

, and Harry Carey as

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman, fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent and United States Army, U.S. Army officer. He became an American frontier legend in his own lifetime ...

. The film was directed by

James Cruze James Cruze (born Jens Cruz Bosen;Sadoul, Georges (1972). Dictionary of Films'. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p. 53. . See also: * Parish, James Robert; Pitts, Michael R. (1974). Film Directors: A Guide to Their American Fi ...

. The film is based on the novel by

Blaise Cendrars Frédéric-Louis Sauser (1 September 1887 – 21 January 1961), better known as Blaise Cendrars (), was a Swiss-born novelist and poet who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European ...

, and the play ' by

Bruno Frank Bruno Frank (June 13, 1887 – June 20, 1945) was a German author, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and humanist. Biography Frank was born in Stuttgart. He studied law and philosophy in Munich, where he later worked as a dramatist and novelist ...

Production and aftermath

Carl Laemmle Carl Laemmle (; born Karl Lämmle ; January 17, 1867 – September 24, 1939) was a German-American film producer and the co-founder and, until 1934, owner of Universal Pictures. He produced or worked on over 400 films. Regarded as one of the ...

, president of

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

, loved action westerns and he wanted to make a big outdoor spectacle, along the lines of the well remembered silent epic ''

The Covered Wagon ''The Covered Wagon'' is a 1923 American silent film, silent Epic film, epic Western film released by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by James Cruze based on a 1922 novel of the same name by Emerson Hough about a group of pioneers tr ...

'' (1923). Laemmle hired that film's director,

, for the new film ''Sutter's Gold''. The studio assembled a "name" cast of popular character players including Edward Arnold,

, Harry Carey, and

. Unfortunately neither the studio nor the film had any big "star" names to attract moviegoers, and—dooming the project—Laemmle had given director Cruze ''carte blanche'' to make the film and Cruze spent money lavishly, as was his custom in the silent days. The expenditure was ''too'' lavish for the budget-conscious Universal, and the no-star spectacle failed disastrously. ''Sutter's Gold'' damaged James Cruze's standing irreparably and it ruined Universal. A consortium of investors ousted Carl Laemmle and took over the company (now known as "the NEW Universal"). The only real benefit Universal derived from ''Sutter's Gold'' was its value as stock footage; Cruze's carefully staged outdoor scenes were often edited into the studio's low-budget adventures, westerns, and serials.

Cast

* Edward Arnold as

as Pete Perkin *

as Countess Elizabeth Bartoffski * Katharine Alexander as Anna Sutter *

as Capt. Kettleson *

Addison Richards Addison Whittaker Richards, Jr. (October 20, 1902 – March 22, 1964) was an American actor of film and television. Richards appeared in more than 300 films between 1933 and his death in 1964. Biography A native of Zanesville, Ohio, Richard ...

as James Marshall *

John Miljan John Miljan (November 9, 1892 – January 24, 1960) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1924 and 1958. Biography Born in 1892, Miljan was the tall, smooth-talking villain in Hollywood films for almost four deca ...

as Gen. Juan Bautista Alvarado * Harry Carey as

William Janney William Janney (born Russell Dixon Janney, February 15, 1908 – December 22, 1992) was an American actor who appeared in 39 films between 1929 and 1937. He was the son of author and theatrical producer Russell Janney,(28 December 1940)William ...

as John Sutter, Jr. * Nan Grey as Ann Eliza Sutter *

Robert Warwick Robert Warwick (born Robert Taylor Bien; October 9, 1878 – June 6, 1964) was an American stage, film and television actor with over 200 film appearances. A matinee idol during the silent film era, he also prospered after the introduction ...

as Gen. Alexander Rotscheff *

Morgan Wallace Morgan Wallace (born Maier Weill, July 26, 1881 – December 12, 1953) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1914 and 1946, including W.C. Fields' ''It's a Gift'' (1934) Introduction by Arthur Knight where he p ...

as General Fremont * Allen Vincent as Juan Bautista Alvarado, Jr. * Mitchell Lewis as King Kamehameha *

Harry Cording Hector William "Harry" Cording (26 April 1891 – 1 September 1954) was an English-American actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his roles in the films '' The Black Cat'' (1934) and ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938). Life and career ...

as Seaman Lars (uncredited) * George Irving as Dr. Billings (uncredited)

References

External links

*
''Sutter's Gold'' at IMDB
1936 films Universal Pictures films Films directed by James Cruze American historical films 1936 Western (genre) films 1930s historical films Films set in the 1840s American Western (genre) films Films scored by Franz Waxman American black-and-white films Films set in California Cultural depictions of Kamehameha I Cultural depictions of Kit Carson 1930s English-language films 1930s American films John Sutter English-language Western (genre) films English-language historical films {{1930s-Western-film-stub