Kino Lorber has detailed its upcoming Blu-ray release of director Karl Hartl's film
Gold (1934), starring Hans Albers, Friedrich Kayßler, Brigitte Helm, Lien Deyers, and Ernst Karchow. The release will be available for purchase on June 14.
The film is of historical interest as an example of the cinema produced during the 1930s in National Socialist Germany. It utilizes some of the key talents of the German film industry of the silent era, including production designer Otto Hunte (who had designed Fritz Lang's futuristic fantasies Metropolis and Woman in the Moon), and cinematographer Günther Rittau (who had photographed Lang's Die Nibelungen and Metropolis and Sternberg's The Blue Angel). GOLD is not only a handsomely-produced drama of corporate espionage, it also reveals the ways in which English and American culture was subtly condemned in films made under the Third Reich.
Hans Albers stars as Professor Holk, an idealistic scientist developing the process of atomic fracturing, constructing an enormous electrical device to transform common lead into gold. When the operation is sabotaged by corporate rivals, resulting in the death of Holk's mentor (Friedrich Kayssler), Holk must accept the backing of a ruthless English businessman, John Wills (Michael Bohnen), whose interest in atomic fracturing is purely economic.
Though he makes a deal with the devil, in order to continue his research, Holk recognizes it as a golden opportunity-not for a paycheck, but for payback-and plots to destroy Wills's titanic gold-making machinery. While Holk enacts his revenge, he captures the interest of the millionaire's rebellious daughter (Brigitte Helm), who is enthralled by the scientist's vision and integrity.
Specs:
1934 | Germany | B&W | 117 min. | Not Rated | 1920x1080p (1.33:1)
German with optional English subtitles