Iron Pyrite

By J.C.

GOLD Directed by PETER HUNT Screenplay by WILBUR SMITH and STANLEY PRICE

This is no laughing matter. At least, it wasn't meant to be. But consider: a consortium of international dirty dealers, led by Sir John Gielgud, plans to manipulate the gold market by flooding one of South Africa's richest gold mines.

This, of course, would create a shortage and boost the price of the metal and the stocks of the remaining gold companies --mainly those owned or controlled by the dirty dealers themselves.

The trouble with plots of this sort is that plotters like Sir John lose all touch with reality. They are so busy hatching refinements of their villainy that they seal themselves off from the daily verities that nourish and sustain the rest of mankind.

Had Sir John just taken a break and turned on the TV in his hotel room while the rest of the boys went out for a smoke, he might have seen one of the many reruns of a series called The Saint, starring Roger Moore as an unruffled crimebuster. Then during Gold, when he might have spotted Moore playing the part of a mining engineer, he would have known immediately that all his cunning was for nothing. He could thus have saved us a lot of trouble.

Most of what is good in Gold takes place deep within the mines. Director Peter Hunt, who got his training editing many of the early James Bond movies and in 1969 directed On Her Majesty's Secret Service, has a talent for suspense and a knack for giving sweep to action in a confined space. The cave-in and subsequent rescue that begin Gold and the flood and desperate attempt to stop it that conclude the film are noisily entertaining.

Hunt gets into trouble when he comes out of the mine and into the day light. Between the beginning and end of Gold there is a great deal of foolish ness about Sir John's plotting, Roger Moore's carrying on with the wife of his immediate and sinister superior (Bradford Dillman) and the wife's (Susannah York) becoming smitten with Moore.

Also present is Miss York's grandfather, played by Ray Milland, who chomps on stogies and has a good time acting gruff as the boss of the imperiled gold mine.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.