DEAD MAN’S GOLD (director: Ray Taylor; screenwriters: from the short story by Ira Webb/Ron Ormond; cinematographer: Ernest W. Miller; editor: Hugh Wynn; music: Walter Greene; cast: Lash La Rue (Lash LaRue), Fuzzy St. John (Fuzzy Q. Jones), Peggy Stewart (June Thornton), Terry Frost (Joe Quirt, Crooked Foreman), John Cason (Matt Conway), Pierce Lyden (Sliver), Lane Bradford (Ross Evans), Stephen Keyes (Morgan); Runtime: 60; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Ron Ormond/June Carr/Ira Webb; MNTEX Entertainment; 1948)
“This typical cowboy battle of good versus evil holds no surprises.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

This low value B Western stars Lash La Rue, who is dressed completely in black, carries both six-guns and a bullwhip at his side, and partners with Fuzzy Q. Jones (Fuzzy St. John). The film is set in 1849 during the time of the California Gold Rush. Lash receives a letter from his old friend Jim Thornton that he needs help. Arriving in Jim’s hometown of Gold Valley, he encounters outlaws Matt Conway (John Cason), Sliver, and Steve Morgan and boots them out of a saloon they were carrying on in. At Thornton’s ranch, Lash meets June Thornton (Peggy Stewart), who says her uncle left four days ago and hasn’t been seen since. Lash locates him by a gold mine on his property, but he’s been killed. It all involves the town’s leading citizen, Mayor Evan (Lane Bradford), hiring the three thugs and Thornton’s foreman Joe Quirt in a scheme to take over Thornton’s gold mine.

This typical cowboy battle of good versus evil holds no surprises. The only comical moment comes in the opening crawl where Wyatt Earp’s name is misspelled as “Erpt.” It’s directed by Ray Taylor, Lash’s usual filmmaker. This one was taken from the short story by Ira Webb and penned by Ron Ormond.

REVIEWED ON 9/2/2005 GRADE: C+

Dennis Schwartz: “Ozus’ World Movie Reviews”

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