You are here:

Gold Is Where You Find It

Name: Gold Is Where You Find It
Director: Michael Curtiz
Released: 1938
Duration: 94 min

Representation Score

1.1/10

Minimal

1938

Director

Michael Curtiz

Runtime

94 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

Gold Is Where You Find It operates as a traditional Western drama that upholds the social and demographic norms of the 1930s. The narrative centers on established hierarchies of gender, race, and class, focusing on the interpersonal tensions within a homogeneous group. While the film provides a sophisticated exploration of the shift between traditional agriculture and industrial expansion, it does so without challenging underlying systemic structures. It serves as a historical baseline for the classical Hollywood era, marked by a lack of intentional subversion regarding identity.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does Gold Is Where You Find It have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film follows a typical romantic storyline focused on heterosexual relationships. There are no representations of non-binary gender identities or same-sex relationships.

How does Gold Is Where You Find It portray gender?

Limited

The power dynamics favor male characters who dominate the political and economic aspects of the story. Serena, while a key emotional figure, mostly reacts to events rather than driving them.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Gold Is Where You Find It?

Limited

The cast reflects the predominantly white, Anglo-Saxon makeup of 1930s Hollywood. There are no significant characters representing other racial backgrounds.

How does Gold Is Where You Find It represent religion and culture?

Fair

The story examines the tension between traditional farming and growing industrial capitalism. However, it frames this conflict through personal honor rather than critiquing Western institutions.

Does Gold Is Where You Find It include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no representation of physical, sensory, or neurodivergent identities. Characters are shown as having standard physical abilities.

Present on Screen

Offers a nuanced look at the socioeconomic shifts between traditional agriculture and industrial capitalism.

Limited or Absent

Fails to include perspectives that consider multiple aspects of identity.
Reinforces traditional gender hierarchies through its character dynamics.
Maintains a cast that lacks representation of diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Official Synopsis

Colonel Ferris, a wealthy farmer in northern California, is strongly opposed to hydraulic mining, a new method developed during the gold rush of the 1870's, which is flooding the area's prosperous farmlands. Despite Ferris' political stance, Jared Whitney, a mining engineer from the East, becomes friends with the colonel's son Lance and falls in love with his daughter Serena. Family tensions deepen when the colonel's brother Ralph gives up farming to go to San Francisco to work for his wife Rosanna's father, Harrison McCooey, a leader in the mining venture. When Lance follows Ralph, the colonel, focusing his anger on Jared, forbids him to see Serena.

How are these scores produced? →