Flaming Gold (1932) User Reviews

Wildcatters and the Woman

[boblipton · 6/10 · 4 January 2018]

This is one of those dramas of two oil wildcatters and one woman with a wicked past -- think Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable and Hedy Lamar, and even if the three of them never appeared in anything exactly like that, you've got the idea. As a Pre-Code B movie starring William Boyd, Pat O'Brien & Mae Clarke, it's got some good actors for the era, but its short length and undoubtedly small budget limited the visual fireworks to an oil fire in the background and some good reaction shots by Boyd when he begins to suspect hanky-panky between his business partner, Mr. O'Brien and his wife, Mae Clarke.

I've seen Miss Clarke in most of her high-profile roles during this period. She has never bettered her short dialogue with Pat O'Brien that sets up the final confrontation in the movie.

Claire is a woman with a past...and Dan is the only one who doesn't know.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 13 August 2020]

Dan and Ben (William Boyd and Pat O'Brien) are partners and wildcatters. A wildcatter was a name given to small independent outfits where they were trying to find out in order to strike it rich. After some serious problems where they are nearly put out of business by an evil oil company, a friend of theirs offers to go into partnership with them. But Dan will need to first go to New York City to get financing. While there, he meets and falls head over heels for Claire (Mae Clark). He knows absolutely nothing about her but doesn't care...he just wants to take her out west with him when he returns to work.

What Dan doesn't know is that Claire is a woman with a past. Like so many Pre-Code films, very adult content is implied...so that the adults in the audience will put two and two together...but kids will be blissfully ignorant. At least, that was the intention of many Pre-Code films like "Flaming Gold". What is her past? I assume she was a prostitute....and I think most folks seeing the film will assume this as well.

The biggest problem with Claire's past is that Dan is ignorant of this and his partner, Ben DOES....and he obviously resents her and assumes the worst about her. Where does all this end up? Well, in a finale that seems over and done with very, very quickly...too quickly. In fact. the film and the acting are very good but since it as a cheap B-movie, it really looks like they abruptly ended the film and a good 10-15 more minutes would have allowed for a much better and satisfying ending. Still, it is enjoyable and well made in most respects.

"That's all in books. It's all how you think"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 4 October 2021]

Only 53 minutes long this is half a story about oil prospecting and half a drama between wildcatter Dan Manton, his bride Claire Gordon and his partner Ben Lear. None of the halves are that engaging and the two main male characters are uninteresting. It does however have the enchanting Mae Clarke as Claire and Helen Ware as Tampico Tess Terrell, both actresses giving a bit of much needed life to the movie.

Cut to the Chase

[michaelchager · 6/10 · 7 January 2023]

Boyd, Clarke and O'Brien are good together amidst the drilling equipment, a gusher, and a flaming oil field, with settings variously in a tropical swamp, New York City and a dive saloon. True to pre-code there is an adult theme and an issue with RKO production quality. But this is an unusually affecting love story. Mae Clarke is perfectly cast and delivers powerfully throughout. Boyd had immense impact in his later career even though not in demand for starring roles. Here, unlike earlier with Cagney, Clarke is cherished as the find of Boyd's life. Under the direction of movie pioneer Ralph Ince.

All that glitters is not gold, although this has nearly all the right ingredients.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 15 March 2018]

When a big city girl's reputation comes between two old friends involved in the oil business, it is certain that there will be drama, and not just on the drilling fields. These two characters (William Boyd and Pat O'Brien) could be the archetypes for "Dallas's" Jock Ewing and Digger Barnes, but Mae Clarke's New Yorker is no Miss Ellie. She's hiding a past which O'Brien finds out about, and when she marries Boyd, friction arises between the two old friends. It isn't romantic rivalry, but the desperation of O'Brien to protect his pal and ensure that their goals in making sure that their promising oil business improves. There is so much potential in this low budget action/romance film, and there's a fun performance by Helen Ware as a feisty madam, blowsy in her appearance, but filled with regrets. This goes into detail as to the risks involved in running an oil field, showing how oil fires start and other dangers as well. I watched this as part of a double bill with the 1932 William Boyd RKO action/romance drama "Carnival Boat", and had hoped that this would show pretty much the same sort of drama developing within the oil business as "Carnival Boat" had done with the logging industry. There's so much here to give thumbs up to, but after the big dramatic confrontation, it sort of lumbers towards its end and left me feeling that I'd missed out on something.

love the oil well fires

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 28 December 2022]

Dan Manton (William Boyd) and Ben Lear (Pat O'Brien) are partner wildcatters. They face sabotage from their big New York rival, but the wind shifts and the rival is the one burning down. The partners join up with local saloon owner Tampico Tess Terrill to build their own oil business. Dan is introduced to Claire Gordon.

This is a relatively short movie and ten minutes of it is a montage of oil well fires. I really like the oil fires. It's a mix of stock footage and a miniature of rows of oil wells. That's the best part of the movie. I never bought the romantic melodrama. I don't buy the chemistry or the confrontation. I guess that I understand the conflict, but I don't care. I do still love the oil fires. If they could cut out the rest, this would be good.

Oil/jungle drama

[TEXICAN-2 · 8/10 · 24 December 1999]

William Boyd (pre-Hopalong Cassidy) and Pat O'Brien are drilling for oil in the jungle. Boyd goes to the city to get financing and meets working girl Mae Clarke. They have a great time, fall in love, and get married. The twist, Bill doesn't know Mae was a working girl. When they arrive back at the site, Pat spots her for what she was, and assumes she tricked Bill into the marriage. Thus, the drama unfolds of this friendship/love triangle.

It's a bit dated, and you've seen the plot dozens of times, but, the cast is solid, and the story runs smoothly in it's 54 minute running time.

It would have been better if there had been more danger and excitement about the oil drilling, or life in the jungle, but, it is a drama, not an adventure.

For those that love classic movies, or those wanting to see early performances by the stars.

Strong character studies

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 10 May 2023]

Mae Clarke usually played unlikable women at this stage of her movie career, characters the audience didn't root for. She was jilted, cussed at and in one case, had breakfast food shoved into her face...she seemed to deserve this. So it's a bit interesting to see her play a good girl in FLAMING GOLD, a decidedly likable chick who gets involved with an equally likable guy (Bill Boyd).

Clarke was borrowed from MGM where she was under contract, so maybe this explains why she got the rare chance to play against type. She may have leapt at the chance to do a sympathetic role in a script that had been rejected by one of RKO's lead actresses, such as Constance Bennett or Helen Twelvetrees.

As for Boyd, he had been appearing in a series of dramatic precode pictures, on the verge of his most famous role (Hopalong Cassidy). Here he does a decent job as a hardworking oil driller who's trying to strike it rich in Mexico with his pal (Pat O'Brien).

Part of the main conflict that occurs in the story concerns Clarke's former profession. She had been employed as an escort which is how she met Boyd when he took a recent trip to New York City. Of course, Boyd is rather naive, and he just went to dinner with her and fell in love with her...but viewers can surmise that as an escort, she often prostituted herself.

She soon marries Boyd without telling him the truth about her sordid past. But when she joins him at his place in Mexico where he is still drilling for oil, she has to deal with third wheel O'Brien who is much wiser to the ways of the world. O'Brien quickly deduces that Clarke is not a wife from a traditional background.

O'Brien feels a need to protect Boyd, fearing his friend will get hurt if Clarke wants to return to her old ways. After all, she could get tired of this cozy arrangement, leave Boyd and head back to the life she knew in New York. Part of O'Brien's interaction with Clarke when Boyd is out in the field, has him insulting Clarke and trying to break her down. These are interesting scenes, and the two performers had previously costarred in the 1931 version of THE FRONT PAGE.

While O'Brien grapples with whether to tell Boyd everything he knows, we see that Clarke is no gold digger or opportunist. She genuinely loves Boyd and intends to make their marriage work. Eventually, O'Brien realizes Clarke has heart in the right place, and he decides to be more supportive. They go from bickering to bantering.

Speaking of Pat O'Brien, he did a similar film later at Warner Brothers with a similar title: FLOWING GOLD (1940). He was teamed with John Garfield and Frances Farmer in that one.

As for this film, FLAMING GOLD is not a prestigious big budget affair. However, it does give us three strong character studies from three solid performers. And that, along with some good action sequences, makes it worth any viewer's time.