Favorite "There Is Gold In Them Thar Hills" Movies?
Even though this poll mainly includes westerns, what is your favorite movie about prospecting or mining? For this poll, oil drilling will be considered as prospecting. After voting, you can talk about staking your claim here.
I would like to give a shout out to Hoekkie for inspiring this poll with his The Seven Western Stories (now A live poll, click here ) and to Dan Dassow for mentioning two of the films on this list on Hoekkie's discussion page.
I would like to give a shout out to Hoekkie for inspiring this poll with his The Seven Western Stories (now A live poll, click here ) and to Dan Dassow for mentioning two of the films on this list on Hoekkie's discussion page.
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- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinMack SwainTom MurrayA prospector goes to the Klondike during the 1890s gold rush in hopes of making his fortune, and is smitten with a girl he sees in a dance hall.
- DirectorEdwin CareweStarsGary CooperKay JohnsonBetty CompsonRoy Glenister arrives in Nome, Alaska, meets Helen Chester. Corrupt officials falsely claim ownership of Glenister's mine. Legal battle ensues, nearly leads to violence. Misunderstanding caused by saloon owner's lie.
- DirectorRay EnrightStarsMarlene DietrichRandolph ScottJohn WayneIn Nome, Alaska, miner Roy Glennister and his partner Dextry, financed by saloon entertainer Cherry Malotte, fight to save their gold claim from crooked commissioner Alexander McNamara.
- DirectorJesse HibbsStarsAnne BaxterJeff ChandlerRory CalhounIn 1899 Alaska, miners have to protect themselves from a phony legal team trying to steal their gold claims.
- DirectorColin CampbellStarsWilliam FarnumKathlyn WilliamsTom SantschiThe first of many filmed adaptations of Rex Beach's adventure novel of the Alaskan gold-rush.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartWalter HustonTim HoltTwo down-on-their-luck Americans searching for work in 1920s Mexico convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsClark GableLoretta YoungJack OakieDuring the Klondike Gold Rush, a traveler purchases a dog to lead the way toward the treasure, but reconsiders his journey when he finds a stranded widow.
- DirectorRandal KleiserStarsEthan HawkeKlaus Maria BrandauerJedJack London's classic adventure story about the friendship developed between a Yukon gold hunter and the mixed dog-wolf he rescues from the hands of a man who mistreats him.
- DirectorKen OlinStarsScott BairstowCharmaine CraigAl HarringtonIn order to rescue one of the last surviving Alaskan Native tribes, Fang joins in with a friend of his master to stop miners from destroying an ancient sacred land.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsJames StewartRuth RomanCorinne CalvetA self-minded adventurer locks horns with a crooked lawman while driving cattle to Dawson.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsJohn WayneStewart GrangerErnie KovacsDuring the Alaska gold rush, prospector George sends partner Sam to Seattle to bring his fiancée but when it turns out that she married another man, Sam returns with a pretty substitute, the hostess of the Henhouse dance hall.
- DirectorJoshua LoganStarsLee MarvinClint EastwoodJean SebergTwo unlikely prospector partners share the same wife in a California gold rush mining town.
- DirectorHal WalkerStarsBing CrosbyBob HopeDorothy LamourTwo vaudeville flops pose as bad guys and join the Klondike gold rush with a saloon singer.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsGregory PeckOmar SharifTelly SavalasA bandit kidnaps a Marshal who has seen a map showing a gold vein on Indian lands, but other groups are looking for it too, while the Apache try to keep the secret location undisturbed.
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsDaniel Day-LewisPaul DanoCiarán HindsA story of family, religion, hatred, oil and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsClark GableSpencer TracyClaudette ColbertTwo buddies who rise from fly-by-night wildcatters to oil tycoons over a ten-year period, are in love with the same woman.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsWalter PidgeonMaureen O'HaraAnna LeeAt the turn of the century in a Welsh mining village, the Morgans, he stern, she gentle, raise coal-mining sons and hope their youngest will find a better life.
- DirectorPatricia RiggenStarsAntonio BanderasRodrigo SantoroJuliette BinocheBased on the real-life event, when a gold and copper mine collapses, it traps 33 miners underground for 69 days.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsSean ConneryRichard HarrisSamantha EggarIn 1876 Pennsylvania, a group of Irish immigrant coal miners begin to retaliate against the cruelty of their work environment.
- DirectorAndrew V. McLaglenStarsJohn WayneKatharine RossJim HuttonDivorced Chance Buckman fights international oil rig fires. An injury brings his daughter and to his dismay, she weds Greg, a team member. Chance gets a desk-job, so he and Madelyn remarry, but a Venezuelan oil rig fire reunites them.
- DirectorPeter BergStarsMark WahlbergKurt RussellDouglas M. GriffinA dramatization of the disaster in April 2010, when the offshore drilling rig called the Deepwater Horizon exploded, resulting in the worst oil spill in history.
- DirectorAbe LevitowStarsJudy GarlandRobert GouletRed ButtonsA farm cat moves to Paris in search of the high life while her wannabe lover from back home tries to reunite.While I don't really consider this a prospecting movie, it does have a section on prospecting for gold in the Yukon in it.
- DirectorCharlton HestonFraser C. HestonStarsCharlton HestonKim BasingerNick MancusoIt's Silas McGee's gold. He just hasn't found it yet, although he's searched for his mother lode for more than 30 years in the remote high country of British Columbia.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodMichael MoriartyCarrie SnodgressA mysterious preacher protects a humble prospector village from a greedy mining company trying to encroach on their land.
- DirectorPaul BartelStarsTab HunterDivineLainie KazanA group of unscrupulous characters seek buried treasure in the old west.
