Entertainment Magazine: Iron Door Mine
"The Mine with the Iron Door" movie and book
This epic 1924 Western-melodrama was based
on the popular novel by Harold Bell Wright. Two old prospectors, Thad
Grove (Charlie Murray) and Bob Hill (Bert Woodruff) find an infant in
the cabin belonging to Sonora Jack (Mitchell Lewis), a notorious bandit. The motion picture was filmed in Oracle,
Arizona at the historic Linda Vista Ranch, Arizona's first guest ranch
and site of the Iron Door Museum.
In the film, the girl, Marta, grows to womanhood (to be played by Dorothy Mackaill). Hugh Edwards (Pat O'Malley), who has been falsely accused of embezzlement, escapes to the West, where he meets Marta and they fall in love. Natachee (Robert W. Frazer), an Indian educated in White ways, rescues Marta when she rides into a storm, and Edwards saves him from bandits.
The grateful Natachee shows him the mine with the iron door, which contains a wealth of gold. Sonora Jack shows up, and, angry at not being able to find the mine himself, kidnaps Marta and holds her for ransom. Edwards and Natachee hunt him down and rescue the girl. Natachee kills the bandit, and papers prove that Marta's father is the one who embezzled the funds and that he confessed before he died. Sol Lesser, who produced this film, remade it as a talkie in 1936. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide (Fandango).
The Mine with the Iron Door: A Romance (1936)
Movie Poster from the 1936 film The Mine with the Iron Door - Movie Poster - 11 x 17
Printed Edition of The Mine with the Iron Door. (The Collected Works of Harold Bell Wright - 18 Volumes) (Library Binding) Library Binding: 338 pages. Publisher: Classic Publishers, Language: English. ISBN: 158201891X.
Digital CD Edition of Mine with the Iron Door: A Romance, The (CD-ROM Edition)
Attempting to do for Westerns what his Guns of Navarone had done for World War II action epics, director J. Lee Thompson crafted Mackenna's Gold as a lavish, absurdly ambitious variation on Erich Von Stroheim's Greed, resulting in a last-gasp Western so eager to encompass the genre's traditions that it turns into a big, silly, wildly entertaining mess.
Gregory Peck surely had more serious
intentions when he signed on, and he brings prestigious gravitas to his
glum role as Marshall Mackenna, who gets shanghaied into searching for
the gold-filled canyon of an elusive Apache legend. The rest of the 1969
film labors to undermine Peck's respectable demeanor; how else to
explain Omar Sharif as a Mexican villain, Julie Newmar as a hot-blooded
Apache temptress (with underwater nude scenes that were celebrated in
Playboy magazine), and a jaw-dropping finale that's so ridiculous it's
impressive in spite of itself?
Formerly blacklisted screenwriter Carl Foreman and composer
Dimitri Tiomkin joined up to coproduce the film, and one can only
imagine how Anthony Mann or Howard Hawks might've handled Foreman's
sensible script. Thompson goes for scenic splendor, heavy action, and
heavier emotions, casting everything at a fever pitch that's wildly
enjoyable without betraying his "serious" intentions.
A stable of Hollywood veterans (Eli Wallach, Raymond Massey, Edward G. Robinson, and others) appear in lively supporting roles--they're all dispatched in a garish Apache ambush--and Camilla Sparv is an ingénue with plenty of fighting attitude. Gold fever reaches its peak, along with some awesome special effects, and divine intervention reaches new heights of intensity. Top it off with José Feliciano's theme song, and you'll be in zany Western heaven. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
"MacKenna's Gold" (1969)
Starring Gregory Peck and Omar Sherif
The story of the Iron Door Mine. Attempting to do for Westerns what his Guns of Navarone had done for World War II action epics, director J. Lee Thompson crafted Mackenna's Gold as a lavish, absurdly ambitious variation on Erich Von Stroheim's Greed, resulting in a last-gasp Western so eager to encompass the genre's traditions that it turns into a big, silly, wildly entertaining mess. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com.
DVD edition of MacKenna's Gold
Poster from Mackenna's Gold - Movie Poster - 11 x 17. This poster measures approx. 11 x 17. Rolled and shipped in a sturdy tube. This poster is from the movie Mackenna's Gold (1969).
Printed book edition of Mackenna's Gold
Watch video on-demand from Amazon.com of MacKenna's Gold