"Gemstone Ridge" occupies an important position in John Houston's life-long creation, and the British "Oxford Film Manual" called it "a peak of creative achievement" in Houston. The film is most praised for its excellent visual language.
John Houston, who is a screenwriter and good at acting, used to sell paintings on the streets of Paris for a living before he became a filmmaker. His interest in painting has never faded, and he often "rests" for a short time in order to concentrate on painting. He has not made any achievements on the canvas, but people can find traces of his concentration in painting art on the film. He is one of the first Hollywood film directors to draw designs for every shot. He regards composition as the primary element of cinematic narrative. In addition to paying great attention to the configuration of scenery, shooting angles and the use of colors, the position and size of the characters in the frame are also given an important narrative function. In Houston films, characters are often placed in the foreground and their faces occupy half of the screen. At this time, the characters are not talking but listening. As a result, the reaction of the character is placed in a more important position than the character who is talking or moving. The so-called cinematic art is mainly "reactive art". This influential critical theory can be found in Houston's films. In "Jewel Ridge", the influence of the individual's self (mainly Dobbs' selfishness) on the collective and the possibility of individual survival in the three-person collective is the main line of the film, but the audience often only hears what is being said or taking action The voices of people who dominate the screen are the portraits of the action opponents. Even in a double shot, the characters in action always face the audience from the side or the back. This is undoubtedly the inspiration Houston got from the silent portrait art.
The emphasis on the beauty of painting is also a motivation for Houston to go to Mexico to shoot "Gemstone Ridge" on the spot. In order to persuade Warner Bros. Pictures to allow him to go to Mexico for a 10-week live-action shooting, Houston went to great lengths. In the 1940s, Mo said that it was very rare to go out on location outside of Hollywood even in China. The substantial increase in expenditure is a major obstacle. The cost of "Gem Ridge" was as high as 3 million US dollars, which was an astronomical figure at the time. Blockbuster films such as "Gone with the Wind" (the film length is nearly twice as long as "Gem Ridge", and it also left Hollywood with magnificent permanent buildings). Double Oak Villa) also only spent more than US$4 million. The celebrities’ unwillingness to accept long distances and difficult living conditions is also an obstacle. What's more, the location chosen by Houston is San Jose de Ploa, a desolate village 140 miles north of Mexico City. Humphrey Bogart, who played Dobbs, later recalled: “John is meticulous in his work. If he sees a nearby mountain that meets the shooting requirements, he won’t want it because it’s too easy to reach. If we have to be roasting It’s good to walk through a few streams and cross the snake-infested area under the human sun to reach a certain outside attraction.” Houston said: “It’s not hard to go out on location. Someone is going to shoot you at all times."
"Gem Ridge" tells an unremarkable allegorical story: gold corrodes people's conscience, and wealth triggers people's greed. This is a theme that has been repeated in countless narrative works for thousands of years. Before "Gem Ridge", there were also many films that described the evil of money. Von Strauhen's "Greedy" exposes the terrible tragedy caused by this weakness of mankind on the screen. However, "Gemstone Ridge" is still praised by critics and extremely large box office revenue with its exotic environment and unique visual language that meticulously depicts the inner change process of the characters.
Dobbs occupies the main position in the film. At the beginning of the film, Daubs is a disgusting beggar. He is strong, but satisfied with filling his stomach with money from begging. A white-clothed gentleman (played by John Houston himself) generously gave him a silver coin and was harassed by him three times in one day. Finally, the white-clothed gentleman reprimanded him and warned him that he should try his best to make a living on his own. Although Dobbs' first impression was not good, the film then showed his kindness: when he raised the cost of the gold rush, he generously took out all the wages he earned and the lottery winnings; he He refused to accept Kulding's use of gold to repay his initial investment; in the early days of the gold rush, he was not only the most diligent miner, but also responsible for purchasing food. However, just as people gradually developed a good impression of him, his evil instincts were gradually revealed. If it is said that his first attempt to use force against Howard only showed his irritability, then when he had blindly suspected that he was going to draw a gun and kill Kulding, who had saved his life twice, people had a hunch. By the time, Dobbs would definitely be able to do anything damaging under the temptation of gold. Houston once divided the tragic characters in his films into three categories: those who are stupid and therefore unaware, those who are clever but not knowing themselves, and those who do not hesitate to pay a price to see themselves clearly. The first kind of people are miserable, the second kind of people are miserable, and the third kind of people are heroes. Doubbs undoubtedly belongs to the first category. In the critical moment when he obviously needed to work together in the wasteland, he did not hesitate to kill Kulding in order to swallow gold. His stupidity was tragic, and the greed induced by gold was even more thrilling.
Howard is an allegorical character in the film, not conceived according to strict requirements of reality. Before starting the gold rush, he issued a "moral motto": "Gold is a scourge. It will make people greedy, values and personality will be completely changed, and the soul will also change." After the gangsters scattered all the gold sand , He laughed and said, this is a joke made by God, and the gold from nature has returned to nature. During the gold rush, he was never involved in emotional disputes, and was always a calm and well-informed bystander. He risked his life to pan for gold in his twilight years, and it seemed that he had no motivation to make a fortune, and he finally escaped into the tribe of Indians, also with a sense of caution. Walter Houston (John Houston's father) won the Golden Award for playing this role, not so much because of his superb acting skills (because this character is not credible), but rather because of its moral enlightenment power.
"Gem Ridge" has been praised by some of the most authoritative film critics in the United States after its publication. For example, "New York Times" authoritative film critic Bosley Clauser said, "Houston has made a dramatic film that deeply describes the conflict between the evil and greed of civilization and the survival instinct in the wild environment." "Time" magazine said that the film is "one of the best works since Hollywood learned to make a sound film." James Archie also praised the film in the "New Yorker" magazine. It is not uncommon for people who are ostentatious and annoying about the obsolete subject matter and moral preaching of the film, but which film has been praised by everyone throughout the ages.
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