WHITE GOLD
starring Jetta Goudal and George Bancroft
PHOTOPLY
May 1927
A convincing argument against those who believe there is little or no merit connected with the art of celluloid story telling. To William K. Howard belongs the credit for this masterly piece of direction, worthy of the most superlative language. The cast is excellent -- George Nichols, Kenneth Thompson, George Bancroft and Jetta Goudal, whose performance ranks among the finest of the year. This is one of the best pictures of the month.
WHITE GOLD
starring Jetta Goudal and George Bancroft
PICTURE PLAY MAGAZINE
June 1927
"White Gold" is so exceptional a picture, and such a fine one, that if you ordinarily consider Westerns unimportant, and Jetta Goudal, the star, not to your liking, you will reverse your opinion of both when you see this combination. On the other hand, if you like pictures of Western locale, this will qualify among the best ever produced; and if you have found Miss Goudal interesting in the past, you will be amazed at her now.
She plays Dolores, a Spanish girl who sings in a cantina, and who marries Alec Carson, the son of a sheep raiser. The major part of the story occurs on the ranch, where the efforts of Dolores to overcome the old man's suspicious hostility, and adapt herself to the crude environment, bring about acting on the part of Miss Goudal as fine as I have ever witnessed.
It is quiet acting, however, made up of mental reactions rather than moments of showy emotion; but so grippingly has William K. Howard directed his players that you feel they are concerned in a story with as much suspense as a serial, and the cumulative effect of a finely wrought novel. This happens rarely on the screen. When it does, those responsible for it should be showered with praise.
There is more to the story than might at first be supposed, and when George Bancroft swaggers onto the scene he strikes a menacing note, subtle, sinister, which instantly alters the entire situation between Dolores, Alec, and his father. You know that he means to try to tempt the unhappy young wife, and you fear that he may be successful.
The climax of his efforts and the conclusion of the picture yield proof of courage on the part of the producer, the director and the scenario writer. For the ending is grimly honest. It might belong in an Ibsen play. It leaves you gasping, because it is truth, not hokum. Superb as the acting is, you feel that the director is the real star of "White Gold."
Kenneth Thomson is the husband, George Nichols the father.