Mackenna's Gold

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mackenna's Gold
Directed by J. Lee Thompson
Produced by Carl Foreman
Dimitri Tiomkin
Written by Heck Allen (novel)
Carl Foreman
Starring Gregory Peck
Omar Sharif
Camilla Sparv
Julie Newmar
Ted Cassidy
Telly Savalas
Music by Quincy Jones
Cinematography Joseph MacDonald
Editing by Bill Lenny
Running time 128 min.
Country US
Language English
Budget $7,000,000
IMDb profile

Mackenna's Gold is a 1969 western film directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring Gregory Peck, Omar Sharif and Camilla Sparv. It tells the story of how the lure of gold corrupts a diverse group of people.

The film was photographed in Super Panavision 70 by Joseph MacDonald, with original music by Quincy Jones. The story is very loosely based around the legend of the Lost Adams diggings.

Contents

[edit] Plot

An old legend talks about a fortune in gold hidden in the 'Canyon del Oro', guarded by the Apache gods. A man named Adams found it, only to have the Indians capture and blind him and kill all his companions. Years later, Marshal Mackenna kills an Indian chief who tried to bushwhack him and comes into possession of a map that supposedly shows the way to the treasure. Though skeptical, he memorizes the directions before burning the map.

Meanwhile, notorious Mexican outlaw Colorado and his gang had been tracking the old man for two weeks to get the map, all while being chased by the U.S. army. He takes shelter in the house of the old judge of the town of Blaskburg, stealing horses, mules and food for his journey. He kills the judge and kidnaps his daughter, Inga Bergmann, as a hostage in case the cavalry catches up with him.

He finds Mackenna digging a grave for the Indian chief. When he finds that Mackenna has destroyed the map, he takes him captive and forces him to lead them to the gold (Colorado knew that Mackenna had a good memory). Colorado and one of his companions have a past history with Mackenna. Colorado was driven out of the state by Mackenna, while a fiery Indian woman, Hesh-ke, had been his girl. Mackenna later had to hang her brother, and it is unknown if she still holds a grudge. Colorado's main henchman is a hulking Indian warrior, Hachita, as well as a few other Apaches and outlaws.

On their trek, they are joined by a posse of townsmen who become infected by gold fever, among them a newspaper editor, a storekeeper, a priest and old Adams himself. They are trailed by the cavalry, under the leadership of Sergeant Tibbs. Almost everyone in the gang, (except for Mackenna, Colorado, Inga, Hesh-ke, and Hachita. A few others fates are unknown), are killed in an ambush by the cavalry or by other Apaches, (who are trying to protect the gold from outsiders). Tibbs periodically sends messengers back to his commanding officer, supposedly to keep him informed. Eventually, the patrol is whittled down to just two men. At that point, Tibbs kills them and joins the outlaws.

Finally they reach the place specified in the map, where a tall rock tower, 'The Shaking Rock', stands. As the sun rises on the specified day, the shadow of the pinnacle points to the hidden entrance to the canyon. Seeing this, MacKenna, who had been skeptical until then, begins to believe in the legend.

When they enter the canyon, they find that the sides are interlaced with rich veins of pure gold. The jealous Hesh-ke tries to kill Inga and falls to her death. Then, while the rest are celebrating their great fortune, MacKenna escapes with Inga to an Indian dwelling high up the canyon wall. Meanwhile, Colorado and Hachita kill Tibbs. Then the Indian turns on Colorado; he is one of the treasure's guardians and has summoned a band of Apaches. However, Colorado manages to kill him and pursues Mackenna. The Apaches attack, and because of their incessant firing, the rocks start to shake. Soon, the whole canyon begins crashing down around their ears. The Indians flee, allowing Colorado, MacKenna and Inga to escape as well. Colorado leaves in disgust, believing the gold has been buried beyond reach. In the final scene, a saddlebag on the horse Mackenna took in the mad scramble is shown to be full of gold, as Tibbs had been loading gold in it.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Theme song

The opening song, Old Turkey Buzzard, is a recurring background theme. It was sung by José Feliciano and was composed by Quincy Jones with lyrics by Freddie Douglas. The theme was used on the Late Show with David Letterman in 2007. A 19 second clip is played after Dave throws his cue card through the glass window behind his desk. While Letterman has shown irritation with the sound clip, he has also at the same time called it both "amazing and inspirational". Feliciano made a guest appearance on the Late Show on October 16, 2007, singing a longer excerpt of the song.

[edit] Influence

While Paramount’s 1954 film “Secret of the Incas” is often cited by film buffs as an inspiration for the Indiana Jones franchise of films, the 1969 “Mackenna’s Gold” is only occasionally recognized as a direct inspiration, in spite of the fact that numerous scenes in the Columbia film bear a striking resemblance in tone, structure and even art direction to scenes in the “Raiders of the Lost Ark” trilogy. The distinct impact of “Mackenna’s Gold” on the production of the Indiana Jones franchise can clearly be seen in the following:

  • In both “Mackenna’s Gold” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” the rising sun is the all-important key to pinpointing the location of a long-hidden treasure of gold;
  • in both “Mackenna’s Gold” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” an antagonist goes sailing off an impossibly high cliff while in hot pursuit of the main characters;
  • in both “Mackenna’s Gold” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”, a narrow, rickety rope-and-wood suspension bridge stretching over an enormous stony gorge must be traversed by the hero;
  • in both “Mackenna’s Gold” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” – as well as “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” – the hero realizes the deadly danger attached to the treasure while the others realize too late;
  • in both “Mackenna’s Gold” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” the blonde European female lead is suddenly struck with an unreasonable attraction to the deadly treasure;
  • in both “Mackenna’s Gold” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” the path to the treasure is an extremely narrow crevice in a canyon wall where a horse and rider are barely able to squeeze through;
  • in both “Mackenna’s Gold” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” after locating the treasure, the hero is pursued by the villain while both take turns clinging to a sheer, rocky canyon wall that leads straight down;
  • in both “Mackenna’s Gold” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” the site of the treasure comes crashing down in an earthquake and is completely buried under rubble, presumably to be lost forever.
  • In both “Mackenna’s Gold” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” (as well as the two following Indiana Jones films) throughout the films a map is superimposed over the action as the characters reach different points of their treasure hunt.

What sets “Mackenna’s Gold” apart from and the aforementioned “Secret of the Incas,” however, is the fact that "Raiders of the Lost Ark" writer George Lucas had nothing to do with “Secret of the Incas” (he was only 10 years old when it was released in 1954), whereas he was actually on location for “Mackenna’s Gold” when several of its Utah scenes were being filmed in 1967. Lucas and two other film students had been chosen by Columbia Pictures to shoot short behind-the-scenes documentaries for Columbia about the making of what was to be Carl Foreman’s epic western. Lucas titled his finished product, “6-18-67”.

Although many other movies in addition to “Secret of the Incas” have been cited as inspiration for George Lucas and Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones series (“Zorro Rides Again”, “Zorro's Fighting Legion”, “Stagecoach”, “Gunga Din”, “Green Hell”, “Casablanca”, “China”, “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”, “Valley of the Kings”, ”Jivaro (1954 film)”, “Yojimbo”, “Lawrence of Arabia”, etc.) “Mackenna’s Gold” is, by far, the most influential, not only because of the number of scenes referenced, but also because it is the only movie of the group that is actually contemporaneous with Lucas and Spielberg as filmmakers.

[edit] External links