"A Prize of Gold" is a rather poor outing for Richard WIdmark...much of it because the basic plot of this story just doesn't make a lot of sense. It's a shame, as he was a fine actor....but even that couldn't save this one.
Widmark plays Sgt. Joe Lawrence, who works with the Air Police (the Air Force version of an MP) in post-war Berlin. For much of the film, he pursues a woman (Mai Zetterling) who doesn't seem super interested in him and instead is hanging around some unattractive guy. Well, Joe isn't the type to let a woman make her own choices and he drives the other guy away...only to learn that she was going to marry the guy in order to get money for the orphans. Joe feels bad about this and so he decides to mount a heist of some Nazi gold. Complications ensue.
Aside from the nonsensical plot, early in the film a 12 year-old steals and then badly damages a military jeep. Instead of Joe arresting the kid, he reports to his commander that HE broke the car and was responsible for this. Huh?? The bottom line is that the film sometimes makes little sense...and I was frustrated by this...and I am sure audiences of the day often felt much the same.
Widmark plays Sgt. Joe Lawrence, who works with the Air Police (the Air Force version of an MP) in post-war Berlin. For much of the film, he pursues a woman (Mai Zetterling) who doesn't seem super interested in him and instead is hanging around some unattractive guy. Well, Joe isn't the type to let a woman make her own choices and he drives the other guy away...only to learn that she was going to marry the guy in order to get money for the orphans. Joe feels bad about this and so he decides to mount a heist of some Nazi gold. Complications ensue.
Aside from the nonsensical plot, early in the film a 12 year-old steals and then badly damages a military jeep. Instead of Joe arresting the kid, he reports to his commander that HE broke the car and was responsible for this. Huh?? The bottom line is that the film sometimes makes little sense...and I was frustrated by this...and I am sure audiences of the day often felt much the same.