You’ve probably seen the grainy posters. A towering Clint Walker and a young, surprisingly Irish-sounding Roger Moore standing against the scorched backdrop of the Utah desert. It’s a 1961 flick called Gold of the Seven Saints, and honestly, it’s a bit of a weird one in the history of Western cinema. It wasn't exactly a box office smash. But if you’re a fan of the genre, or just curious about how Hollywood handled "gold fever" back in the day, there’s a lot to dig into here.
Most people get it confused with the legendary "Seven Cities of Gold." You know, the mythical Cibola that drove conquistadors like Coronado absolutely mad. This isn't that. This is a gritty, black-and-white adventure about two fur trappers who stumble onto 250 pounds of raw gold and proceed to have the worst week of their lives.
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What Really Happens in Gold of the Seven Saints
The plot is basically a chase movie on a slow-motion treadmill. Jim Rainbolt (played by the massive Clint Walker) and Shaun Garrett (a pre-Saint, pre-Bond Roger Moore) find a massive strike. They’re rich. Like, never-work-again rich. But here’s the kicker: gold is heavy. Really heavy.
Shaun makes the classic rookie mistake. He tries to buy a pack horse in a local town and pays with a solid gold nugget. It’s like flashing a stack of hundreds in a room full of pickpockets. Naturally, a gang led by a nasty guy named McCracken spots the "wealth" and the hunt is on.
A Cast of Doubful Characters
What makes the movie interesting—and kinda cynical—is who shows up to "help" them:
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- Doc Gates: Played by Chill Wills. He’s a doctor, a drunk, and a former gunslinger. He saves their skins but immediately demands a cut.
- Amos Gondora: An "old friend" of Jim's who runs a ranch. He’s jovial, he’s hospitable, and then—shocker—he decides he wants the gold for himself, too.
The Arches Connection
One thing that really stands out is the scenery. They filmed it in Arches National Park, Utah. If you’ve ever been there, you know the landscape is alien. It’s all red rocks and massive natural bridges.
Ironically, the movie was shot in black and white.
Fans have been complaining about this for decades. Why on earth would you film in one of the most vibrant, colorful places on the planet and then strip all the color out? Some say it was to save money; others think the director, Gordon Douglas, wanted a starker, more "noir" feel for the desert. Whatever the reason, the black-and-white cinematography by Joseph F. Biroc is actually pretty stunning, even if you’re missing out on the orange glow of the rocks.
The Twist Nobody Saw Coming (Or Liked)
The ending of Gold of the Seven Saints is famous for being... well, a bit of a letdown.
After fighting off bandits, surviving torture, and trekking across a sun-bleached hellscape, the two partners have to cross a raging river. The bags tear. The gold sinks. It’s gone. All 250 pounds of it, right back into the mud.
Most Westerns of that era ended with the hero riding off with the girl or the money. Here? The two lead characters just stand there and laugh. They’re basically just happy to be alive and still friends. It’s a weirdly upbeat ending for a movie that spends 80 minutes showing how gold turns everyone into a monster.
Key Facts About the Film
- Director: Gordon Douglas (who also did Fort Dobbs and Yellowstone Kelly).
- Source Material: It’s based on a 1957 novel called Desert Guns by Steve Frazee.
- The "Saint" Connection: Roger Moore was cast just before he started his iconic role in the TV show The Saint. The title of the movie is a pure coincidence, but it definitely helped with marketing later on.
- Location: Filmed in Professor Valley, Dead Horse Point, and Arches, Utah.
Why the "Gold Fever" Theme Still Hits
Greed is a timeless story. We see it in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and we see it here. The film explores how quickly "friendship" evaporates when there’s a fortune sitting behind a boulder.
Even the town of Seven Saints—the place they're trying to reach—becomes this symbolic goal they never actually get to. It’s always just over the next ridge.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Collectors
If you’re looking to dive deeper into this specific piece of Western history, here is what you need to know:
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- Finding a Copy: It’s notoriously hard to find a high-quality version. The Warner Archive released it, but because the original negatives were damaged, most versions you'll find are "pan and scan" or lack the crispness of a modern 4K restoration. Look for the DVD-R versions if you're a completist.
- The Soundtrack: The score by Howard Jackson is solid, but if you can find the Elmer Bernstein recordings associated with this era of Warner Westerns, they’re worth a listen.
- Visit the Sites: If you’re a movie buff, a trip to Moab, Utah, lets you walk through the exact canyons where Walker and Moore hid their loot. Just don't expect to find any gold left in the river.
The movie reminds us that sometimes, the only thing more dangerous than having nothing is having too much. Jim and Shaun started as simple fur trappers and ended as simple fur trappers. The only difference was the trail of bodies they left behind and a story that Western fans still talk about sixty years later.
If you want to understand the transition from the "Classic Western" of the 50s to the more cynical "Revisionist Westerns" of the late 60s, this is a perfect bridge. It’s not quite a masterpiece, but it’s got a heart—and a sense of humor—that many of its contemporaries lacked. Just watch out for those river crossings. Gold doesn't float.