Monday, September 26, 2011

The Golden Mask (1953)


United Artists
Directed by Jack Lee
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

British archaeologist Eric Portman is running out of money and reluctantly agrees to take along American Van Heflin to Algeria in search of an ancient mask with historical and monetary value. Heflin plans to use the discover to make money by writing books. Along for the expedition is Wanda Hendrix, Portman's dutiful daughter, who resents his presence at first but eventually falls in love. When their search through Roman ruins turns up empty, they make new plans to go deep into the desert. They must overcome a gang of desert bandits and a competing group of treasure hunters. Location shooting in Algeria adds authenticity, but also tends to bog the film down in unnecessary tangents such as belly dancing and cute orphan kids.

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