The Naked Hills (1956)

Tracy Powell an Indiana farmer gets the gold fever and heads for Stockton California in 1849 There he abandons his first partner Bert Killian and teams up with Sam Wilkins a claim jumper employed by Willis Haver Six years later Powell returns to Indiana and his sweetheart Julie They marry and he tries farming again but on the night their son is born he takes off again searching for gold This time he heads for the hills with an inveterate prospector Jimmo McCann A decade later the two are still hunting for their big strike when McCann is killed in an accident Powell returns home with news of a big strike but the deserted Julie will have nothing to do with him His friend Killian will not believe him but Haver now a banker gives him a small loan and then beats him out of his claim Many years pass before he comes home now sixtyyearsold and this time his wife and son open their home to him But he vows to go prospecting come next spring