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 sixty-years-old, and this time, his wife and son open their home to him. But he vows to go prospecting come next spring.
In this Western, a prospector named Travis arrives in a rough mining town seeking to stake a claim. He soon finds himself entangled in a dangerous feud between the local saloon owner and a group of miners. Travis must navigate the treacherous landscape and the even more treacherous human relationships to survive and potentially strike it rich.
The Naked Hills received a lukewarm reception upon its release. While some critics noted its traditional Western elements and straightforward narrative, others found it to be a somewhat formulaic entry in the genre with limited originality. Audience reception was similarly mixed, with many viewing it as a passable, if unremarkable, Western.
Google audience: Information on specific Google user reviews for 'The Naked Hills' is not readily available in publicly accessible archives.
The film was shot in Technicolor, a popular color process at the time, which lent a vibrant visual quality to the desert landscapes and action sequences.
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