The Claim

Thomas Hardy's tale 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' is transposed to a prospecting town in 19th-century California where the scene is set for a western drama of avarice and guile. One man runs most of the town and paid a high price for his success - he swapped his wife and daughter for a gold mine. Twenty years later, his empire is threatened when a surveyor for a railroad company arrives and his family reappears.