Oklahoma Crude (film)

Oklahoma Crude
Oklahoma Crude
	Theatrical poster by Howard Terpning
Directed by	Stanley Kramer
Screenplay by	Marc Norman
Produced by	Stanley Kramer
Starring	George C. Scott; Faye Dunaway; John Mills; Jack Palance
Cinematography	Robert Surtees
Edited by	Folmar Blangsted
Music by	Henry Mancini
Production; company	Stanley Kramer Productions
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	June 13, 1973 (Oklahoma);
Running time	112 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$2,500,000 (US/ Canada rentals)

Oklahoma Crude is a 1973 American comedy-drama western film directed by Stanley Kramer in Panavision. It stars George C. Scott, Faye Dunaway, John Mills and Jack Palance. It was entered into the 8th Moscow International Film Festival where Kramer won the Golden Prize for Direction.^[2] The song "Send a Little Love My Way", sung by Anne Murray, was featured in the film and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 1973.^[3]

Plot

In 1913, Lena Doyle is the owner of a small tract of land outside Almira, Oklahoma that contains a prominent hill. Lena believes the hill is a dome above a large pool of oil and runs a "wild cat" drilling operation, but her derrick has yet to yield anything. Her only employee is Jimmy, a young Native American. One day, Lena's estranged father, Cleon Doyle, shows up and offers to help, but she refuses. Cleon nevertheless tries to hire men to guard Lena's property, but he is shunned, as no one wants to stand in the way of "Pan Okie", or Pan Oklahoma Oil & Gas, which is the most powerful oil company in the region and Almira's principal benefactor. Only one man, Spanish-American War veteran Noble "Mase" Mason, accepts. Lena is wary of Mason, but allows him to work for her while continuing to reject her father.

One night during a downpour, Walter C. Hellman, a retired US Army captain employed by Pan Oklahoma as a fixer, arrives and demands Lena sell her tract to the company. She declines, and Hellman orders his henchmen to beat her and Jimmy, who dies from his injuries. Mason offers to abandon Lena for a $200 bribe, but Hellman disparages him as a spineless opportunist and not only refuses to pay, but has him beaten as well. Cleon nurses Lena and Mason back to health while Hellman illegally occupies and works Lena's tract. In Almira, Lena and Cleon, who are now reconciled, are informed by a lawyer that Lena's case against Pan Oklahoma is hopeless because the company has influence over the judges, but he suggests that she could take back her land by force and justify it as self-defense. Together, Lena, Cleon, and Mason assault Hellman's workers with shotguns and grenades, scaring them off and reclaiming the tract.

The next day, Hellman returns with Henry H. Wilcox, the son of Pan Oklahoma's owner, and a larger group of men, threatening to "besiege" Lena's property unless she agrees to sell. She again refuses him. Hellman has the tract encircled and placed under constant guard, but is restrained from taking more violent action by Wilcox. Other oil companies learn of the squabble and send their own representatives to monitor the tract, hoping to take advantage. As the siege stretches on, Mason is forced to sneak into the Pan Oklahoma camp to steal food and drink, earning Lena's gratitude. Soon after, Lena's derrick is affected by a blow out and the drill cable breaks. Against Lena's wishes, Cleon climbs the derrick to replace the cable, wearing a metal plate on his back as protection from Hellman's gunmen. The cable is replaced, but on the way down Cleon loses his plate and is shot dead. In the wake of the tragedy, Lena pursues a romantic relationship with Mason.

Finally, Lena's derrick strikes oil, and the various oil company representatives flock to buy it. She settles on the somewhat high price of $2.50 per barrel, but the frenzied representatives accept. Unfortunately, the oil gush abruptly stops; Lena only drilled a small, worthless pocket of oil, and her well is a bust. Hellman and the other oil men immediately pack up and leave. Lena and Mason muse about looking for oil in Mexico, but Mason declares he wants to leave the oil business behind. As he walks away, Lena calls for him.

Cast

George C. Scott as Noble "Mase" Mason
Faye Dunaway as Lena Doyle
John Mills as Cleon Doyle
Jack Palance as Walter C. Hellman
William Lucking as Marion
Harvey Jason as Henry H. Wilcox
Ted Gehring as Wobbly
Cliff Osmond as Massive Man
Rafael Campos as Jimmy
Woodrow Parfrey as Lawyer
John Hudkins as Bloom
Harvey Parry as Bliss
Bob Herron as Dulling (as Dullnig)
Jerry Brown as Rucker
Jim Burk as Moody
Henry Wills as Walker
Hal Smith as C. R. Miller
Cody Bearpaw as Indian
James Jeter as Stapp
Larry D. Mann as Deke Watson
John Dierkes as Farmer
Karl Lukas as Hobo #1
Wayne Storm as Hobo #2
Billy Varga as Cook

Production

Despite the title, the movie was primarily filmed on a cattle ranch near Stockton, California.^[4] Assured by the locals that the weather was mild and temperate, the only thing it didn't do was snow. Filming from September to November 1972, the temperature went from 110 degrees to so cold the actors had to put ice cubes in their mouths to keep their breath from showing up on screen (the movie supposedly took place during the summer).^[5]

Release

The film had its premiere on June 13, 1973 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It also opened in Oklahoma City the same day.^[6]

Reception

In the Chicago Sun-Times, film critic Roger Ebert wrote:

We have seen this relationship many times in the movies, most memorably in The African Queen. The buried plot is always the same: Beautiful woman and uncultured man find themselves thrown together in a colorful enterprise. They have nothing in common except the enterprise, they think, but gradually their co-operation breeds respect, affection and finally love. Class barriers fall as the sun sets and romantic music swells... [Stanley] Kramer, to give him his due, has handled the ending on a restrained note that seems just right; we don't get slow-motion shots of lovers running across a meadow (or an oil field) into each other's arms.^[7]

References

^ "Big Rental Films of 1973", Variety, 9 January 1974 p 19
^ "34th Moscow International Film Festival (1973)". MIFF. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
^ Golden Globe Awards Archived 2013-05-08 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved August 16, 2013
^ "Hollywood Goes Stockton". Santa Cruz Sentinel. November 16, 1972. p. 21. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
^ Sheward, David (2008). Rage and Glory. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. pp. 230–231. ISBN 978-1-55783-670-0.
^ "Oklahoma Crude (advertisement)". Variety. May 23, 1973. pp. 20–21. Retrieved May 8, 2024 – via Internet Archive.
^ Ebert, Roger (August 6, 1973). "Oklahoma Crude". RogerEbert.com. Chicago Sun-Times.