Original poster for Oklahoma Crude (1973)
A movie about the battle of the sexes and the battle of business, OKLAHOMA CRUDE (1973) was Kirk Ellis’s choice for this session of Western Night.
Set in the Oklahoma oil fields of 1913, Lena Doyle (Faye Dunaway), a strong-willed woman who has committed all she has on her lone oil well, wants nothing to do with men or women, but she needs help and reluctantly hires “Mase” (George C. Scott), a drifter who only wants to make some money. But a big oil company wants to drive Lena out and sends a goon squad led by Walter Hellman (Jack Palance) to see to it.
The script by Marc Norman (Oscar winner for SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE along with Tom Stoppard) offers characters possessing gumption and resourcefulness and, as in life, sometimes they win and sometimes not.
Admittedly, producer/director Stanley Kramer, best known for delving into social issues with films like THE DEFIANT ONES, JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG, INHERIT THE WIND, and GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER, presents a film that could arguably fit into that category with the lone hold-out versus the big corporation. But watching it, he seems very pleased to simply entertain the audience.
While location shooting was done in Stockton, California, cinematographer Robert Surtees (BEN-HUR, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, THE STING) vividly captured the stark quality of early 20th Century Oklahoma oil fields and small towns.
OKLAHOMA CRUDE is available on Blu-Ray, DVD and Amazon Prime.
Along with Kirk, Emmy winning screenwriter and producer, as well as author of the book THEY KILL PEOPLE about the making of BONNIE AND CLYDE, our group includes Johnny D. Boggs, record ten-time Spur Award-winning author and Owen Wister Award winner whose work includes his latest, BLOODY NEWTON, Kirk’s wife, Sheila, David Morrell, award-winning author and New York Times best-selling author of FIRST BLOOD, the novel that introduced the character Rambo, and Robert Nott, award-winning journalist and author of several books on Western films, including his most recent RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY that examines the production, themes and legacy of the film that launched Sam Peckinpah’s career.
