vincentlynch-moonoi I watched this film...all the way through...but I didn't like it. It seems to me that if there were ever a man and a woman that didn't belong together it was the two main characters in this film, played by Wyman and Heston. Aside from that, and I admit I can't put my finger on it, this film just feels off-target to me. Like when I play pool and every shot is about one inch off the mark. And although I'm a man, it appeared to me that Charlton Heston wouldn't have been a good kisser at all.The basic story line...at least for a while...seems okay. Wyman is traveling by train through Texas and gets laid over in a cow town that is becoming an oil town. She gets the idea to go into a store for ladies fashions and makes a hit of it. Meanwhile she falls in love with a ranch owner who eventually becomes an oil man. But, oil and water don't mix and Wyman and Heston always seem at odds. And frankly, I have to align with Wyman's character here. Heston plays a mild bully. In the end, she -- unfortunately -- bows to his idea of what a wife should be. What a shame.Interestingly, Texas Governor Allan Shivers and fashion designer Edith Head both appear as themselves near the end of the film.There's nothing wrong with the performance of Jane Wyman here. It's the film that's off. But despite Wyman's strength as an actress, I'd have no desire to wade through this again.Charlton Heston apparently disliked his performance here...and I concur. To be frank, I was never impressed with Heston in romantic films. Despite being in several of the great films of the era, (and "Ben-Hur" is in my top 5), I'm not sure Heston's acting ability was very broad.Claire Trevor is here, and I liked her in her role. There just should have been much more of her! The wonderful Thelma Ritter is here...basically playing Thelma Ritter...and she's as fascinating to watch here as in any other film! William Demarest, usually an interesting character actor, doesn't fit here. And Wallace Ford (as her husband) has little to do beyond drinking whiskey.I don't know that I've ever seen a Jane Wyman film that I felt quite this negative about. Not bad though...a single miss in her most productive years.

jotix100 Imagine a New York socialite arriving at a desolate Texas oil town in the 1930s with four suitcases plus a few carry-ons. Poor Lucy Gallant stuck out like a sore thumb! One thing going for her was her ability to adapt to the situation in which is thrown into. She proved she had a head for business when she manages to sell her whole wardrobe to the wives of the new oil barons. These women were ripe for getting whatever fashions they could lay their hands on.Lucy's success comes with a disappointment. Even though she loves Casey, the man who would end up being a millionaire, she feels she wants to pursue her career as a business woman. After all, she had started out of nothing to build the store of her dreams. Being a woman in that environment also brings her to the reality of seeing what she had built taken away from her during a sneaky maneuver by the man she trusted to help her run the business. In the end, Lucy realizes that being with Casey is a lot more fulfilling than the business she created.Robert Parrish directed this Paramount release. Jane Wyman was the right choice to play Lucy. She was an intelligent actress who always projected warmth to any role she played. She is the whole reason for watching the film. Charlton Heston plays the awkward Casey Cole with conviction. Others in the cast include the excellent Thelma Ritter, who is a joy to watch in everything she played. Claire Trevor and William Demarest are also seen in pivotal roles.

morganoneill Lucy Gallant stars Jane Wyman and Charlton Heston have a great rapport in this wonderful movie. I have been trying to buy the VHS for 20 years. Is this web site saying the title is changed to Oil Town in 2005? thats very strange...i keep thinking that Jane Wyman has blocked releasing it. Perhaps it will be released on her passing. What a fun and well written movie!!! I cant wait to see it again...its NEVER on TV or cable... what a waste...check it out everyone, its a winner. Jane plays a jilted bride with her designer clothes for the honeymoon . Her train to New York is stopped in Texas with motor problems and she gets her luggage off, and finds that the women around the station are dying to buy good clothes, and she starts selling them right there, and thus begins a very successful department store very like Neiman Marcus. Charlton Heston falls in love with Jane, and what sparks from this as in Bogie and Bacal! They should have made more movies together, great performances all around. see it.

irpworks First saw this movie on AMC over a decade ago, taped it, and love it. It's actually a good conglomeration of events during the Texas oil boom. The scenes of the hotels being so full and nothing for people to buy in the boom towns is very accurate. The development of the great department store is really telling the story of famed Texas department stores such as Neiman-Marcus, Joske's, Hemphill-Wells and others that brought world-class shopping to the oil and ranching areas of Texas. Heston's performance is great and he really pegs the personality of many older rancher friends I know. And, any lover of Texas politics will love seeing Governor Shivers play himself. Other folks are right, we need this on a good quality DVD - it just has too much good history of the oil boom and post WWII development in Texas to keep locked away.