JohnHowardReid Copyright 13 April 1949 (in notice: 1948) by Pathe Industries, Inc. Released through Eagle Lion Films, Inc. in the U.S.A.; General Film Distributors - Eagle Lion in the U.K.; British Empire Films in Australia. New York opening at the Capitol: 26 May 1949. U.S. release: 13 April 1949. U.K. release: 1 August 1949. Australian release: 15 December 1949. 8,191 feet. 91 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Get-rich-quick oil tycoons win out over a lone conservation-minded cattleman in 1920s Oklahoma.NOTES: Eagle Lion's most expensive production was also its biggest box-office success, although by and large contemporary critics were not enthusiastic. Tulsa was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Special Effects, but in a two-picture poll came second to Mighty Joe Young.COMMENT: After a most unpromising start (Chill Wills ogling into the camera and giving us an earful of reach-me-down guff about oil and Tulsa and the great state of Oklahoma), this film picks up considerably as soon as the story starts. In fact, Tulsa is one of director Heisler's most entertaining features - and one of the few pictures in which his early training as a film editor is obviously evident. (Such scenes as the camera closing in on the Tanner sign with Hayward's face superimposed, followed by the long tracking shot as she makes her way through the hotel lobby, are most effectively contrived.)Susan Hayward never looked more attractive. Great care has been taken with her make-up and costumes, and even more importantly she has been glamorously lit and photographed from most flattering angles. What's more she has a typical Hayward role which she plays with her usual relish and drive. Producer Wanger has surrounded his star with a competent array of support players. Armendariz is a little uncomfortable as "a crazy Indian", but Lloyd Gough is delightfully smooth as the chief villain and Ed Begley has an expressive cameo as a partying tycoon. Robert Preston plays the ruggedly honest hero with his usual ease and some of our favorite character players including Jimmy Conlin as Begley's reluctant attorney ("Never go anywhere without him!") are delightfully on hand. Not only does the story move at a rapid pace and allow plenty of opportunities for conflict and drama (including a spectacularly fiery climax which was deservedly nominated for an Academy Award), but it is now very topically angled. Tulsa may well be the very first Hollywood feature primarily motivated by Pollution versus Conservation. The script's arguments are just as valid today as in 1948. What's more they are crisply presented in terms of human conflict, rather than the dry lessons of academics and pedants.By Eagle Lion standards, production values are extraordinarily lavish. Hoch's glamorous photography has already been commended, and this praise has to be extended to the sets and miniatures, the costumes and effects. And we're not complaining that Chill Wills sings the pat-on-the-back title song twice - he does it each time with such agreeable good humor.All in all, a most entertaining 90 minutes.

arfdawg-1 The Plot: It's Tulsa, Oklahoma at the start of the oil boom and Cherokee Lansing's rancher father is killed in a fight with the Tanner Oil Company. Cherokee plans revenge by bringing in her own wells with the help of oil expert Brad Brady and childhood friend Jim Redbird. When the oil and the money start gushing in, both Brad and Jim want to protect the land but Cherokee has different ideas. What started out as revenge for her father's death has turned into an obsession for wealth and power.This is a very dated movie. I mean there's a guy riding horseback in a suit! It was interesting to me to see Chill Wills from the 40s. I know him from his 60s and 70s Westerns when he was a craggy old son of a gun.The movie is rather slow and the topic is not really explored in a smart or effective way. It's not that it's a bad movie, it's just rather trivial.After a while you just kinda space out because it's not all that compelling.

vincentlynch-moonoi Yes, it's true, the quality of the print seen on TCM is disgraceful. To some extent it ruins the closing minutes of the film. But, that's a not uncommon fate of the smaller production companies of the past (and after all, how familiar are you with Walter-Wanger Productions and Eagle-Lion Films. We can only hope that someday there will be a restoration of what is a darned good film.There's nothing particularly unique about the plot -- cattle rancher's father is killed by an oil rigging accident and she vows revenge. Although, we never quite understand why she ends up becoming a willing partner to the man she blames for her father's death; and that is, perhaps, the one great flaw in this film. There's the interesting sub-plot about which man will ultimately win her? The Indian (who I think most of us today would root for)? The high-minded "professor"? The man who was responsible for her father's death? It would be interesting to see how the story would be changed if it were being filmed today, instead of over 60 years ago.Susan Hayward plays Cherokee Lansing, the cattle rancher daughter who becomes an oil woman (in Oklahoma). But, in reality, Susan Hayward plays...Susan Hayward. And she (and we) can revel in that. Lest you think is this is one of her early films, no...actually her 27th credited screen appearance.I enjoyed seeing Robert Preston here as "the professor", and one of the two consciences of the cast. Pedro Armendáriz, who was actually Mexican, plays the Indian cattle rancher...the other conscience in the film. Overall a good performance, with a few missteps. I didn't care for Lloyd Gough as the heavy in the film. I'm no fan of Chill Wills, although every once in a while he would turn in a performance that I enjoyed, and this is one of those times. In fact, I wish he had had more screen time in this film. Although he doesn't get much screen time, it's interesting to see Ed Begley (senior) in a very different role for him.If we had a good print of this film, the closing scenes would be down right spectacular. With this bad print, they look cheap. But, the conflagration scenes earned the film an Oscar nomination for special effects.I recommend this film despite the poor quality of the print. Not a gem, but a rhinestone in the rough.

classicsoncall It's perhaps ironic that I chose to watch this film on the day it was announced that Larry Hagman died, the iconic J.R. Ewing of TV 'Dallas' fame who became the poster child for greedy oil barons everywhere. I'm curious why this film doesn't have more reviews, as most folks writing about it express their surprise at how intriguing the story line is. It's not like the movie is hard to find, it has a ubiquitous presence in bargain bins and large film compilations to make it quite readily available.Susan Hayward is the dominant force in the story, daughter of a cattle baron who alternates loyalties as the picture progresses between cattle ranchers and those leading the charge in the fledgling oil industry. The character who surprised me the most was old Charlie Lightfoot (Chief Yowlachie) who quickly abandoned his native culture's pride in the land to capitalize on a quick buck. Robert Preston, Pedro Armendariz and Lloyd Gough are all effective as on again/off again business allies and rivals, as well as competitors for Cherokee Lansing's (Hayward) affections.From today's standpoint, it's interesting to examine the mindset that once existed regarding oil as a finite resource subject to running out at a particular point in time. Modern day discoveries and new technologies are set to insure that our country's vast untapped resources will soon make us the new Saudi Arabia in both oil and natural gas production with hundreds of years of supply at current usage rates. Plenty of time to develop alternative energy resources if left to private enterprise entrepreneurs instead of the government picking winners and losers, or as is mostly the case - losers.