Dakota

A brief recap of the plot-- After his wife dies in childbirth, Doc decides to remain with his young daughter in the little Oklahoma town and set up practice there. Trouble is that oil is on Indian land and only bad guy Dobie knows about it, so he tries various schemes to get Indian Charlie's land away from him. Meanwhile, Doc has struck up a friendship with Charlie whose daughter Maria takes care of Doc's youngster. So there's trouble brewing between the greedy Dobie and the Doc.

Great role for McCrea as the doctor. His naturally likable demeanor is perfect for a caring physician. Of course, there's also that steely determination he can summon when needed and make us believe it. Dexter comes across as an intelligent bad guy, knowing when to strike and when to hold back, unlike most western bad guys who are too often stupidly aggressive. Barbara Hale as Anne makes a good mature counterpart to McCrea. Earlier they made The Lone Hand (1953) together, so the rapport is unforced. Then there's cult favorite Gloria Talbot as the Indian maiden Maria, Anne's rival for Doc's affections, though the Doc's too preoccupied to notice. On the whole, it's a non-scenic, rather easy-going horse opera, with some expected fisticuffs and a well-staged showdown. Nothing special, just another very watchable McCrea western, of which he made many during his productive middle years.

As the title might suggest, "The Oklahoman" is set in Oklahoma, although that does not automatically follow; "The Virginian", after all, is not set in Virginia. The action takes place during the 1870s, at a time when Oklahoma was still known as the Indian Territory and was officially reserved for Native Americans, although in fact it also had a sizeable white population.

John Brighton is a doctor whose wife dies in childbirth while they are on a westward-bound wagon train. Dr Brighton abandons his plans to move to California and decides to settle in the small town of Cherokee Wells. The main action takes place several years later. Brighton has established his practice in the town, but becomes embroiled in a land dispute between greedy rancher Cass Dobie and a small Indian farmer; Dobie has discovered that there is oil on the Indian's land and wants to force the rightful owner off. Another strand to the plot involves Brighton's love life. Although Joel McCrea was in his fifties when the film was made, Hollywood has never had any problems with older man/younger woman love stories, and such stories were particularly prevalent in the 1950s. Brighton therefore finds that two beautiful young women, one white and one Indian, have fallen madly in love with him.

No prizes for guessing which of the girls eventually wins out. The film's politics on racial issues are, by the standards of the fifties, mildly liberal, but that liberalism does not extend to matters of the heart. The film's attitude towards Native Americans, in fact, is that they deserve to be treated as equals by the white man, provided that they assimilate into white culture and adopt the white man's ways. Dr Brighton's friend as a young man fought for his tribe against the whites, but after being defeated has given up his traditional lifestyle and taken up farming. Most Indians in Westerns have names like "Running Bear" or "Red Eagle", but this one has the distinctly Anglo-Saxon moniker of Charlie Smith.

This film appears to have been made as a B-movie and is not, by any means, well-known today; I note that mine is only the third review it has received on this board. Before I recently caught it on television I had never heard of it or of its director Francis D. Lyon, and its star McCrea was best known to me for his role in Hitchcock's "Foreign Correspondent", even though in the latter part of his career he specialised almost exclusively in Westerns.

Yet this is a film which I feel deserves to be better known. There is a good performance from McCrea in the leading role as a peaceful, mild-mannered man whose sense of honour demands that he should make a stand against injustice. (A frequent Western theme. Brad Dexter is also good as the villain Dobie, adept at using a mask of sweet reasonableness to hide the fact that he is by nature an unpleasant bully, and Barbara Hale and Gloria Talbott make a lovely pair of young heroines. The film has a strong storyline, and moves along at a brisk pace, leading to the inevitable climax. "The Oklahoman" may not be in the same league as the great Westerns of the fifties (films like "High Noon", "Shane" or "The Big Country"), but it is a good example of a very decent second division Western. 7/10

Back when oil was discovered in Oklahoma and there was a market for it, the Natives living in Oklahoma were set to get rich. However, unscrupulous whites used a variety of techniques to legally steal the land. This film is about an early attempt to steal Indian land for oil rights...with middling results.

The story begins with John (Joel McCrea) traveling west to California to homestead. However, his wife dies along the way and he decides to stay in Oklahoma and raise his young daughter. After all, he's a doctor and they could use one there.

Several years pass and a no-goodnick named 'Dobie' is trying to get everyone's land...particularly that belonging to the Indians. This is because there's oil and he anticipates a demand for the stuff. In his way is the Doc...who insists that the Indians be treated as citizens. Additionally, two women love him (though he's too dumb to realize it)...and one is a native.

The worst aspect of the film are the so-called 'Indians'. The Aussie, Michael Pate, is an odd choice...and his accent is just strange. Additionally, Gloria Talbott plays another...which she did in quite a few films even though she looked nothing like any Native!

Despite the poor casting decision about 'Natives', the film is good and tries to portray the Indians well...perhaps too well considering attitudes about them back in the old west. It also helps that Joel McCrea is in the lead, as he made westerns seem a bit better due to his easygoing manner.

Overall, a decent western...one a bit better than average even with the screwy 'Indians'!

Doctor Joel McCrea buries his wife dead in childbirth on the road to California, and stays set with his daughter. Five years later, he's moderately well set, with pretty Indian girl Gloria Talbott taking care of his daughter, and in love with him, as is Barbara Hale, who owns and runs the second biggest spread around.

Every woman wants to marry a doctor, just like my grandmother told me. Into this unwalled paradise comes trouble, when Miss Talbott's father, Michael Pate, turns himself in to the sheriff. He has killed Brad Dexter's brother, but it was self-defense. Dexter has the biggest spread around. This means it's time for McCrea to take a moral stand and get into a fistfight with Dexter. But wait! There's more!

Daniel Ullman's script is an anachronistic mishmosh of eras, but it does take a nice moral stance of equal justice for all, and it has the always reliable McCrea, Miss Hale looking beautiful and sensible just before she became Della Street, and the usual assortment of actors for one of Allied Artists' Shaky-A oaters: Ray Teal, Verna Felton, Anthony Caruso, and I Stanford Jolley. It also has a great dance sequence, with Miss Talbott kicking up her heels with an assortment of partners to "Oh Dem Golden Slippers".

Its a shame there isn't a space for these kinds of movies to be made any more. Simple, yet entertaining, boosted by some exploration of equality and racism.

A nice relaxing way to spend some time at the movies.