Black Gold

Plot-- The O'Reilly father and son have leased an apparently dry-hole oil well and will soon have to turn it back to the owner Anderson if it doesn't soon produce. But is it really a dry-hole or does Anderson know something the well meaning O'Reilly's don't. Meanwhile, will O'Reilly Jr. ever take to book learning, and will the two good-lookers Hank and Cynthia finally get romantic.

The independent production's a well done 30's programmer, with a solid story, good acting, and location filming at a real oil field that also proves eye-catching. (My guess is the Signal Hills site in greater LA.) Even Mason and Darro as well as the extras look dirty enough to be actually working there. Also, youngster Darro scoots around like a little cannonball, apparently doing all his own stunts up and down the rig.

Then too, the romantic interludes between Mason and Shea blend well into the storyline without interrupting it. Also, director Hopton keeps things moving, along with some action coming right at the camera, so be prepared to duck. I guess the only drawback is 'Snowflake' Toones supplying racial humor, but at least he's not heavily mocked and even appears as one of the roughnecks.

All in all, the details add up to nifty hour's entertainment, better than average for its programmer type.

"Black Gold" is a short full-length film--even for a B-movie. Additionally, the DVD copy by Alpha Video is missing 4 minutes--making the entire picture only 53 minutes in length.

The O'Reilly family has everything staked on an oil well they are digging. Dan just KNOWS it will come in but the deadline on his lease is about to expire. To make things worse, he doesn't realize that his friend, J.C. Anderson (Berton Churchill) is a jerk--and will do anything to make sure the oil well DOESN'T produce because he knows it's on a very rich site and wants it all for himself--even if it means murder!

This is an amiable B-movie and it has few slow spots--mostly because of its run-time. The ending seemed a bit weak and hearing everyone refer to the black actor Fred Toones as 'Snowflake' (his common stage name) was kind of sad

Unremarkable film about a bunch of good guys trying to find oil while a bad guy tries to get it for himself. It has the usual pack of thugs who throw their weight around. A crusading union type guy trying to pull the others together when the going gets tough. It's not a terrible movie, but not very suspenseful or believable. The young lead was apparently pretty charismatic back in the thirties. He looks like a refugee from the Bowery Boys, ready to fight, with that mop of black hair and bottom heavy build. It has a few action scenes and a conclusion that isn't particularly satisfying. It is worth a look as a period piece.

"Wildcat riggers risk their lives in the pursuit of oil. Their jobs get even more dangerous when ruthless oil baron J.C. Anderson sets his sights on their territory. When longtime driller Dan O'Reilly falls to his death from a well tower sabotaged by Anderson's strong-arm thugs, his teenage son 'Fishtail' inherits the property and the troubles that come with it. With the help of his geologist pal, Hank Langford, the boy fights to bring in a gusher before the deed to the well-site expires," according to the Alpha Video synopsis.

This was the first of two films adapted from "The Joy of Living" by Peter B. Kyne; but, after watching "Black Gold" and "Tough to Handle" (1937) back-to-back, it's difficult to believe they are sourced from the same story. Possibly, one of these credits is an error. In the other film, young star Frankie Darro is a New York City paperboy involved with sweepstakes fixers; here, he confronts a crooked oilman.

Actor Russell Hopton directed "Black Gold" with some interesting touches. Darro was often given a handsome older man to "bond" with (later changed to the ethnic comic character appearing herein as "Snowflake"), and you sometimes wonder about Darro's affections. In this one, he (as Clifford) and LeRoy Mason (as Hank) appear more bi-sexualized than usual, thanks to the way particular scenes are staged and scripted. Watch and listen especially, after Darro begins to eat Mr. Mason's apple, to their "piano duet" followed by a tea party with pretty Gloria Shea (as Cynthia), then the picnic.

****** Black Gold (1/20/36) Russell Hopton ~ Frankie Darro, LeRoy Mason, Gloria Shea, Berton Churchill

Frank Shannon is a wildcatter with a couple of weeks to run on his lease. If he can strike oil, it turns into a ten year lease, which is exactly what Berton Churchill, who leased him the land, doesn't want; although it's a tough drill, the latest reports say it will be the richest strike around. Shannon is broke, but he brings in geologist Leroy Mason. So it becomes a race between Shannon, Mason, and Shannon's son Frankie Darro, against Churchill and his gang of goons including Stanley Fields and Dewey Robinson.

It's a cheap Poverty Row production which spends a lot of time showing well towers, but there is one great sequence, when the sabotage kills Shannon. Also Fred Toones gets a role that's not pure stereotype. Is that enough to make it a great movie? No, of course not. But there are some very good moments amidst the stereotyped story.