En las entrañas de la tierra

Oil-rig worker from Montana, on the run from police, finds himself out west; seems he's killed a man in self-defense and didn't argue too much when his fellow cell-mates made a break for it. A tough but friendly oil foreman takes him on, and together they work feverishly to strike a gusher or lose their lease on the land. An odd, somewhat dislocating mix of elements (noir, gangster drama, light comedy, romance) gets the film off to a convoluted start--even with self-assured John Garfield in the lead. Garfield is so casual about his toughness, his armor, that he walks through the picture almost gregariously, lightening the load. Pat O'Brien (with his large, handsome face, as if he were grandfather to George Clooney) is wonderful as John's first real friend, but Frances Framer is a walking question-mark as the love-interest. With her unhappy eyes and deep, husky voice, Farmer doesn't connect with the audience and never really gets into character, not that there's much of one (she welcomes a date with O'Brien but just as quickly falls for Garfield the same evening). The script, by Kenneth Gamet from a story by Rex Beach, is overly-complicated at the outset, but improves after it settles into a more conventional mode (the technical detail is a big help). The movie delivers a good time in the end, despite some outlandish circumstances and a bit of overplaying from the eccentrics in the supporting cast. **1/2 from ****

Frances Farmer never looked lovelier in this adventure/drama about wildcat oilmen trying to beat the lease deadline and bring in an oil well. John Garfield once again is on the lam for a self-defense murder, hooking up with Pat O'Brien and Farmer's father (Raymond Walburn), and constantly apprehensive about the police looking to find him. You can guess what happens - a love triangle between Garfield and O'Brien for Farmer is inevitable. Some minimal comedy is provided by Walburn, Tom Kennedy, Cliff Edwards, and Edwards' fiancée, Jody Gilbert, but I greatly enjoyed some of the special effects, particularly the very exciting oil fire sequence near the end. At one point there's also a most impressive shot of a gusher coming in with the oil rushing towards the camera mounted on top of the derrick. I wondered how that was done without ruining the camera. Still, the stars make the movie worth looking into.

Fugitive Garfield is befriended by oil field boss O'Brien, but ends up falling for his friend's girl, Farmer.

Two-fisted action film with a generous helping of pretty good comedy relief. Okay, you've probably seen it all before and can tick off the romantic subplot by the numbers. Still, it's hard not to watch since the action is so well done. Warner Bros. in particular recycled the plot in the following year's Manpower (1941). Nonethrless, the premise of good buddies falling for the same girl has built-in appeal that's hard to resist. Garfield and O'Brien do their macho thing as oil field roughnecks, while Frances Farmer of the perpetual-lovely-smile proves she's a true Hollywood rebel by refusing to pluck her eyebrows.

And get a load of that roaring, nightmare river, not a place to drop a fishing line unless you're angling for the Loch Ness monster. Heck, the riverside road doesn't even have a guard rail—no wonder the crane driver wants to bail. Studio special effects really did a great visual job with that one. In fact, the movie manages the look and feel of a real oil field minus the usual process shots, at least that I could spot. I guess that says something for the often overlooked role of producer, in this case the big enchilada himself, Jack Warner.

And get a load too of Jodie Gilbert as Tillie the man-eating barber or is it barberess. Either way, she'll make you rethink women as the weaker sex. If I were husband Cliff Edwards, I'd be hiring a bodyguard fast. Anyhow it's a colorful and amusing supporting cast, none of which to take seriously, much like the movie itself. The 80-minutes may not be Oscar bait, but the sum-total again shows how old Hollywood with all its flaws could still turn out good lively entertainment.

FLOWING GOLD (Warner Brothers, 1940), directed by Alfred E. Green, is not in reference about gold flowing above water, but about men working in the oil fields with oil being termed as flowing gold. Noted as being the studio's answer to a similar but bigger budget all-star two-hour production of BOOM TOWN (1940) starring Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert and Hedy Lamarr, FLOWING GOLD is of lesser scale (at 81 minutes), starring John Garfield, Pat O'Brien and Frances Farmer (on loan from Paramount) as main attractions. Though suggested on the story by Rex Beach, much of the plot strays from the author's novel and possibly the earlier 1924 First National Pictures silent production of the same name starring Milton Sills and Anna Q. Nilsson.

FORWARD: "OIL! Black, liquid gold flowing from the Earth ...! OIL! Stored by nature a million years ago - bringing to man a new civilization! OIL! Black gold, locked deep in the Earth, has challenged man's imagination. Man took up the challenge and sank steel shafts to tap the reservoirs of this strange power ... Flowing Gold -" For this new and updated adaptation edition, the story opens outside an oil company where Johnny Blake (John Garfield), along with other men, awaiting all night for the establishment to open at 7 a.m to apply for work. After spotting a couple of officers showing posters of him (WANTED FOR MURDER: John Alexander), Johnny runs away, ending up at another oil field miles down the road. Though Hap O'Connor (Pat O'Brien) a tough foreman, recognizes him as a fugitive from justice, rather than calling the police to have him arrested, Hap gives him the job in the oil fields instead. After Johnny saves Hap from getting injured or killed by Collins (Edward Pawley), a drunken crew member he just fired, Hap and Johnny form a bonding friendship. Because Hap knows of Johnny's murder history being in self defense, he tries talking him into giving himself up and face trial, but Johnny feels he would be found guilty anyway and having to serve a prison term. As Johnny finds another officer hot on his trail, he drifts away. Hap and his crew, including Hot Rocks (Cliff Edwards) and Petunia (Tom Kennedy), however, leave their present job out west for another oil field job at the Village of Eagle's Neck. While working under Ellery Q. "Wildcat" Chalmers (Raymond Walburn), Hap is reunited with the old man's daughter, Linda (Frances Farmer), who loves him. Later, Johnny enters the scene, working for Wildcat's opposition, Charles Hammond (Granville Bates). His meeting with Linda gets off to a bad start after assisting getting her stuck car out of the mud and nick-naming her "freckle nose." Now working for Hap, Johnny becomes Hap's best worker, until friction comes between them for their love of Linda. Others in the cast are Jody Gilbert (Tillie, the lady barber); Frank Mayo (Mike Brannigan); Virginia Sale (The Nurse) and John Alexander (The Sheriff).

Typical with totally familiar material throughout, FLOWING GOLD is agreeable entertainment from the old school of motion pictures, thanks to its fine cast and action oil field sequences. Pat O'Brien once more assumes his duty as one of those tough but "swell guys," as he did with John Garfield earlier in the prison melodrama, CASTLE ON THE HUDSON (1940) with Garfield as the prisoner and O'Brien as his caring warden. O'Brien and Garfield work well together, though their teaming is not as memorable as O'Brien's work opposite another movie wiseacre, James Cagney. It should be noted that O'Brien earlier co-starred in a similar oil-well themed drama titled FLAMING GOLD (RKO Radio, 1933) opposite William Boyd and Mae Clarke, with titles that could stir up confusion.

As much as the female lead for FLOWING GOLD might have been played by Warner Brothers' contract players as Ann Sheridan being the top contender, Priscilla Lane or simple-minded Gale Page, Frances Farmer gets her chance to act opposite John Garfield on screen for the only time. They were better known at that time for their stage production to Clifford Odets' "Golden Boy," which was later transferred to the screen in 1939 by Columbia Pictures starring Barbara Stanwyck and newcomer, William Holden. Though GOLDEN BOY did make an overnight star out of Holden, it would have been a wonder how the movie version might have turned out had Garfield and Farmer appeared in the screen version instead. This will never be known. Because Garfield and Farmer did appear in FLOWING GOLD could be the sole reason for this film's interest entirely, considering how they both perform well in a natural manner acting style. Raymond Walburn, Cliff Edwards, Tom Kennedy and Jody Gilbert lend loyal support in both straight and comedic performances to brighten up the situations.

Never distributed to video cassette but available on DVD, FLOWING GOLD did have its TV broadcast history first on commercial television during the after midnight hours late show presentations before going towards cable TV's Turner Network Television (late 1980s) and Turner Classic Movies where this and all of John Garfield/Warner Brothers features can be seen and enjoyed. (*** oil gushers).

I'm one of those people that think John Garfield could do no wrong. If had been alive, I would have numbered among the 10,000-strong throngs at his stupendous funeral.

Sure, this movie has been done in many guises before. But how many remember the others? Why do we continue to watch a movie when we know precisely how it's going to end? Something else has to string you in. It has to be something you've never seen before and yet seems so familiar that you can't help but see it anyway.

I say: How many will remember what John Garfield could add - in bushels - to any simply wrought movie? Why, his charm and rough exterior could convince a lamb to go to slaughter.

Enough cannot be said about "Jules" as they used to call him. One in a million, they say. I'll say that to the Nth degree until they beat me down. No actor could relate to the common man like he did. Others were prettier, more dashing, taller or a dozen other things.

But no one, ever again, will be a John Garfield.