Oklahoma Crude

Oklahoma Crude reminds me of movies like Cat Ballou (Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin) and There Will Be Blood (Daniel Day-Lewis) - the story is about the rough early days of oil drilling, a kind of late Western movie with a good shot of comedy elements and action. Production is great and the cast (Faye Dunaway, George C. Scott, Jack Palance) including the supporting cast does well. No masterpiece but a decent and entertaining movie about some unlucky underdogs taking on the big fish in the pond.

In 1973 I saw this film when it first came out accompanied with my father. We saw it in a movie house out in the Coney Island section in Brooklyn, and it was on a rarity these days - a double bill with a film from France (I believe it was TRAFFIC by Jacques Tati). The movies were entertaining for a change. OKLAHOMA CRUDE was an unexpectedly good film - not a great western but an unusual one.

The plot is similar to the plots of many westerns. A woman owns a small parcel of land which is the subject of interest by powerful local interests. Instead of it being land where the local water hole is located (as in THE BIG COUNTRY) it is potentially rich oil land. The woman here (Faye Dunaway) is very independent and very bitter - her father (John Mills) has always been distant and never helped her or her mother. But circumstances force her to rely on Mills and on drifter George C. Scott. Scott is quite a slippery type - out for himself. So Dunaway proceeds to keep him on a tight leash.

The local Oil Company represents the big land owner in traditional westerns. And, taking a leaf from SHANE, it's "gunslinger" is Jack Palance. But Palance is a smoother villain (and at times a funnier one) than his classic killer in SHANE. When Scott offers to sabotage Dunaway's attempts at fighting the big, bad corporation, Palance, calmly smoking a cigar motions Scott over to him. "I don't think I can use you for that.", our Jack says in a typically deadly confidential whisper of that gravelly voice of his, "but I'll tell you what. I'll give you $10.00 if you'll kiss my ass!" Scott doesn't reply immediately, but later on he gets a little back at Jack - at a particularly dark threatening moment, Scott pulls his shotgun up against Palance's groin (lower section). Caught off guard and frightened, we see a river come out of Jack's midriff. When he is "emptied out", he looks disgustedly at his ruined overcoat, strips it off him gingerly, and dumps it on the floor of Dunaway's homestead before he leaves.

The film had many choice moments - like John Mills and one of Palance's army of thugs confronting each other, both firing their guns, and both discovering that they have no ammo in their guns. They then have to race to arm their weapon first...and it becomes a really close thing.

The slapstick moments enliven the film - and even last to the last moments when (much to Palance's amazement) his bosses are ready to meet any demand to get that oil. All in all a pretty good and unusual movie, and one that should be seen by people who like western films.

Arguably the best latter-day Stanley Kramer film (i.e. made during his lean 1969-79 period); being a light-hearted romp with a mean streak, it might also be his oddest. It features an eclectic cast, with both George C. Scott (as a drifter) and John Mills (as Faye Dunaway's estranged father) shining in their comical roles; Dunaway herself (in an unflattering black wig) and Jack Palance (as a menacing thug, what else?) are also well-cast. Henry Mancini's flavorful score (and song) adds to the film's eccentricity, given its proliferation of foul language and occasional bouts of violence. In essence, patchy but generally enjoyable - and occasionally uproarious (Scott's priceless reaction to Dunaway's Third Sex speech and the second Scott-Palance confrontation). I had this on a VHS of wretched quality for years (though the quality of Robert Surtees' cinematography is still evident), but only watched it now to commemorate Palance's passing.

Director Kramer was always much maligned by the critics (he and Pauline Kael never traded Christmas gifts). His 'important' films were considered placid, threadbare, and manipulative. His films on race relations like THE DEFIANT ONES and GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER treated the issue in a very simplistic and tasteful way. Giving one the impression that he was more interested in not offending anyone and being acceptable than actually making a real movie.

However this one, which is one of his later and least known efforts, tends to break that mold. For Kramer it is actually quite edgy. He still tries to tackle the issue of the day, in this case feminism and a womens place in a mans world, but he does it in a much more sophisticated way. He looks at the issue from different angles and surrounds it with a sense of fun and irreverence. Things aren't quite as obvious as with his other films and the characters are more interesting and quirky.

Basically it is a revisionist western with strong willed Dunaway hiring drifter Scott to help protect her property from greedy land baron Palance who wants the land for it's oil. Really though that is all just an excuse to show how although both sexes deserve equal rights there are still many differences between them and how one really does need to other because of this. It also shows the little intricacies that come about when a man and women work together compared to when two men or two women work together.

The two leads are perfect. Both have always had very strong on screen personas, yet here Scott deftly underplays his, which makes for a very interesting on screen chemistry. Palance however as the heavy is completely wasted simply because he is not given enough screen time.

Overall this is a fun picture that is well paced and should, if anything, keep you entertained. It doesn't really push the limits enough to be a classic, but it does have a few memorable moments.

A few of those moments come with some snappy exchanges. At one point Dunaway softens a bit and tries to explain to Scott why she has been so cold to him. She says "I know I have been a bitch, but this world can be very hard place for a women." Then Scott without missing a beat says "Well it can be a hard place for a man too." There's also a conversation where Dunaway explains why she would like to have both the male and female sex organs. Her answer to how she would go about satisfying herself is a good one.

Dismissed by critics as one of Stanley Kramer's later flops, OKLAHOMA CRUDE is not bad. It does, however, suffer from an identity crisis. Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? Is it a western? It's not really any of those. Nor, thankfully, is it one of Kramer's social issue epics. Faye Dunaway gives it her all as a demented wild-catter trying to get oil from a lone well while keeping the big time oil companies off her land. She's helped out by her ne'er do well father John Mills and a hapless drifter played by George C. Scott. Scott and Dunaway have great chemistry and Kramer wisely downplays any love story. However, although they make a scrappy team, they're not particularly likable. In fact, none of the characters in this film is very pleasant, therefore there's nobody to really root for.

Kramer, like his contemporaries Billy Wilder and Otto Preminger, seemed to have lost his way by the 1970s. OKLAHOMA CRUDE doesn't click as comedy or drama. The actors are poorly directed: Dunaway is completely humorless, while Scott plays his part as if he's in a broad farce. Jack Palance, as the villain, appears to be spoofing his own clenched jaw persona.