The Oil Raider

Buster Crabbe needs some cash to bring in his oil well. He cuts a deal with businessman George Irving. Irving gets a third of the well for $25,000, and lends Crabbe another $25,000; if the note isn't paid off in time, Irving gets all of the well. Crabbe also meets Gloria Shea, and offers her a job, not knowing she's Irving's niece. But Max Wagner, who was fired off the job, wants revenge, and stock market reverses puts Irving under pressure. He hires Wagner to make sure the well doesn't come in on time.

It's a nice idea for a story, and the performers are ok with it. What's not ok is the pacing, with lots of shots of people thinking things over and walking from point A to point B. It's a poor trademark of director Spencer Gordon Bennett, ameliorated partially by the turgid pace of other Poverty Row B movies of the period. Another downside is the ending, in which Irving's betrayal is simply ignored at the end; true, he tries to call off Gordon, but neither Crabbe nor Miss Shea knows it. A fine shot of a well coming in under cinematographer Edward Snyder is messed up by the poor quality of the copy I looked at.

Larry 'Buster' Crabbe plays Dave, a 'wildcatter'. A wildcat is a term used for folks who go exploring for oil deposits--a rather high-risk but potentially very rewarding business. However, like many of the old wildcats, Dave isn't rich and needs an investor, Mr. Varley. Now you'd think Dave's only problem would be obtaining these finances, but there is a jerk-face named Simmons who gets himself fired...and he's determined to get revenge on Dave. Again and again, Simmons gets the snot beaten out of him whenever he attacks Dave. Ultimately, however, there is an evil plot that teams up Simmons with Varley--the guy who is supposedly helping Dave. What's next? Give it a look and see.

Up until the end, I might have given this agreeable B-movie a 6-- which isn't bad. However, the very ending really was done poorly-- with Dave suddenly forgiving and forgetting all about Varley's treachery! Odd to say the least.