The Oklahoma Kid (1939)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Lloyd Bacon

Writers:

Edward E. Paramore Jr. (story) and
Wally Kline (story) ...

Release Date:

11 March 1939 (USA)

Genre:

History | Western

Tagline:

Greater Than "Cimarron" - Packed with Thrills - Loaded with Action . . . As an Exciting page from American history is unfolded upon the screen !

Plot:

McCord's gang robs the stage carrying money to pay Indians for their land, and the notorious outlaw...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Outlaw | Jail Break | Lynching | Trial

Cast

James Cagney	...	Jim Kincaid
Humphrey Bogart	...	Whip McCord
Rosemary Lane	...	Jane Hardwick
Donald Crisp	...	Judge Hardwick
Harvey Stephens	...	Ned Kincaid
Hugh Sothern	...	John Kincaid
Charles Middleton	...	Alec Martin
Edward Pawley	...	Doolin
Ward Bond	...	Wes Handley
Lew Harvey	...	Curley
Trevor Bardette	...	Indian Jack Pasco
John Miljan	...	Ringo
Arthur Aylesworth	...	Judge Morgan
Irving Bacon	...	Hotel Clerk
Joe Devlin	...	Keely

Runtime:

85 min | Canada:80 min (Ontario)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #4836)

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

According to a contemporary magazine article, Hugh Sothern and Al J. Jennings had been participants in the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1895.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When the Kid visits Jane, he ties his horse to the bar in front of the house. A short time after that, Ned arrives. He's searching for the Kid. He is so eager to get him that (later in the movie) he even shoots at him (when the Kid is fleeing from the court house). But when Jane tells Ned that the Kid is not there, he believes her without asking about the horse, which he must have seen when he arrived.

Quotes:

John Kincaid: In the end, I'll see that the law gets you. And it won't be just to run you out of town. It'll be at the end of a rope.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Roaring Twenties: The World Moves On (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Rock-a-Bye Baby

One Of My Favorite Classic Westerns

I may be in the minority here - at least with a couple of my classic-movie-buff friends, but I really liked this western. I thought it was one of the most interesting and entertaining classic westerns I've ever seen. Of course, having Jimmy Cagney in the lead didn't hurt. He's usually very entertaining and this is no exception. He plays his normal cocky self, but instead of gangster or something else modern-day, he was cowboy. To those too rigid fuddie-duddies who can't see their favorite actors trying different genres - too bad. Cagney as a cowboy?? Why not? He' still the same, great actor and entertainer. Same goes for Bogey.

Humphrey Bogart, as he so often was before he became a mega-star with Casablanca, played the bad guy. He looked like he had a bad toupee, too. I hope that wasn't his real hair!

This was fun to watch right from the get-go and also featured some excellent black-and-white cinematography (where is the DVD on this?), which made it all the better. At 82 minutes, this is a quick night of entertainment, but I liked that short running time.