Wildcat (1942)

Wildcatter Johnny Maverick and his pal, Chicopee Nevins are speeding toward Antril Bend, a small town in the oil region, that has offered $25,000 to the person bringing in the first oil ... See full summary »

Director:

Frank McDonald

Writers:

North Bigbee (story), Richard Murphy,

Stars:

Richard Arlen, Arline Judge, William Frawley

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Richard Arlen	...	Johnny Maverick
Arline Judge	...	Nan Deering
William Frawley	...	Oliver Westbrook
Buster Crabbe	...	Mike Rawlins (as Larry 'Buster' Crabbe)
Arthur Hunnicutt	...	'Watchfob' Jones
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Harold 'Chicopee' Nevins
Ralph Sanford	...	'Grits' O'Malley
Alec Craig	...	Joseph D. Campbell
John Dilson	...	Gus Sloane
Will Wright	...	John 'Paw' Smithers
Jessica Newcombe	...	Martha 'Maw' Smithers
William 'Billy' Benedict	...	Bud Smithers (as Billy Benedict)

Storyline

Wildcatter Johnny Maverick and his pal, Chicopee Nevins are speeding toward Antril Bend, a small town in the oil region, that has offered $25,000 to the person bringing in the first oil well.They accidentally find oil on the town's outskirts, and Johnny writes a $4000 hot check for the property. He covers that by having Chicopee sell his half interest to oil promoter Gus Sloane for $7000. Sloane hires a crew to start drilling on his half of the property, with Johnny's old enemy, Mile Rawlins as his foreman. Rawlins sabotages Johnny's rig, causing Chicopee's death. Confidence man Oliver Westbrook and his confederate, Nan Dearing hatch a plan to swindle Johnny by having Nan pose as Chicopee's sister. It works and Johnny makes Nan his partner. Another accident staged by Rawlins forces Johnny to sign a note to get money for repair. Nan falls in love with Johnny and abandons her plan to swindle him. As the note deadline approaches, Johnny learns that Sloane has purchased it as a means of ...

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Plot Keywords:

sabotage | impersonation | cheating | accidental death | firefighting | 

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Taglines:

A GUSHER OF THRILLS! (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 September 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ambição Sem Freio

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pine-Thomas Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely (and usually badly) edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation (or more) copies of the film.

User Reviews

Polecat

News of an oil strike stirs trouble in a western town.

Flat broke, Richard Arlen (as Johnny Maverick) drives west, picking up, and partnering up, with prospecting hitch-hiker Elisha Cook Jr. (as "Chicopee"). Almost immediately, the two discover oil, on land owned by the country bumpkin "Smithers" family. Mr. Arlen writes John and Martha Smithers a check, to buy their oil-rich land, then schemes to cover its cost. But, old enemy Buster Crabbe (as Mike Rawlins) isn't about to let Arlen strike it rich without a fight. Additional arrivals provide further intrigue (William Frawley) and love interest (Arline Judge).

While "Wildcat" Arlen and many of the supporting cast are pleasant, this is an mostly dull story. An exciting scene occurs early on, which prematurely kills off the film's most endearing, up to that point, character. The tragedy is necessary for subsequent plot developments, which are anticlimactic.