Blowing Wild (1953)

In South America, when Jeff Dawson and Dutch Peterson's oil rigs are dynamited by local bandits, the two partners resort to risky transportation of nitroglycerin to raise money.

Director:

Hugo Fregonese

Writer:

Philip Yordan

Stars:

Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Ruth Roman

Cast

Cast overview:
Gary Cooper	...	Jeff Dawson
Barbara Stanwyck	...	Marina Conway
Ruth Roman	...	Sal Donnelly
Anthony Quinn	...	Ward 'Paco' Conway
Ward Bond	...	Dutch Peterson
Ian MacDonald	...	Jackson
Richard Karlan	...	Henderson
Juan García	...	El Gavilan (as Juan Garcia)

Storyline

In a hypothetical country in South America, Jeff Dawson and his partner Dutch Peterson have invested all their savings in a lease contract to explore oil. However, their expectation ruins when bandits blow the derrick of the oil well with dynamite and they get stranded in the town without any money. In despair, they accept the risky transportation of nitroglycerin to raise US$ 800.00 and Dutch is shot in the leg by road thieves; but Jeff discovers that their employer is a trickster and they area not paid for their job. When their former friend Paco Conway meets them, Jeff finds that he is a local tycoon and is married with Marina Conway, who had a past with him. Paco hires Jeff his foreman to help him with his eighteen oil wells while Dutch is recovering in the hospital. Meanwhile the criminals press Paco to pay US$ 50,000.00 otherwise they will blow his wells and Marina revives her love and desire for Jeff, leading the trio to a tragedy.

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Plot Keywords:

man carries a woman | oil | nitroglycerin | oil well | bandit | 

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Taglines:

The whole black-gold border knew the 'Gringo Giant' was on a rampage! Only the girl with the lying-green eyes knew why!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mexican officials initially banned this film and demanded that cuts be made, in order to portray Mexicans less unfavourably. Warner Bros. agreed to make the cuts, after months of negotiations during which the Mexican government threatened to ban all Warner Bros. productions in Mexico.

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Goofs

At the beginning of the film, following the destruction of the oil rig by El Gavilan's gang, the front of Dutch Peterson's hat goes from brim up, brim down, brim up again and then brim down again, in between shots. Subsequently, it is up again when Dawson and Peterson are walking along a road and picked up by a truck.

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Quotes

El Gavilan: You have 18 wells. I want $1,000 for each well. Total - $50,000.
[laughs]
El Gavilan: I don't know how to add.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: SOUTH AMERICA

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Connections

Featured in Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire (1991)

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Soundtracks

Pajarillo Barranqueño
(uncredited)
Traditional

User Reviews

Blows Hot and Cold

In a film that is partially taken from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, two down on their luck Americans, Gary Cooper and Ward Bond, run into an old pal, Anthony Quinn who has become richer in the oil business than these two wildcatters have. Quinn's also married Barbara Stanwyck who at one time had a thing for Cooper.

It's over for Coop, but Stanwyck ain't taking no for an answer. Even the presence of Ruth Roman one of those beautiful woman that are stuck in exotic places in films who's really got Coop's attention, doesn't faze her a bit. She says she'll do whatever she has to, to win Coop back and pretty much does as the film concludes.

Blowing Wild only holds interest because of the star players involved. When you consider that back in the day Cooper and Stanwyck did classics like Meet John Doe and Ball of Fire, Blowing Wild looks like something they did in their spare time on a holiday in Mexico.

Everybody overacts outrageously to keep the film afloat even Gary Cooper if you can believe that.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 December 1953 (France)

Also Known As:

Blowing Wild

Filming Locations:

Churubusco Studios, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

United States Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1