In Old Oklahoma (1943)

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Rogell's 'War …', a sex comedy (until it switches to a rural drama and the characters sometimes get a bit sententious) replete with exciting love innuendo and genuinely good one-liners, has that ineffable uplifting quality known as zest, or gusto; very dynamic, at the twilight of the cherished West, when the land of the farmers, cowboys, Indians and wry coach-drivers becomes the land of the upcoming oilmen, a comedy of the later West, if you will (yet this typology is secondary here, as Jim behaves like the usual ruthless rich, regardless of the spring of his income), and not at all a screwball, because it's another genre altogether: a rivalry drama, well handled and flawlessly written on its own unassuming terms, the storyline remaining a look at love, and in this it's nicely written, and also well directed, by Rogell. When angered, the oilman looked like a saner Atwill; but he is not maligned as a villain (at least at first, up until the ride to Tulsa, then we get less certain about his even basic honor), but instead comes across as a genuinely limited person, naturally unable to understand what's outside the range of his daily life, and this seems reasonable. Martha Scott's character seems a bit dry, which she's supposed to be, and then her performance changes accordingly, as we get to know her, and she gets accustomed to her new place; but there's a minus: the schoolteacher is also a bit unlovable, a bit trite. This of course depends on what one is drawn to feel towards the actress herself and her character such as it is.But then, who are the titular wildcats? It seems like not only the girl, but also her two rival pursuers are such wildcats. Dekker is annoying, as prescribed by the script, it's his job to look that.Teddy R. is a cartoon. There are also villains, so that the community looks plausible.'War of the Wildcats' is not a Western (and certainly not a kids' movie!), of course (Somers plays as an archetypal twilight cowboy, drifter, gunman, adventurer, eventually turned oilman and settled), but a blend of comedy and drama to be enjoyed by Western buffs.There are a few twists, psychologically intriguing (Catherine's turns, even Jim's honor, up to his showing an uglier side of his soul). Jim comes across rather as a limited person, unable to understand the girl, not as a double-crosser; but then things change and, if he's cleared of the Cherokee misdeed, he becomes the handler of some really ugly schemes meant to derail the farmers' business. The ride to Tulsa was a romp.The director, Rogell, knew his craft, his trade. Him, and Wayne, and most of the cast give this movie a pleasurable humane quality, also aided by the complexity of the script and by the production values, and the movie is charming, and even stylish in its way. Good movie.The playful Wayne reminded me of Gibson in his comedy roles. And thank you for reading this, if you did.

This is an earlier John Wayne movie. It is very well done. The good guy is of course John Wayne and the antagonist is played very well by Albert Dekker. Notice I say antagonist and not the bad guy. He is a ruthless businessman but that was the way it was back then, he has a softer side and unlike a lot of real bad guys of that time in the movies he has a bit of a conscious and treats his workers well. He and Wayne get in to a couple of knock down fights and they appear to have a mutual, all be it not a liking, for each other. Wayne has Indian connections in this one that lead to his being successful by the end of the movie. Of course he gets the girl too.

Spanish American War Veteran John Wayne hitches a ride on oil magnate Albert Dekker's private railroad car just as he's putting the moves on traveling school teacher Martha Scott. That sets off a rivalry between them both professional and personal as Wayne gets under Dekker's skin.Dekker's the big kahuna in Oklahoma territory which would soon be admitted under President Theodore Roosevelt to the union. He's crowding a lot of the small operators out of the field and they see in Wayne a leader and savior.Later on when Wayne and Dekker compete with the rival proposals for leasing Indian oil lands they go to the White House where Dekker thinks he's got an inside track with the Interior Department. This leads to one of the three best scenes in the film. It turns out that the Duke served in the Rough Riders. The reunion of Wayne and Sidney Blackmer as Theodore Roosevelt is pretty good, who'd have thought Wayne would have had the ultimate inside track.Dale Evans is in the film, she has a brief role as a saloon entertainer and sings a couple of period songs. She had not yet met her future husband Roy Rogers on the Republic lot, but in fact she was more the westerner than he in real life. He was from a rural Ohio town and she was from Uvalde, Texas. Dale also sang with Anson Weeks band before coming west both literally and figuratively.Martha Scott is a good crinolined heroine wooed by both Wayne and Dekker. You will also see Grant Withers in one of his few roles in which he wasn't a villain. Second best scene in the film, John Wayne emptying his pistol into Paul Fix who played one of Dekker's henchmen who actually goes a bit too far because of his personal hatred for Wayne. Third best scene, the climatic rush to deliver oil by covered wagons and tankers when Dekker buys the pipeline to fulfill the contract. The normally parsimonious Republic studio and its boss Herbert J. Yates broke the piggy bank to stage this one in what was obviously their big budget film of the year. Still plays quite well today.This is one of John Wayne's better films of the forties. He's given good production values in this western and a perfect role for him. Fans of the eternal Duke should not miss this one.

Yer basic patriotic Western, made in WWII days, John Wayne is out Wildcatting in the old days, runs into corrupt rivals and fights over blonde Martha Scott with Albert Dekker and company...Gabby Hayes does his patented Walter Brennan knockoff and you get to see the standard Yakima Canutt stage and horse stunts along the way. Decent time filler, pretty much the type of thing you have seen a 100 times before, nothing special. **1/2 outta ****