The Oklahoma Kid

I was never sure about either James Cagney or Humphrey Bogart being in westerns but "The Oklahoma Kid" is not too bad. It has a brief running time, a fair measure of action and incident, the music is perfectly tolerable and at least Cagney and Bogart have a proper one on one confrontation at the end. I bought this film on video in the early 1990s and I enjoyed it then. Cagney is a "Robin Hood" type of hero who hides his true identity behind the name "The Oklahoma Kid." Bogart is a killer and dishonest businessman who wants to turn the local town into a place of sin, corruption and degradation. Cagney stated in his memoirs that he added little bits of dialogue in order to relive his boredom! What he included certainly does the film no harm.

Oklahoma Kid, The (1939)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

When Warner decided to throw James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart into a Western it got headlines in 1939 and it continues to do so today among film buffs. The idea of Cagney and Bogart in a Western will always draw new people to this film but it's a shame the headlines have gotten in the way of the fact that this is an extremely good movie. The film takes place as Oklahoma is giving away free land where a father (Hugh Sothern) and son (Harvey Stephens) plans on building a city that can do good. Unfortunately for them a bad guy (Bogart) ends up getting is hands on the territory and soon the new city is full of gambling and murder. When the father is falsely accused of murder and a mob kills him, his secret son known as The Oklahoma Kid (Cagney) shows up to seek vengeance against the bad guys. The Western genre was full of revenge films even by 1939 but this one here comes off incredibly fresh for many reasons but the main one is that the movie is rather dark and doesn't pull any punches. I really think this is one of the most underrated and overlooked films from Hollywood's Golden Era and again I think the main reason is because of the two legends in a genre they aren't known for. Yes, it does take a couple minutes to get use to seeing them but after that they sink into their roles so perfectly that you'll forget who you're watching and really get sucked up in the story. I think the second half of the film works extremely well because of how dark it is and because the high drama is on full impact due to some strong direction by Bacon. The mob/hanging scene is perfectly done and there's an even better sequence with Cagney stalking one of the killers through the desert. All of this leads up to a very satisfying ending that packs a nice little punch. You'd never know Cagney wasn't a Western star by seeing him here because he's so terrific in the part. Yes, he doesn't go all out with a country voice but that doesn't matter because I enjoyed how low key he played the part instead of his normal fast-talking. I thought he was very menacing here by not saying too many words and I thought you could believe his character at every step through the picture. Bogart is also very good and extremely cold in his role. Apparently he and Cagney didn't get along too well here due to a comment Bogart made but that bitterness certainly carries over to the film and helps. Rosemary Lane is good as the love interest and Donald Crisp gets a lot of good scenes as the honest Judge. All in all, this is a very impressive little gem that continues to get new viewers but I think it's should be better known as a good film instead of just a film with two stars you wouldn't expect.

Remember in GOODFELLAS when Joe Pesci goes crazy with a gun (at his servant's expense) saying 'What's the film with Bogart as a cowboy?" The replie is "Shane?" He retorts "Shane?! No, Oklahoma Kid!" He was refering to this odd misfit, but enjoyable western.

James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart look as well suited in the old west as Gabby Hayes and Lash LaRue would look in a Manhattan speakeasy, but these two pros have fun with the film anyway. Their bar-room brawl with each other is a hum-dinger, and you have to get a load of Cagney singing a Spanish lullaby to a baby.

You won't find this film on many "best westerns" lists, and it seems to be regarded mostly as an oddity, a rare chance to see Cagney and Bogart in cowboy hats. And I'll admit that it's a simple story and not one of those huge productions with outstanding cinematography (although it uses its outdoors scenes to good effect). However, I was utterly charmed by it. Mostly because of Cagney, who is simply superb.

When you have two all-time great actors, you need to make good use of them, and this movie does. Cagney is full of energy and seems to be having fun with this outlaw with a heart of gold role, and making us have fun with him. With his interpretation, he elevates this film. Bogart, in a supporting role, is humorless, cold and evil. He is not given as much to do as Cagney, but he has great presence whenever he is on screen. They may not be in their typical gangster roles, but the Old West setting allows them to do their thing. Only with horses. And cowboy hats.

We do get an Oklahoma land rush scene, certainly not as spectacular as the one we got eight years previously in Cimarron, and some nice stunts when Cagney (or his double) is riding a horse through the desolated hills in pursuit of a stagecoach. We also see him singing, and not that badly, and even singing a lullaby to a baby in Spanish. Unusually for a classic western, he also gives a speech calling the "purchase" of Indian lands a theft.

The story was simple but quite nice, with family ties between the characters to make it poignant and a fight for the soul of a new city, between those who believe in law and order and those like Bogart's character who can only thrive in corruption and degradation. With Cagney, as the Oklahoma Kid, in the middle, certainly not evil but too anarchic and cynical to be on the side of law and order.

All in all, this was not such a great movie, but it was so much fun and had such good pacing and energy that I loved it.

You are not sure who or what Cagney's titular Oklahoma Kid is at first. The first thing he does is rob from the robbers - Whip McCord (Bogart) and his gang - who have stolen some of the money given to the Indians in return for the two million acres that are the object of the Oklahoma land rush.

The day of the land rush the Kid is in an unoccupied bar, helping himself to a few drinks on the house when Judge Hardwick (Donald Crisp) walks in and starts conversing with him. It turns out the Kid has no use for land rushes or conventional capitalism whatsoever. As he says, the strong steal from the weak, and the smart (pointing to himself) steal from the strong. And the law seldom lifts a hand to stop it, he says. The Kid says he came from a family of "empire builders" and that he and his family parted ways years ago. Hardwick doesn't outright dislike him, but doesn't understand his viewpoint at all until later.

Meanwhile, Whip McCord and his gang have sneaked into land rush territory and staked out a claim ahead of the Kincaids, who wish to build a town based on law and order. All McCord wants in return from the group that was going to build the town is the ability to build saloons there and not be hassled. Reluctantly, the Kincaids and company agree. Well, as time progresses, McCord only gets greedier and soon civilized is grappling with uncivilized (McCord), and the Kid eagerly jumps into the fight. Why he does this, nobody can figure out, since there is a price on the Kid's head for past crimes. But the Kid does have a deep dark secret.

The funny thing is, in the end, the Kid seems to prove that to deal with the uncivilized you sometimes have to be uncivilized yourself. Whether or not Warner Brothers was trying to slip a pre war message in concerning the Germans I don't know, but the director was Lloyd Bacon and he was hardly a controversial director.

How is the film goofy? First, they have Tulsa being the town that the Kincaids found. Tulsa had been around a good long time by 1890, but Oklahoma City was founded in the land rush territory. Next there is the wardrobe. Not since the early sound westerns have I seen a wardrobe used as an obvious clue as to who the players are. The Kid is always dressed in grayish outfits, but Bogart as McCord is always dressed in all black, and in fact he is always wearing the SAME black outfit.

If you are looking for something different from the conventional western, I'd recommend this.