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When Christine Manning returns to her father's home in Texas for the summer, she soon realizes that he--oil millionaire Les Manning--is disliked and feared as a ruthless businessman by the people around him. Les Manning has always relied on himself to become successful and has never trusted in God. But he may have to change his ways.

The Loneliness of a Life Without Jesus Christ as Your Saviour

There&#39;s minimal preaching in this until the arruval of Billy Graham results in decent religious drama with the master of all preachers. He is looking straight into the camera and overdramatically explains his view of the sinful nature of mankind. It&#39;s blunt and forceful, to the point that moderates might reach for the fast forward, but to experience the conversion of ruthless oil man Paul Power, it&#39;s important to witness all of the events leading up to his rebirth. Graham never stops pounding his fist into the air which seems like a lecture, but historically, it&#39;s an interesting account of the life of the most beloved evangelist preacher of the 20th Century, and perhaps second only to Jesus himself. Power has kept his daughter, Colleen Townsend, from God pretty much all her life, hurting inward from the loss of his wife, and becoming ruthless in his desire to be the most powerful man in Texas which results in him threatening a rival with a gun, only stopped by the arrival of the very religious Reed Harper. While this has the structure of an early 50&#39;s style soap opera (done in a very pastel like color photography), it grows on the audience by showing the dark soul of its leading man and his journey to atonement. Perhaps the religious discussions come at the audience like a sledgehammer, and some of the acting not very convincing (a very monotone Cindy Walker the obvious example), but it has good intentions for what it&#39;s trying to accomplish. Only a few cringe moments of the subject of heaven vs. Hell, done as only Billy Graham could do and only as he could get away with, having lived a scandal free life. For a moderate follower of Christian law like myself, it&#39;s more of a historical interest, but I was touched by how Powers came full circle in his journey.

tt0991279

Oiltown, U.S.A.

An early production from Billy Graham&#39;s World Wide Pictures set in Houston and featuring the stars of World Wide&#39;s maiden production, the &#39;Christian Western&#39; &#39;Mr. Texas&#39; (1951), Redd Harper &amp; Cindy Walker, reprising their roles as Jim &amp; Kay Tyler, on whose ranch oil is discovered. Ruthless local oil tycoon Les Manning is so hostile to overt displays of religious fervour that after Jim sings a Christian song at a barbecue held to celebrate the opening of the new well he forbids his daughter Christine from seeing them again. But after she discovers Pappy deep in sin the following night at the roulette table with foxy Melodi Lowell on his arm at a local club she ignores his injunction and promptly moves in with the Tylers, where Kay is soon quoting Romans 10:9 at her. The past hangs heavy over this narrative. We never learn what caused the death of Christine&#39;s mother, although the implication is that she wasted away from grief at Les&#39;s ruthlessness and adultery. Fortunately God chooses this moment to direct Manning to KTTV on his TV set just as Billy Graham is about to speak; thus providing posterity with a vivid record in colour of the young Billy in full flight looking directly into the camera, while well and truly putting the fear of God into Manning in the process. Just to make sure Manning gets the message a devastating disaster promptly lays waste to the local community (what exactly happened to cause all that fire and destruction is not made clear), and the film ends with Manning tearfully reconciled with Christine and making his first visit to a church in twenty years.

In Oiltown, USA which was produced by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
and is the nickname for Houston our protagonists are the Manning family father
and daughter. Paul Powers is a tough and ruthless businessman in the tradition
of the Ewing family from Dallas. His daughter Colleen Townsend has led quite
a sheltered life and on this trip home Townsend and her friend Georgia Lee go to
a Billy Graham Crusade and get saved. After that she&#39;s positively shocked at the reputation dear old dad has. One has
to wonder just where Townsend has been living. After that the story is most
predictable. I guess behavior is different in Houston than Dallas. I can&#39;t imagine Larry
Hagman hitting the sawdust trail any more than Powers turning over a new
leaf. Curse you Dallas.

User reviews

Oiltown, U.S.A.

The dreadful disease of sin.

The Loneliness of a Life Without Jesus Christ as Your Saviour

What would J.R. Ewing say?

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