Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1949


Tulsa (film)

Buy Tulsa (film) now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




'Tulsa' is a 1949 American Western action film directed by Stuart Heisler and starring Susan Hayward and Robert Preston, and featured Lloyd Gough, Chill Wills (as the narrator), and Ed Begley in one of his earliest film roles, billed as Edward Begley.

The film's plot revolves around greed, conservation, and romance. It was nominated for an Oscar for its special effects at the 22nd Academy Awards in 1950.

Plot



The film tells a story about the Tulsa, Oklahoma oil boom of the 1920s and how obsession with accumulating wealth and power can tend to corrupt moral character.[http://www.allmovie.com/work/1:51201 Tulsa Plot Synopsis] (accessed June 7, 2010). The tale begins with the death of rancher Nelse Lansing, who is killed by an oil well blowout while visiting Tanner Petroleum to report that pollution from Tanner's oil production has killed some of his cattle.[http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=26005 Tulsa (1949) Synopsis] (accessed June 7, 2010). Lansing's daughter, Cherokee, initially in an effort to punish Tanner for her father's death, acquires drilling rights on her land; she meets Brad Brady, a geologist, who wants drilling to be limited to minimise oil field depletion and preserve the area's grasslands.

Jim Redbird is a native American who has long been drawn to Cherokee and, being persuaded by Brady that cattle men can live and work alongside oil men, buys into her oil business and becomes wealthy. As Cherokee succumbs to power and greed, and becomes a partner of the ruthless Tanner, Jim renounces his holdings. Overcome with anger after a humiliating meeting with Tanner, Cherokee and some of their legal and governmental associates, Jim accidentally starts a fire in a derrick trailing pool. The film received its Oscar nomination for the resulting impressive scenes of the rampaging flames. In its aftermath, in recognition of the destruction caused by improper oil drilling, and how money and power can corrupt even those who love the land, the oil drillers and the geologist vow to start over and to ensure conservation is their top priority.

Cast



* Susan Hayward as Cherokee Lansing

* Robert Preston as Brad Brady

* Pedro Armendriz as Jim Redbird

* Lloyd Gough as Bruce Tanner

* Chill Wills as Pinky Jimpson (narrator)

* Ed Begley as John J. "Johnny" Brady (as Edward Begley)

* Jimmy Conlin as Homer Triplette

* Roland Jack as Steve, Cherokee's ranch hand

* Bill Hickman as Bill, the Caterpillar tractor driver (uncredited)

Reception



The film earned an estimated $1.6 million in the US. It recorded a loss of $746,099.

References






Buy Tulsa (film) now from Amazon

<-- Return to movies from 1949



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1106353514.