Customer Reviews

Tulsa

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This little gem, starring Susan Hayward & Robert Preston is a real bargain at this price! I've seen it a few times & still find Ms. Hayward's performance mesmerizing. Robert Preston, who is usually known for his musical roles(especially The Music Man)is superb as the oilman she becomes involved with. Very highly recommended, especially for Hayward fans.

Director Stuart Heisler must have liked Susan Hayward because he cast her in 3 films - Among the Living, Smash up - The Story of a Woman, and this one, so in a way he is responsible for elevating her to A level productions. This one hovers in between a B and an A, independently produced, and using a lot of rear projection. The material is interesting in it's view of the American Indian, here presented as land owners and cattle ranchers, with Heisler beginning with a montage of the different kinds of Indians, and Hayward being 3/4 Cherokee. Presumably this is want accounts for her "wildcat" quality.
The screenplay by Frank Nugent and Curtis Kenyon, suggested by a story by Richard Wormser, is a cautionary tale of the emergence of oil drillers in Oklahoma and the effect they had on the environment of the cattle ranchers. We begin with the accidental death of Hayward's father, as the opportunity to hear the anti-oil lobby. However Hayward's form of revenge seems a direct violation of the conservation stance of her descendants, as she enters the oil business to be more successful than her main competitor, the man she blames for her father's death! Robert Preston appears as a "rockhound" engineer who helps Hayward strike oil, and matters reach a climax when she must decide whether to drill the property of her father's Indian friend, Pedro Armendariz.
The notion of Armendariz as a "crazy Indian" is introduced when he refuses to have his land drilled, he is threatened with being declared "mentally incompetent", and Heisler provides an extended and laboured use of montage to suggest his mental breakdown as he drives through fields of oil drilling towers and starts a fire laughing maniacally. Armendariz' view however is seen as a minority as other Indians seem happy to sell as much oil from their property and overlook the "smaller short term profit".
Of course, it is this very issue that produces conflict between Hayward and Preston, with Hayward's ambition seen to be clouding her true nature.
Preston's romantic interest in Hayward is somewhat a surprise considering the way she humiliates him at their first meeting, though I suppose men had to be tougher than usual in the period, but what is more humiliating is the way Preston out-acts her. Here Hayward relies upon big smiles and profile turns for charm, though her yelling at Preston at one point is unexpectedly loud.
Heisler uses horizontal slides, mini-montages, the unbearably bucolic singing of Chill Wills, Freudian symbolism in Hayward drinking from a large glass of brandy in front of Preston, and African-American servants for when Hayward hosts a society party, where Armendariz is a guest in tuxedo. We never actually see a servant serve him, since perhaps the irony would be too much.

This review refers to the Alpha Video (Gotham) DVD.

Overall Quality of DVD: **1/2 /**** Sound: ** /**** Plot: **1/2 /**** Acting: ***/**** Cinematography: ***/**** Direction: **1/2 /****

The story is surprising in the fact that it deals with concern for conservation , the environment and treatment of native indians.

Of course, the oil companies paid no attention then nor now.

All the actors do very well - nothing great but very solid. Director Stuart Heisler is a good "B" director but I disagree with the reviewer that stated he "MADE" Susan Hayword a star. If anything Susan Hayword made him look decent just as Humphrey Bogart does with "Tokyo Joe".

The rear-projection scenes of the oil fields on fire are nearly flawless - I mean, I could not note the telltale signs of rear-projection (things appearing out of proportion or hazy etc.).

In my opinion, it's worth the asking price.

One will say one more film about oil in Oklahoma. But this film is different. It brings together several questions that are extremely important. First the alliance between the white entrepreneurs and the Indians. The Indians are divided on the question of the conservation of their land as grazing land, as cattle-raising land due to the easy money oil brings in. We will note that justice does not hear conservationist arguments. Second the position of women in this adventure and women are shown as entrepreneurial just like men, equal to men, though they can use their charms to convince people of the value of their decisions, not force but soft conviction. Third the problem of conservation : how can the land not be ruined and wasted by oil exploitation ? The answer is to do it in a non-intensive way because this intensive method gets a lot of oil in a short period of time, but it also ruins the land through pollution. The answer is in an exploitation that leaves the land clean and usable all the time for cattle or other activities. Then the money brought in is less massive in a short period of time but regular for a long period of time. Such a way is defended by scientists and engineers but opposed by entrepreneurs. It is an accident that will determine the state and various congressional representations to regulate oil exploitation in such a way that nature is not spoiled. Fourth oil culture is not just the exploitation of crude oil, but it creates a whole network of services and roads for the cars that use that oil to run and refill when necessary. It is a structurizing activity whose social consequences are extremely far-reaching. A very well done film on very modern issues. Conservation must be a major objective of man on earth : think of the long-run future instead of the short-term profit.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

THE MOVIE WAS NOT ALL THAT AS FAR AS GRAPHICS.BUT! THE STORY WAS THE SAME.. AND I DO LOVE THE STORY.. THIS WAS MADE IN THE 50'S AND I AM SURE IT WAS FINE BACK THEN.. I HAD RATHER HAVE THE EXPERIANCE OF GETTING TO SEE IT AGAIN. THEN TO MISS OUT ON A GREAT SHOW. I LOVED SUSAN HAYWARD THEN AND I STILL HAVE THAT LOVE FOR HER NOW. "SAME OLD SPIT FIRE".. THAT I ALWAYS ADMIRED FROM HER..

We have here a privately-manufactured DVD. My experience with barebones DVD-Rs has been satisfactory, as I'm not interested in commentary, deleted scenes and other bonus features, that is, stuff these discs don't offer. Transfers are "best available source" and quality can vary from very good to only fair.


Fans of Susan Hayward and/or westerns are certain to enjoy TULSA (1949).

This Technicolor film is set around 1920. Here, halfbreed cattlewoman Cherokee Lansing (Hayward) strikes oil on her inherited Oklahoma ranch and competes against a larger nearby outfit owned by a real snake. Bruce Tanner (Lloyd Gough) tries every way he can to either buy Cherokee's land or sabotage her operation. There's a great fiery finale to this one, a conflagration that's started not by Tanner but by Susan's Indian friend and advisor, Jim Redbird (Pedro Armendáriz). It's quite an unforgettable Oscar-nominated sequence.

Cast includes Robert Preston as Brad Brady, a petroleum engineer and employee who's romantically involved with Cherokee. Narrator Chill Wills also plays piano and sings in one scene. Lola Albright is mere pretty wallpaper and Ed Begley as Preston's dad, turns over his oil rights to Cherokee. He's then murdered in a barroom skirmish. Uncredited cameos from Iron Eyes Cody, Chester Conklin, Lane Chandler, John Dehner, Franklyn Farnum, Tom Dugan and Chief Yowlatchie.

Tulsa tells the story of a woman who is so hellbent on avenging her father's death that she betrays her ranching family's values of fair dealing and natural conservation. Susan Hayward's transition from a grieving daugther to an ambitious businesswoman is very believable because from the beginning we see she is used to attracting attention not just for her vitality and beauty, but because of her "wild" and strong-willed nature. It's the perfect recipe for a crisis of character. Blinded by her beauty and sympathetic to her great loss, two of the men in her life fall hard for her, setting the stage for heartbreak and disallusionment. In the business world her glamour and hardness attract even more admirers, included her sworn enemy - the oilman responsible for her father's death.

The supporting cast of men is excellent and I was especially impressed with the effects, particularly during the scene where the oil fields are on fire.

Susan Hayward and Robert Preston star in this story about a wildcat wildcatter. In my opinion, this was one of Susan's most appropriate roles, given her purported "sock it to 'em" personality, no doubt eminating from her grinding poverty as a child. I don't understand why this film is not even mentioned in rundowns of her major film roles. She plays the tough-as-nails Cherokee Lansing, part Native American daughter of a cattleman in the expanding oil country near Tulsa OK of the 1920s.
She looks great whether on horseback or elegantly dressed in her mansion after becoming oil wealthy. Quite a few westerns dramatized the conflicts between cattlemen and sod busters or between cattlemen and sheepherders. This film dramatizes the conflict between traditional cattle interests and the emerging oil interests. Cherokee personifies this conflict, as she transforms from an irate spokeswoman for cattle interests into a leading promoter of oil interests, then backtracks under pressure from her sometimes fiance Brad Brady(Robert Preston) and her Native American friend Jim Redbird, to promote a more balanced coexistence of cattle and oil interests. As often happens in such conflict stories, there is a disaster sequence, perpetrated by the established interests, to try to get rid of the invaders. In this case, it is a spectacular oil field fire, well done. The prepetrator, Jim Redbird, could claim he was just trying to get rid of the oil seep that was killing his cattle, and the fire he set happened to spread to the adjacent oil field.
This is at least the second film in which Susan was paired romantically with Robert Preston's character, the other being "Reap the Wild Wind", in which both die, in supporting roles. Preston generally played supporting roles, often as wishy washy villains, before mostly moving back to stage productions. Here, he does an excellent job as the top billed male, Brad Brady. His relationship with Cherokee undergoes a rollercoaster ride, starting very low and ending on a high note. The son of "Crude Oil Johnny", who implausibly signed over his oil prospecting leases to Cherokee just before being killed in a barroom brawl,Brady shows up unexpectedly at Cherokee's drill site, fresh from a degree in petroleum engineering. He teams up with Jim Redbird in recommending a conservative approach to exploiting any oil found. In contrast, Bruce Tanner(Lyold Gough), the reigning "oil king" of the region wants to drill many wells and pump out the oil as fast as possible. At first seen as an adversary by Cherokee, eventually she agrees to cooperate and do things Tanner's way, not Brady's way. Tanner even proposes marriage when he is thinking of running for governor, thus uniting the "oil king" and "oil queen" of Tulsa. Jim Redbird also has romantic hopes with Cherokee. The oil field fire then becomes the focus. In the aftermath, Cherokee rethinks things and makes her final choice of policy and lover.
This film invites comparisons with the previous film "Boomtown", staring Gable, Tracy, Colbert and Lamarr. They are both excellent stories, in my opinion, if sometimes implausible, relating to the building of oil empires in the early 20th century. Some reviewers, no doubt, will strongly prefer one over the other. There are several obvious differences. Boomtown was shot in B&W, not in the Technicolor of the present film. The chief wildcatters were Gable and Tracy. Much of the
film deals with their up and down relationship, somewhat similar to the
up and down relationships between Cherokee and Brady and between
Cherokee and Tanner. "Boomtown" does not explore conflicts of interest between cattlemen and oil developers. Both films end up with the principals promoting stategies for prolonged production rather than maximal short term output. They both include a spectacular oil field fire that threatens to destroy fortunes. Chill Wills, a native Oklahoman, is the only actor I am aware of who was in both films. In "Tulsa", he served as the occasional narrator and as a secondary acquaintance of Cherokee. He seemed to spend most of his time singing the title song "Tulsa" in a local entertainment establishment. Lloyd Gough serves as a charming, if sometimes double dealing, Bruce Tanner. Gough's film career started late and lasted only a few years, after which he served various minor roles in TV series.

Tulsa, 1949 film

"Oklahoma" means "Red Man's Land". There was oil beneath the ground. Sought for and fought for all over the world. This story is set in the 1920s, where cattle was an important product. Herefords replaced longhorn cattle. But there is trouble: cattle are dying by the creek from oil in the water. There is an oil gusher at the adjoining ranch! A piece of the well fell on the rancher. Miss Lansing visits Mr. Bruce Tanner about the loss of the cattle. "I don't forget that easy." She meets "Crude Oil" Johnny Brady. Liquor is served from a Mason jar. Miss Lansing was given some oil leases by Brady. Tanner offers $20,000 for those leases. No deal. Geologist Brady visits and gives advice. There is a fight. They hit water - no oil. But a new technique can be used to seal off the water and re-drill for oil. Can Brady get financing? "Let it ride!" "Yahoo!"

There is surprising good news from the ranch. The well is capped (no wasted oil). New riches, new spending. Oil on Jim Redbird's ranch? Will he "enjoy life" now? What if someone wants more oil drilling? Over drilling can prevent the recovery of oil and damage the land above. Limiting drilling extends the life of oil wells and saves the land. But not all agree. This takes laws. Miss Lansing builds a new mansion to flaunt her wealth. [Wealth leads to political power.] Brady talks to the Governor about Conservation. Will Lansing team up with Tanner? Or Brady? What if there is a conflict about business? Could Tanner become the next state governor? Redbird doesn't want any more oil wells, he wants to preserve his land. Is he competent? [Note the use of state power to take possession of his mineral rights!] What can he do? Waste oil poisons the water used by cattle.

"The field is on fire!" They must shut down the wells. The fire spreads, they need a fire break made with dynamite. The burning towers fall! Brady drives a bulldozer to save Miss Lansing and Jim. They have to destroy the oil wells in order to save them. They can rebuild to conserve the oil supply, with fences to safeguard cattle. This will provide an example for the rest of the state. Modern oil fields use this technique now.

This drama explains the purpose of oil conservation without preaching. Early oil production drew out so much oil that the drop in internal pressure made recovering the rest of the oil economically prohibitive. A rise in the price of oil increases the value of unrecovered oil. Now there are plans to fracture shale rock to recover the methane gas below. But the chemicals used can poison underground water so it isn't potable. This sixty-year old film is still relevant today.

I HAVE BEEN A PASSIONATE FAN OF SUSAN HAYWARD FOR OVER THIRTY YEARS AND HAVE COLLECTED NEARLY ALL HER FILMS THROUGHT THE VAST EVOLUTION OF VIDEO. SUSAN IS ONE OF THE GREATEST AND CLASSIEST STARS TO HAVE EVER GRACED THE CINEMA AND HER ACTING IS AS STRONG AND VIBRANT AND RELEVANT TODAY AS IT WAS WHEN HER FILMS WERE PRODUCED. TULSA IS ONE OF HER STRONGEST AND ENTERTAINING PERFORMANCES. THIS STORY OF OKLAHOMA OIL-DRILLING IN THE 1920S IS SUPERBLY PRODUCED, WRITTEN AND DIRECTED WITH A SUPERB CAST AS SUSAN HAYWARD, ROBERT PRESTON PEDRO ARMENDARIZ AND LLOYD GOUGH BRING A LOT OF CLASS TO THIS GEM. THIS FILM IS HIGHLY RELEVANT TO TODAY'S WORLD WITH SO MUCH FOCUS ON ENERGY AND OIL. TULSA HAS BEEN AVAILABLE OVER THE YEARS IN MEDIOCRE PUBLIC DOMAIN VERSIONS. MY RESEARCH INTO THIS PICTURE INDICATES THAT THE VAULT NEGATIVE WHICH WOULD YIELD A RESTORED PRINT AT ONE TIME BELONGED TO UNITED ARTISTS. PERHAPS IT IS IN THE ARCHIVES OF MGM OR CBS WHICH HAS HAD RIGHTS TO UNITED ARTISTS MATERIAL OVER THE YEARS. TULSA WAS ORIGINALY RELEASED BY THE INDEPENDENT EAGLE-LION A COMPANY OF PRODUCER WALTER WANGER. IT WAS RERELEASED IN 1952 (I HAVE LOBBY CARDS FROM THIS REISSUE). IT WOULD BE DEVINE TO SEE A RESTORED VERSION OF TULSA AND THIS EXCELLENT, ENTERTAING CINEMA DESERVES THIS TREATMENT. IN THE MEANTIME LET US ALL SALUTE AND CONTINUE TO LOVE THE FILMS OF THE GREAT LADY AND STAR MS. SUSAN HAYWARD.........A VERY DEVOTED AND LOVING FAN.........GARY JASINKONIS........EAST NORTHPORT, NY....P.S. SUSAN.........SEE YOU ON THE LATE SHOW...........GARY A FOREVER FAN....