bkoganbing Man From Oklahoma finds Roy Rogers and Dale Evans as the offspring of some feuding western families which goes way back to the Oklahoma land rush. Both own half of a valley that Roger Pryor covets because he knows there's oil on the land and they don't. Through a bit of some dumb bravado both Gabby Hayes and Maude Eburne who are the heads of the clans put up their halves of the valley as a prize in the annual Land Rush recreation race. So both families and Pryor are playing for all the marbles.I never would have thought a Duke Ellington song would have gotten into a Roy Rogers movie, but Dale Evans wins vocal honors here as she gets to sing I'm Beginning To See The Light in a nightclub setting. Fans of John Wayne will recognize some of the footage of John Wayne's film In Old Oklahoma during the recreated Land Rush. I'm sure the idea for this film germinated with Herbert J. Yates not wanting to waste any of the expensive footage he shot for that film which was Republic Pictures big budget item from two years earlier. Man From Oklahoma should satisfy the still legion of fans that Roy and Dale still have.

FightingWesterner Seeking fame and fortune in New York city, Roy Rogers and The Sons Of The Pioneers are called back to Oklahoma to help Gabby Hayes in his ongoing feud with Dale Evans' grandmother. Unbeknownst to both parties, the feud is being stoked by an unscrupulous businessman who discovered oil in the valley.Unlike most Rogers vehicles, this fairly lavish Republic Pictures production never lets you forget that it's set in modern times. It starts in a New York skyscraper and ends with the villain being caught red-handed via newsreel footage, shown as part of a Broadway style song-and-dance number!This has absolutely no gun play (except for Dale's grandmother's shotgun) and very little brawling. However, the climax features an exciting, action-packed wagon race re-creating the Oklahoma land rush of 1889, loaded with heroics and villainous skulduggery.Man From Oklahoma features some great songs by Roy, Dale, Bob Nolan, and The Sons Of The Pioneers.