Leofwine_draca THE OKLAHOMA KID is a somewhat unusual western in that it stars the inimitable pairing of James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, two actors best known for their roles in contemporary gangster movies. Cagney is the titular character, a Robin Hood-style lone cowboy who has a bounty on his head, while Bogart is part of a ruthless gang who use violence and murder to hold sway over a small town. The first half of this production is a little slow, but the strong production values see it through, and Cagney burns up the screen as always. It gets good in the second half when it transforms into a revenge flick with all of the showdowns a genre fan could wish for.

bsmith5552 As westerns go "The Oklahoma Kid" is a pretty fair western what with Warner Bros. excellent production values cast et al. It's hard to watch James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart in a western in that we were more accustomed to seeing them in gangster movies. In fact they faced off against each other in "Angels Have Dirty Faces" the previous year and in "The Roaring Twenties" later in 1939.Having said all of that, "The Oklahoma Kid" is an entertaining western set at the time of the Oklahoma land rush. We first see outlaw Jim Kinkaid (aka The Oklahoma Kid) foiling a stagecoach robbery by Whip McCord (Bogey) and his gang of monies meant to compensate the Indians for their land taken away for the land rush. The Kid takes the money for himself and unless I missed it, never returns it to the authorities.John Kinkaid (Hugh Sothern) and the town elders attempt to stake their claim on a prime piece of land on which to build their town (Tulsa). But McCord sneaks across the line before the rush begins and blackmails Kincaid in to conceding the gambling rights to the town in return for the parcel of land.The Kid meanwhile turns up in town spending some of the stolen cash and romancing at the same time Jan Hardwick (Rosemary Lane) the daughter of upstanding Judge Hardwick (Donald Crisp) and the girl friend of his brother Ned (Harvey Stephens).McCord and his gang have laid the town wide open. John Kincaid decides to run for mayor and rid the town of McCord and his cronies. McCord seeing the threat to his power pins a murder on Kincaid following which he orchestrates the man's lynching. The Kid arriving too late to save his father vows revenge on McCord and his gang and........................Cagney is his usual cocky bantam rooster self handles the ridin' and roughhousing with his usual style. I thought though, that he wore his guns a little high around the waist. I couldn't help it but Cagney evoked images of Yosemite Sam in his performance. Bogey just a couple of years away from major stardom, makes a good all in black villain. No wondering who the villain is here. There's a good bar room fight between the two to liven up the proceedings as well.Also in the cast are Charles Middleton Ming the Merciless in the Flash Gordon serials, as good lawyer Alec Martin and Edward Pawley, Ward Bond, Trevor Bardette and John Miljan as McCord's gang.Cagney wouldn't make another western until "Run For Cover" in 1955. Bogart on the other hand appeared again as the all in black villain, this time with a laughable Mexican accent in "Virginia City" (his last western) the following year.

JohnHowardReid Fast, crackling, full-of-action western spectacular with some of the most vigorously directed and imaginatively handled action footage ever made. The land rush, one imagines, uses stock footage from Cimarron and it is true that one can spot the stunt men doubling for Bogart and Cagney in the forceful finale, but such stand-out scenes as Cagney's chase after the stage with its fantastic variety of inventive camera angles and clever cross-cutting as well as its inspired use of natural locations, the shoot-out with Bond on a freight train (marred slightly by use of a process screen), the attempted rescue and lynching, and the final confrontation between Stephens and Bogart are as exciting as anything of their kind.What makes this film especially exciting is that all this action is contained in the one film and in 80 minutes at that! In addition, this film has the advantage of its cast: Bogart makes an ideal western heavy and yet he was only once again to play a role even slightly similar and that was in Virginia City (1940). His only other western roles were in A Holy Terror in which he played foreman of the villain's ranch (he didn't know he was a villain) and Treasure of the Sierra Madre, a modern western set in Mexico. Cagney is in his element too as the personable, charmingly talkative, tough, law-unto-himself Kid. Among Bogart's henchmen it's nice to spot Ward Bond, Edward Pawley, Trevor Bardette (Pawley is especially convincing in his climactic scenes) and John Miljan as his smart lawyer and Arthur Aylesworth as a sombre, corrupted judge. On the other side of the fence are ranged Rosemary Lane, not the most beautiful heroine but a more realistic one and a pleasant change from the all glamor and no talent stereotype of the western girl. Donald Crisp plays an honest judge, the sort of role he could do standing on his head; Harvey Stephens is effective as the hero and Hugh Sothern has a meaty part as an empire builder. Charles Middleton is a lawyer on the right side for once and there is an amusing cameo by Ray Mayer as a frightened pianist.Bacon's direction is not only slick and assured but drives the film at a whipping pace. Production values are outstanding with vast sets, hordes of costumed extras, a Steiner music score, black-and- white photography by Wong Howe (though neither Howe nor Steiner have contributed their best work) and a fair amount of location shooting. The script has deftly combined most of the traditional elements of the western plot into a giant and extremely successful and effective block-buster.

ccthemovieman-1 I may be in the minority here - at least with a couple of my classic-movie-buff friends, but I really liked this western. I thought it was one of the most interesting and entertaining classic westerns I've ever seen. Of course, having Jimmy Cagney in the lead didn't hurt. He's usually very entertaining and this is no exception. He plays his normal cocky self, but instead of gangster or something else modern-day, he was cowboy. To those too rigid fuddie-duddies who can't see their favorite actors trying different genres - too bad. Cagney as a cowboy?? Why not? He' still the same, great actor and entertainer. Same goes for Bogey.Humphrey Bogart, as he so often was before he became a mega-star with Casablanca, played the bad guy. He looked like he had a bad toupee, too. I hope that wasn't his real hair!This was fun to watch right from the get-go and also featured some excellent black-and-white cinematography (where is the DVD on this?), which made it all the better. At 82 minutes, this is a quick night of entertainment, but I liked that short running time.