TULSA is yet another Eagle Lion film that is ripe for restoration. It has existed for years in cheap public domain copies that range from OK to downright bad. This is even more apparent as TULSA is one of the very few Eagle Lion movies in color and three strip Technicolor no less. The color is still there but it has faded in places and the vivid Technicolor vibrancy is gone. This Film Detective edition of the 1949 movie is the best one out there as the print is complete with very few splices and no missing frames. That’s to be expected from The Film Detective (check out their website) as they, along with VCI, are the top purveyors of public domain motion pictures and television shows.
The movie was conceived as a showcase for Susan Hayward who had earlier shot to stardom for her portrayal of an alcoholic singer in SMASH UP, THE STORY OF A WOMAN (1947). She made that film for producer Walter Wanger who also made TULSA. The use of Technicolor showed off her flaming red hair and her wardrobe but the movie also gave Hayward the chance to play a strong woman who more than held her own in the male dominated world of 1920s Oklahoma. Originally the daughter of a cattle rancher, she is unexpectedly given the oil lease rights to a nearby property. When an oil well pays off, she abandons her father’s anti-oil convictions and turns into a ruthless oil baroness.
Robert Preston is reunited with Hayward who co-starred with him in BEAU GESTE ten years earlier. He plays her partner and love interest, a geologist/conservationist who wants to manage her oil wells in an enviornmentally friendly fashion. Lloyd Gough plays the oil baron whom Hayward originally wants to stop but later joins forces with. Chill Wills portrays a Will Rogers type character (Oklahoma was Rogers’ home state) who is the movie’s narrator but the heart and soul of the picture is Mexican actor Pedro Armendariz. He plays a Native American rancher who wants nothing to do with the oil boom. He just wants to be left alone to graze his cattle but others scheme to take his land.
TULSA is not exactly a Western as it is set in the 1920s and it concerns itself with the burgeoning petroleum business. 24 years later, OKLAHOMA CRUDE (1973) with Faye Dunaway and George C. Scott was a virtual remake. There are romantic scenes, action sequences, a betrayal, and (surprising for the time) a very strong message about drilling responsibly. It all ends with a spectacular oil field fire that is still a marvel to behold even in this less than pristine print. The movie lost money and Eagle Lion went under which is why it ended up in the public domain. Here’s hoping that someday soon it will get the restoration it deserves. Until then, The Film Detective version is the one to get.
The Capsule Critic 