Faye Dunaway is Lena Doyle, a fiercely independent woman trying to drill her own oil well with the help of just an Indian helper named Jimmy.
She’s resisted selling out to oil companies, most notably Tan Oklahoma Oil and Gas, where officials frown on wildcatters and prefer to lease land, then give the owners a small fraction of the profits.
One day Lena’s estranged father Cleon (John Mills) shows up, having heard of her plight, offering to lend a hand.
She suspects he might have ulterior motives, like cashing in should she really hit oil.
So to prove his sincerity, Clean heads to a camp of unemployed oil rig workers to hire some workers who know how to handle guns.
He returns with just one, a shyster named Noble Mase (George C. Scott), who figures he’ll cut a deal with the oil company if the new job goes sour.
Speaking of the oil company, Capt. Water C. Hellman (Jack Palance) has been summoned as its enforcer with orders to take control of Lena’s land.
And if she won’t sign it over … well, the fact that she’s a woman won’t protect her from the same type of rough treatment they’d give any other wildcatter.
Faye Dunaway as Lena Doyle, on the oil rig she’s determined to keep as her own in Oklahoma Crude (1973)
George C. Scott as Mase, reacting to Lena’s desire to be sexually self-serving in Oklahoma Crude (1973)
Review:
Faye Dunaway turns in a strong performance as a woman who doesn’t really trust anyone, certainly not men and most certainly not her father or her new helper.
But over the course of time, both are able to chip away a bit at her frosty exterior — her father by saving her life after she’s been beaten nearly to death by Hellman’s men; Mace by helping her reclaim her property.
There’s also a memorable scene in which Dunaway’s dad dons a shield to protect himself from the bullets of Hellman’s men, then climbs all the way to the top of the oil rig to do repairs.
All that said, given the star power and the presence of Stanley Kramer as director, one might have expected a more powerful, impactful result.
John Mills as Cleon, looking for men willing to help his daughter in Oklahoma Crude (1973)
Jack Palance as Capt. Walter C. Hellman, enforcer for the oil company in Oklahoma Crude (1973)
Directed by:
Stanley Kramer
Cast:
George C. Scott … Mase
Faye Dunaway … Lena Doyle
John Mills … Cleon
Jack Palance … Capt. Walter C. Hellman
William Lucking … Marion
Harvey Jason … Wilcox
Ted Gehring … Wobbly
Cliff Osmond … Massive man
Rafael Campos … Jimmy
Woodrow Parfrey … Lawyer
John Hudkins … Bloom
Harvey Perry … Bliss
Bob Herron … Dulling
Jerry Brown … Rucker
Runtime: 108 min.
Song:
“Send a Little Love My Way” by Anne Murray
Faye Dunaway as Lena Doyle, grabbing her rifle when her estranged father comes calling in Oklahoma Crude (1973)
William Lucking as Marion, Mace’s former pal in Oklahoma Crude (1973)
Memorable lines:
Lena: “What good are you?”
Cleon: “I’m your father, Lena.”
Lena: “So what? You want to read me nursery rhymes? It’s a little late for that.”
Mase: “Something I’ve been wantin’ to ask you. Is it just the three men I’ve seen you with, or do you kinda hate the whole race?”
Lena: “No. I’ve never thought much of men.”
Hellman to Lena: “You know, that’s one thing about women in business. They ask you to treat them like a regular guy. Then, when you do, they cry on you.”
Hellman as Mase offers his help with Lena, for a price: “Any man running around saying, ‘Buy me. Buy me.” He’s not anything to worry about.”
Lena to Mase: “Of course, you want me to give in. Of course, my daddy does. Of course, every man in this town does. Because if I don’t — if I, some silly woman licked the almighty Penn Oklahoma, that makes you a bunch of gutless slugs that don’t know your balls from teabags. Don’t it?”
Lena: “It ain’t that easy for a woman in this world.”
Mace: “It ain’t all that great for a man neither, let me tell you.”
Harvey Jason as Wilcox, ordering Hellman (Jack Palance) to stop the violence in Oklahoma Crude (1973)
John Mills as Cleon, embracing daughter Lena (Faye Dunaway) after she’s been beaten by Hellman’s men in Oklahoma Crude (1973)
George C. Scott as Mase, making a point with Hellman (Jack Palance) in Oklahoma Crude (1973)
George C. Scott as Mase, John Mills as Cleon and Faye Dunaway as Lena Doyle, ready to defend the land in Oklahoma Crude (1973)
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