James Cagney is the Oklahoma Kid, who uses brains rather than brawn to steal a small fortune from Whip McCord (Humphrey Bogart). McCord’s men had just robbed a stagecoach carrying a payment to the Indians for land being opened to settlers in the Cherokee Strip. And it won’t mark the last time the two men tangle.
That’s because the land rush is on. John Kincaid (Hugh Sothern) and his son Ned (Harvey Stephens) have their sights set on a piece of land they think would be perfect for a bucolic little town in the new territory.
But McCord’s men break the Sooner rule and get their first. In return to turning over rights to the land to the Kincaids, they insist on controlling gambling, drinking and saloons in the new community.
Naturally, that leads to lawlessness. More lawlessness than the Kincaids and an attorney named Hardwick can stand. So they decide to offer up the Kincaids as a law-and-order option in the next election. Next thing you know, John Kincaid is sitting in jail, framed for a murder he didn’t commit.
That’s when the Oklahoma Kid resurfaces. After all, he’s really the rascallion of a son and brother that John and Ned Kincaid, respectively, have disowned. Though she’s the girlfiriend of his brother, Jane Hardwick (Rosemary Lane) provides even more motivation for the Kid to make sure law and justice prevails in Tulsa.
Review:
The film marked the first Western for the dressed-all-in-black Bogart and the second pairing of Bogart and Cagney. Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) marked their first.
Cagney has the better role here, as the rascal of an outlaw who finds chivalry whenever Jane Hardwick is around. For instance, he clears out a room in a filled hotel for her and her dad by marching in and announcing that the land rush has started, prompting a virtual stampede of cowboys out of the hotel’s front door.
And he’s a rascal you can’t help but root for once McCord incites the lynching of his father and he sets out on the vengeance trail, tracking down the four men responsible, one by one, all the time expecting the trail might lead back to Whip McCord.
Those four men include Ward Bond as Wes Handley. He was already in his mid-30s and the veteran of dozens of films when this movie was made. Larger Western roles, of course, would be in his future.
Directed by:
Lloyd Bacon
Cast:
James Cagney … Oklahoma Kid (Jim Kincaid)
Humphrey Bogart … Whip McCord
Rosemary Lane … Jane Hardwick
Donald Crisp … Judge Hardwick
Harvey Stephens … Ned Kincaid
Hugh Sothern … John Kincaid
Charles Middleton … Alec Martin
Edward Pawley … Ace Doolin
Ward Bond … Wes Handley
Lew Harvey … Curley
Trevor Bardette … Indian Jack Pasco
John Miljan … Ringo
Arthur Aylesworth … Judge Morgan
Irving Bacon … Hotel clerk
Joe Devlin … Keely
Runtime: 85 min.
Memorable lines:
The Oklahoma Kid: “I learned this about human nature when I was so high. That the strong take away from the weak. And the smart take away from the strong.”
Jane Hardwick: “Jim, think of your father and how he feels. He’s an honorable man. He’s live by the law.”
Jim Kincaid, the Oklahoma Kid: “Yes, and I think he’s very lucky to have a no good son to see he doesn’t die by it.”
Oklahoma Kid: “I’ve got Doolin outside.”
Townsman: “Dead or alive?”
Oklahoma Kid: “A little bit of each.”
Oklahoma Kid: “Me turn over a new leaf? I’d have to turn over a whole public library.”
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