The Oklahoma Kid
Tags: revenge, murder

Plot synopsis:
President Cleveland signs the bill allowing the sale of the Cherokee Strip (actually, the Cherokee Outlet) in the future state of Oklahoma. After the money arrives by train, it is then loaded onto a stagecoach which subsequently gets robbed by Whip McCord (Humphrey Bogart) and his gang. Jim Kincaid, also known as "The Oklahoma Kid", (James Cagney) sees the robbery, and then ambushes the gang and makes off with the money.
Settlers are arriving to stake their property claims in what would be the Cherokee Strip Land Run of 1893. At a settlers' dance, the Kid meets Jane Hardwick (Rosemary Lane), daughter of Judge Hardwick (Donald Crisp), dancing with her and asking if she can "feel the air." Before the new territory is opened, McCord sneaks in with his cronies and stakes a "sooner" claim. When John Kincaid (Hugh Sothern) and his son, Ned Kincaid (Harvey Stephens), arrive, they are swindled into granting McCord the saloon and gambling concessions in exchange for the site that they had planned to develop into a town. After the area is built and developed, it is overcome by crime and unlawful killings under McCord's influence. Hoping to bring about law-and-order, Judge Hardwick and Ned campaign to elect John Kincaid as mayor of Tulsa, but when another candidate is killed, McCord frames John Kincaid and has him arrested for murder.
While living with Mexicans in a small cabin, the Kid reads in a newspaper about the arrest of his father. Even though he was cast aside as the black-sheep son, he rides into town in order to free his father from jail. After the Kid raids the jail and enters his father's cell, John refuses to escape and instead wants to fight his arrest judiciously. The Kid leaves before being caught. Upon learning that the Kid is John Kincaid's son, McCord incites a mob at his saloon. Then, led by three of his own men, they break into the jail which allows McCord's cronies to lynch Kincaid over the outside balcony of the jailhouse.
In exacting vengeance, the Kid tracks down those who murdered his father. He kills three of them when they don't surrender peacefully, but brings back Ace Doolin (Edward Pawley) in order to testify against McCord. Ned and the Kid seek out McCord at his saloon. While attempting an arrest, Ned is shot by McCord. The Kid and McCord engage in fisticuffs, and the Kid is nearly killed, but Ned shoots down McCord before dying himself.
The Kid plans to continue on with his nomadic ways, but Jane and Judge Hardwick convince him to stay.

Review: Same goes for Bogey.Humphrey Bogart, as he so often was before he became a mega-star with Casablanca, played the bad guy.
It is a western with James Cagney as a cowboy and Humphrey Bogart his black-clad nemesis.
There is some humor in it, but it was made too early to be consciously campy; and as it was produced by Warner Brothers it has a fast, urban pace, but alas lacks the sophistication its dynamic star duo need to elevate it to clasic status, or even make it a good movie.
Neither star is at home on the range, and Cagney looks silly in a cowboy hat.
On the other hand James Wong Howe's photography has some stunning compositions, and has about it, in its contrasting use of black and gray, a twilight quality that is very appealing but, like so much in this movie, not too appropriate for a western..
One of my favorite movie lines of all time is from The Oklahoma Kid where James Cagney expounds on his philosophy of life to Donald Crisp in a saloon as the land rush is starting.The rest of the film is your usual fast paced Cagney film, just set out west instead of the big city.
It was the first western for both Cagney and Humphrey Bogart.
Cagney did a fine western in the Fifties Run for Cover and replaced Spencer Tracy in another one, Tribute to a Bad Man.Bogey did one other western, Virginia City, and next to that Whip McCord of the panhandle is an Oscar winning part.
I'm not denigrating his work on Oklahoma Kid, but Bogart used to cringe whenever Virginia City was mentioned and that chintzy Mexican accent he was forced to adopt for that film.In Oklahoma Kid, he's the leader of a group of outlaws who've jumped the starting gun and put up a claim at the spot Hugh Sothern and son Harvey Stephens want to start a town.
Cagney and Bogey went back to the city streets except for Bogey's ill conceived visit to Virginia City.But Oklahoma Kid is not a bad film and fans of the two stars will not be disappointed..
Oklahoma Kid, The (1939) *** 1/2 (out of 4) When Warner decided to throw James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart into a Western it got headlines in 1939 and it continues to do so today among film buffs.
The idea of Cagney and Bogart in a Western will always draw new people to this film but it's a shame the headlines have gotten in the way of the fact that this is an extremely good movie.
The film takes place as Oklahoma is giving away free land where a father (Hugh Sothern) and son (Harvey Stephens) plans on building a city that can do good.
Unfortunately for them a bad guy (Bogart) ends up getting is hands on the territory and soon the new city is full of gambling and murder.
When the father is falsely accused of murder and a mob kills him, his secret son known as The Oklahoma Kid (Cagney) shows up to seek vengeance against the bad guys.
The Western genre was full of revenge films even by 1939 but this one here comes off incredibly fresh for many reasons but the main one is that the movie is rather dark and doesn't pull any punches.
Apparently he and Cagney didn't get along too well here due to a comment Bogart made but that bitterness certainly carries over to the film and helps.
All in all, this is a very impressive little gem that continues to get new viewers but I think it's should be better known as a good film instead of just a film with two stars you wouldn't expect..
Good Movie Despite Cagney's Mushroom Hat. I don't agree with a previous poster that Bogart and Cagney looked too urban to be in a western.
The writer Robert Louis Stevenson also went west.I'd would have played up Cagney's New Yorkisms by having him wear a derby rather than that over-sized hat he wore.
Poor Bogart.That said, 'Oklahoma Kid' an entertaining movie.
Well done in all departments.Cagney plays the good-bad guy and Bogart, in a pre-Sam Spade role, plays the bad-bad guy.One of the interchangeable Lane sisters (in this case Rosemary)is the love interest.Long story short; somebody done somebody wrong, with fistfights and gunplay and double-crosses and all the elements that make westerns so greatly entertaining.
When you consider how you would imagine an "Oklahoma Kid" to be and act, then Cagney was perfect for the role.
4. He blows the smoke off his gun one too many times, if you know what I mean, and I think you do.If you are a casual Bogart or Cagney fan, and figure it might be a change of pace to see them in a western, do yourself a favor and forget that thought.
(That is, when they don't look bored.)In all fairness, I admit that westerns are my least favorite film genre, but I've still seen much, MUCH better than this.On a comedy level, or as high camp, The Oklahoma Kid works.
No, Oklahoma Kid!"  He was refering to this odd misfit, but enjoyable western.James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart look as well suited in the old west as Gabby Hayes and Lash LaRue would look in a Manhattan speakeasy, but these two pros have fun with the film anyway.
I was never sure about either James Cagney or Humphrey Bogart being in westerns but "The Oklahoma Kid" is not too bad.
It has a brief running time, a fair measure of action and incident, the music is perfectly tolerable and at least Cagney and Bogart have a proper one on one confrontation at the end.
Cagney is a "Robin Hood" type of hero who hides his true identity behind the name "The Oklahoma Kid." Bogart is a killer and dishonest businessman who wants to turn the local town into a place of sin, corruption and degradation.
Gold intended for the Indians is hijacked by the gang of Whip McCord (played by Humphrey Bogart).
The gang is in turn ambushed and robbed by Jim "The Oklahoma Kid" Kincaid (James Cagney).
It is basically the swagger of James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart that propels the movie, and makes it work.
Makes it quite amusing at times, too...On a side note, this might actually be the first movie to include both Cagney and Bogart, so the movie is of historical significance too..
Let me say at first that I am a great fan of Jimmy Cagney and have really liked most of his movies, particularly "White Heat", "Yankee Doodle Dandy" as well as most of those crime movies he made over the years for Warner Brothers.
The story is quite okay, and the cast is impressive with people like Donald Crisp and Ward Bond, while Humphrey Bogart was a scream as the baddie, and Rosemary Lane just had to look pretty - which she did.
Cagney and Bogart make forgettable western less so.
Diverting western would be completely unmemorable except for the fact that it stars James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart.
The film features a solid supporting cast that includes Donald Crisp and Ward Bond, which helps as well, but this film really could have been any number of routine Tim Holt westerns, except for maybe one song and dance number performed by Cagney..
I also enjoyed Bogart as the villainous Whip McCord, not exactly his cup of tea but none the less he looked pretty good in a Cowboy hat.Best Scene:  The brawl finale between Cagney and Bogart.
President Grover Cleveland declares some Oklahoma Cherokee land to be available for western settlers, which attracts singing cowboy James Cagney (as "The Oklahoma Kid" Jim Kincaid) and his more dastardly, dark-suited rival Humphrey Bogart (as "Whip" McCord).
In hindsight, this is more of a novelty than a movie.***** The Oklahoma Kid (3/3/39) Lloyd Bacon ~ James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Harvey Stephens.
Everyone goes on so much about how misplaced it was to place Cagney and Bogart in a western, but the characters they play are totally in line with the gangster figures they are more commonly associated with, and present compatible shadings of good and bad and lawlessness and justice that fit equally well into a western as well as a gangster picture.
And Bogart and Cagney both inhabit their roles in their own, unique way.
It is more than a little too big for this short actor, and though it may perhaps be a quirk of the character of the Oklahoma Kid, I think somebody in the costume department should have gently led him to another hat..
The few times they try, it always ridiculous (except, perhaps, for They Died with their Boots on - which is a cavalery western.) I have read that Humphrey Bogart, seing James Cagney with this big cowboy hat on his head, said that he looks like a mushroom.
Cagney and Bogart are too urban, too XXe century to be credible in a western movie.
Every 10 minutes, I figure I can see Bogart and Cagney drops their little guns and put hands in a machine gun to get away from the set in a 1930's black car..
At start, Hollywood told Cagney that gangster films did not need two novel hippie tough-guys * * that Bogart was more than enough to satisfy the hungry moviegoers.
Together they curiously pair for this classic Western drama, and Cagney's first major screen role.
And indeed Cagney shines here as Jim Kincaid (The Oklahoma Kid).To some degree Cagney nearly upstages Bogey here, with his clever, cocksure, fast-talking wit, to Bogart's serious, deadpan bantam.
The problem is not the actor, James Cagney (The Oklahoma Kid) but the unwritten credibility rule that this film (unlike most westerns) does not follow: a hero cannot be as good on the draw and fistfights as to place him too far above the others.
Add to that a routine plot and the conclusion is that Cagney and Bogart deserved something better.The big hat does not suit Cagney well, he keeps blowing the smoke off his gun and in a cheesy scene he sings a lullaby in a poor Spanish.
Only avid western movie fans like myself would care to see this film and overall it is a rewarding experience, after all we learn to appreciate even the flaws..
'The Oklahoma Kid' is competent but slightly disappointing star western memorable for the clash in this guise of its protagonists, more usually seen as gangsters The film is generally far more to the living of the Western traditionalists, and it never once allows its size to create an atmosphere of self-importance Nevertheless it maintains a pleasant tongue-in-cheek approach which makes the occasional tragic moments stand out in even greater relief But even with two such big names on hand, 'The Oklahoma Kid' moves tediously against the colorful backgrounds of a colorful era Cagneywho makes his own law with his fast draw brings his cheeky personality to the West without making the slightest change in his standard characterization Bogart plays it without even the mordant sense of humor that he usually brings to his gangster roles As a sinister figure all in black, he gives an equally unconvincing performance as an outlaw gang leader who deceitfully obtains saloon and gambling rights in return for letting Cagney's father and brother have rights to a site on which they plan to build a town.
If you can't picture James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart as gun totin' Western outlaws, then give yourself a treat and try "The Oklahoma Kid".
Granted, neither actor appears as comfortable in their cowboy persona as they do as gangsters, but they manage to pull off a fairly credible and interesting story, with a rather talented cast around them.The setting is the 1883 land rush that civilizes the six million acre Oklahoma Territory known as the Cherokee Strip, and future site of the city of Tulsa.
Cagney's entrance as the Oklahoma Kid is heralded by his hijacking of Whip McCord's (Bogart) plunder of a stagecoach carrying money in payment for Indian land.
The Kid is the "good" outlaw, who for the remainder of the film plays out his secret identity of Jim Kincaid, who's businessman father (Hugh Sothern) and sheriff brother (Harvey Stephens) attempt to bring McCord and his gang to justice following their illegal land grab.Adding an element of romance to the story is the presence of Jane Hardwick (Rosemary Lane), daughter of Judge Hardwick (Donald Crisp), who's involved with sheriff Ned, but is immediately smitten with The Kid; Oklahoma endears himself to newcomers by asking them to "feel the air".When bully McCord frames John Kincaid for murder, he sends a phony letter to Judge Hardwick to get him out of town, so his own hand picked replacement can push through a guilty verdict.
The finale finds the Oklahoma Kid and McCord in a rather well staged barroom brawl that ends with the "good" bad guy on the winning end.OK, high drama it's not; for a truly memorable film of classic status in a Western setting with either of these stars, you'll have to turn to Bogart's "Treasure of the Sierra Madre".
James Cagney writes about "The Oklahoma Kid', his first western film, in his fascinating autobiography, Cagney By Cagney.
But James Cagney manages to make this film entertaining by adding his typical charming and sentimental touches, such as his character Jim Kincaid " feeling the fresh air with his finger tips " and singing his own father's favourite song, " I Don't Want To Play In Your Yard." He even got to do a fancy rope trick.
In one scene Cagney is standing on a rock while a bunch of bad guys led by Humphrey Bogart and Ward Bond pound by on their horses, and Cagney's character is supposed to launch a lariat around the neck of Ward Bond's horse.
Anyone who loves James Cagney along with a solid cast of fine actors, Humphrey Bogart, Donald Crisp, Rosemary Lane, Ward Bond, will find watching this film, a lot of fun and very entertaining..
Bogart and Cagney, the well established Big City hardboiled guys seem to have lost their way in the Warner building and in order not to waste the day, take what they find and try to play it serious, whereas the whole thing has something of a tongue in cheek cameo show.
The whole thing centers around the Oklahoma Land Rush and the revenge exacted by the title hero, played by Cagney, to the bad guys having killed his father.
Cagney all in bright with a cowboy hat, that could serve as a family sun cover and Bogart, the all-black sneering villain, confront each other in well-known form.
I know as well as anyone, that he is at his best in gangster movies, but despite doing only four westerns, he is not bad in them either.
It is about Jim Kincaid ( Cagney) (aka'The Oklahoma Kid') who is the bad seed son of Judge Kincaid who lives by his own rules, and goes up against even nastier Whip McCord ( Humphrey Bogart).
Jim does end up married to Jane, in a cute way which is being pushed into it by her father ( also a judge ( played by Donald Crisp)).
This movie should be a must for Cagney and ( or) Bogart fans..
Good cast for this 1939 western.
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.
Cagney's atypical presence in a western is one of the few - if not the only - entertaining thing about the movie.
Cagney and Bogart Out West!.
As westerns go "The Oklahoma Kid" is a pretty fair western what with Warner Bros.
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.
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.
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..
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).
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.