The Boy from Oklahoma

The Boy from Oklahoma is a 1954 Western movie directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Will Rogers, Jr.[1][2]

The Boy from Oklahoma
Directed byMichael Curtiz
Oren W. Haglund (assistant director)
Written byMichael Fessier (story: The Sheriff Was Scared)
Frank Davis (screenplay)
Winston Miller (screenplay)
StarringWill Rogers, Jr.
Nancy Olson
Music byMax Steiner
CinematographyRobert Burks
Edited byJames Moore
Production
company
Warner Bros.
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • February 27, 1954 (1954-02-27)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Background

The film became the basis for the 1957 Warner Bros. television series Sugarfoot, in which Will Hutchins replaced Rogers as lead character Tom Brewster. The movie features Lon Chaney, Jr. and includes one of future TV talk show host Merv Griffin's few theatrical film roles. In the movie version, Rogers as Brewster substitutes facility with a twirling rope, similar to Will Rogers, Sr.'s, for the usual unerring speed and accuracy with firearms typically found in cinematic cowboy heroes.

Three of the original cast members from the movie, Louis Jean Heydt, Sheb Wooley, and Slim Pickens, were transplanted directly into the subsequent TV show's pilot, "Brannigan's Boots", playing their roles from the movie; the first episode of Sugarfoot follows the film's script fairly faithfully. Dennis Hopper succeeded James Griffith as Billy the Kid in the television version, Merry Anders took over the part of Katie Brannigan from Nancy Olson, and Chubby Johnson replaced Wallace Ford as Wally Higgins for the small screen.

This was the last film made by Curtiz as a contract director at Warner Bros. He had worked exclusively at the studio since 1926.

Reception

Reviewing the DVD release in 2013, Gene Triplett of The Oklahoman called the film an "amiable oater" with a plot that "may sound like potential corn on the cob to some" but turns out to be "unexpectedly well-crafted entertainment".[3]

Cast

References
  1. Boggs, Johnny D. (2013). Billy the Kid on Film, 1911-2012. McFarland. p. 120. ISBN 9781476603353. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  2. Thissen, Judith; Zimmermann, Clemens (2017). Cinema Beyond the City. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 61. ISBN 9781844578481. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  3. Gene Triplett, "DVD review: 'The Boy from Oklahoma'", The Oklahoman, March 22, 2013.


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