Save your money for something good and enjoyable

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

I didn't expect much from this one but it's better than it has any right being. On the surface it looks like an ordinary, run-of-the-mill B western with cowboy John Wayne leading a revolt against greedy oil baron Albert Dekker. Oh and the obligatory pretty school teacher Martha Scott, who catches the eye of both Wayne and Dekker. But it's actually a fun little movie that captures your attention and never drags. Wayne and Dekker play their white hat/black hat parts well, and Scott is charming with a nice chemistry with Duke. Supporting cast features greats like Gabby Hayes, Marjorie Rambeau, and Paul Fix. And just wait until Teddy Roosevelt shows up. That was my favorite part.

One of several epic film stories about oil wildcatting released in the 1940s. I'm familiar with 3: the prior "Boomtown" and "Flowing Gold". and the later Tulsa". Each of these sports a gusher or two, and all except this one feature a spectacular oil field fire. While gushers provide dramatic evidence of a strike under high pressure, they aren't really what you want. They waste oil and contaminate the surrounding area, increase the risk of a fire, and , if offshore, will contaminate the marine environment.The alternative title of "War of the Wildcats" correctly suggests competition to be king of the regional oil exploration and production businesses. Albert Dekker plays Jim Gardner: the established kingpin of the oil exploration business in Oklahoma, and an obvious candidate to be the chief villain in a fight with a consortium of small oil producers, farmers and Aboriginal Americans for a share of the riches. John Wayne, as Dan Somers, although lacking experience in oil exploration, is elected leader of the consortium. This turns out to be a fortuitous choice when the two go to Washington to plead their case before the president(T.R.). Although Gardner, with his vast experience and material advantages, might seem the overwhelming choice, Dan fought with the rough riders in Cuba, and T.R. remembers him. Also, Dan offers the Aboriginal Americans a 50% stake in the profits vs. Gardner's 12 1/2 %. T.R. wants to make sure the Aboriginal Americans get their fair share, thus decides in favor of the consortium. However, if they fail to deliver a given quantity of oil after 4 months, the concession will be transferred to Gardner, thus providing him with the incentive to impede their ability to deliver in time. Toward this end, Gardner buys the oil pipeline from this region to the Tulsa refinery, thus forcing the consortium to transport their oil in wooden tanker wagons and makeshift containers in wagons(Where did they all of a sudden get all of these wagons?).In addition, the Cherokee Kid, who sometimes works for Gardner, has his independent reason to want to sabotage the consortium's efforts.As you might expect, a woman is also involved in the competition for oil rights. Martha Scott plays a schoolteacher and novelist from the east , who wants some experience living in the west. At first, she brushes off romantic overtures from the two men. But, eventually she is caught in a passionate kiss with Gardner out in the moonlight in a wilderness area. But, she then sharply changes her attitude, gets out of the buggy, and walks along the road until Wayne, in his buggy, picks her up. Seems something Gardner said led her to believe that his intention was for her to become his mistress, rather than wife, upsetting her.Gardner's men try to sabotage the oil wagons by creating a sizable blaze out along the road. But, most of the wagons get through unscathed. Also, a pair of Gardner's men tinkered with some of the wagons, making them unhitch during their travels, wrecking quite a few. That mad dash to the refinery was the action highlight of the film.Dale Evans leads a troupe of singer/dancers in a stage show in the saloon. Best remembered for her inclusion in the later TV series: The Roy Rogers Show, in her early career, she was mostly a singer. John Wayne fans will want to see this superior Republic offering, featuring a rather young Wayne. Dekker provides a rather appealing villain, in most respects, except toward the end.

Rogell's 'War …', a sex comedy (until it switches to a rural drama and the characters sometimes get a bit sententious) replete with exciting love innuendo and genuinely good one-liners, has that ineffable uplifting quality known as zest, or gusto; very dynamic, at the twilight of the cherished West, when the land of the farmers, cowboys, Indians and wry coach-drivers becomes the land of the upcoming oilmen, a comedy of the later West, if you will (yet this typology is secondary here, as Jim behaves like the usual ruthless rich, regardless of the spring of his income), and not at all a screwball, because it's another genre altogether: a rivalry drama, well handled and flawlessly written on its own unassuming terms, the storyline remaining a look at love, and in this it's nicely written, and also well directed, by Rogell. When angered, the oilman looked like a saner Atwill; but he is not maligned as a villain (at least at first, up until the ride to Tulsa, then we get less certain about his even basic honor), but instead comes across as a genuinely limited person, naturally unable to understand what's outside the range of his daily life, and this seems reasonable. Martha Scott's character seems a bit dry, which she's supposed to be, and then her performance changes accordingly, as we get to know her, and she gets accustomed to her new place; but there's a minus: the schoolteacher is also a bit unlovable, a bit trite. This of course depends on what one is drawn to feel towards the actress herself and her character such as it is.But then, who are the titular wildcats? It seems like not only the girl, but also her two rival pursuers are such wildcats. Dekker is annoying, as prescribed by the script, it's his job to look that.Teddy R. is a cartoon. There are also villains, so that the community looks plausible.'War of the Wildcats' is not a Western (and certainly not a kids' movie!), of course (Somers plays as an archetypal twilight cowboy, drifter, gunman, adventurer, eventually turned oilman and settled), but a blend of comedy and drama to be enjoyed by Western buffs.There are a few twists, psychologically intriguing (Catherine's turns, even Jim's honor, up to his showing an uglier side of his soul). Jim comes across rather as a limited person, unable to understand the girl, not as a double-crosser; but then things change and, if he's cleared of the Cherokee misdeed, he becomes the handler of some really ugly schemes meant to derail the farmers' business. The ride to Tulsa was a romp.The director, Rogell, knew his craft, his trade. Him, and Wayne, and most of the cast give this movie a pleasurable humane quality, also aided by the complexity of the script and by the production values, and the movie is charming, and even stylish in its way. Good movie.The playful Wayne reminded me of Gibson in his comedy roles. And thank you for reading this, if you did.

John Wayne plays a cowboy who allows himself to be underestimated by wildcatter Albert Dekker. His 'aw shucks' manner like Jimmy Stewart in 'Destry Rides Again' masks a tough, intelligent character who rises to the challenge posed by Albert Dekker's Jim Gardner.Part of what makes the movie interesting is that the villain, Jim Gardner, is not just a standard heavy. Yes, he's a ruthless businessman, single minded in his drive for success. On the other hand, he's competent and he's no coward. Early in the movie he arrives at one of his well sites and is told there's a mechanical problem. None of his workers seem able or willing to fix it. Disregarding his personal safety, he climbs a rope to the top of the well and fixes the problem. He's also a close physical match for John Wayne's character, with two long fights. Like it or not, Gardner represents the kind of entrepreneur that built this country. You can't help having a grudging respect for him.Wayne's Dan Somers has a populist outlook. At the sight of an oil well spouting oil, Martha Scott's Cathy Allen, gushes "It smells like a new day, like prosperity"; Somers replies, "To me it just smells".Somers saves Gardner from getting shot by a disgruntled farmer, then prevents Gardner from beating up the farmer. Somers seems to represent a 'New Deal' philosophy.