6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
In 1906, on Oklahoma's Indian lands, a cowboy fights for oil lease rights against a greedy oilman while a pretty schoolteacher steals both men's hearts.
Starring: John Wayne, Albert Dekker, Martha Scott, Paul Fix, Sidney BlackmerWestern | 100% |
Romance | 11% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
It couldn’t exactly be called a gusher, but at least a trickle of films appeared in the 1940s that had oil at the center of their plots. Probably the best remembered of these is the 1940 M-G-M adventure outing Boom Town which starred Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy which proved to be one of that year’s most popular films. Actually opening the very same week that Boom Town did was a less well known Warner Brothers potboiler called Flowing Gold starring John Garfield, Frances Farmer and Pat O’Brien, which for whatever reason didn’t attract the attention of Boom Town but which did surprisingly well for Warner nonetheless. Leave it to Republic Pictures to get to the party a little late, for it wasn’t until 1943 that In Old Oklahoma (retitled War of the Wildcats for its re-release) appeared, rather clumsily melding an oil drilling scenario onto a more traditional western setup (both Boom Town and Flowing Gold had featured “contemporary” timeframes). Perhaps rather surprisingly War of the Wildcats is played for laughs, at least some of the time, and John Wayne segues quite well between these elements and his more traditional milieu of a rootin’ tootin’ guns a-blazin’ hero. While War of the Wildcats has little of the gloss and glamour of Boom Town (or even Flowing Gold, for that matter), it’s enjoyable in its own small scale way, with a colorful supporting cast and enough general mayhem erupting at regular intervals to keep action fans reasonably engaged.
War of the Wildcats is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. There are some minor issues which mar this generally fine looking release, including a problematic (reissue) title card which looks like it's been sourced from a secondary element. That same issue crops up, but even worse, just slightly past the half hour mark when Scott looks into an adjoining hotel room which she's being informed belongs to Gardner. There's an insert of a two shot between Scott and the hotel owner that has to have been sourced from a badly faded print, perhaps even a 16mm one. The difference in clarity and contrast is marked, to say the least. Luckily, that shot only lasts for a few seconds, and then we're back to the generally nice looking appearance that defines the bulk of this presentation. Overall the image here is decently crisp and well defined, with very good contrast and pleasing if not overwhelming fine object detail. There's quite a bit of rear projection utilized in this feature which looks pretty ragged in high definition.
War of the Wildcats' lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track sounds very good overall, given the constraints of its era and the recording techniques of the time. Walter Scharf's Oscar nominated score sounds nicely boisterous and the dialogue is presented very cleanly, albeit with the expected boxiness and high frequency hiss. (The sound recording of the film also received an Oscar nomination). Fidelity is very good, and dynamic range has a few spikes courtesy of some of the action oil drilling sequences.
There are no supplements on this Blu-ray disc.
War of the Wildcats isn't any kind of forgotten masterpiece, but it's a perfectly serviceable programmer that really shows off its varied cast in an extremely good light. Wayne is hugely enjoyable, able to capably deal with the light comedy, romantic and (of course) action elements of the script. Scott is similarly wonderful as a really spunky heroine who's years ahead of her time. And it's fun to see Dekker in a role that isn't a lampoonish villain for a change. The supporting cast is similarly colorful, the film is an interesting (if not always successful) melding of western and oil field elements, and in typical Republic style, things never outstay their welcome. The video here has some niggling problems, but the audio is very good given reasonable expectations. Recommended.
1948
1940
Roadshow Edition
1946
1966
Warner Archive Collection
1950
1959
Warner Archive Collection
1949
Authentic Collector's Edition
1963
1923
1930
2017
1951
1953
1955
Warner Archive Collection
1956
2K Restoration
1977
1946
1956
1948
1973