Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

oprlvr33 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. Well Cagney smartly insisted that he indeed was no mere Bogey 'copy-cat'. He had brought his own characterization, his own flair of cynicism and dark eyes to the silver screen... including torque. And rightly so. Cagney indeed became his own tough guy. Where Bogey shaves tough, athletic, hard-boiled deadpan cynicism, Cagney duly presents cleverness, wit, and boyish charm. 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. But Bogey does hold his own, nicely. However it is very clear that they are very different tough guy personalities. Some critics knitted that Bogey is almost a bore here, almost upstaged by Cagney. However, he indeed brought his own malice as Whip McCord. The remaining supportive cast are duly delightful. The ever- gorgeous Rosemary Lane (of the famous singing Lane sisters) as Jane Hardwick, the kindly, non-judgmental pioneer-girl who incidentally falls in love with Jim's rebellious, yet kind-bigheartedness... "the wrong man, for all the right reasons", and Donald Crisp (Judge Hardwick) who realizes that his kindly daughter rightfully loves the kind-hearted outlaw.

JohnHowardReid Fast, crackling, full-of-action western spectacular with some of the most vigorously directed and imaginatively handled action footage ever made. The land rush, one imagines, uses stock footage from Cimarron and it is true that one can spot the stunt men doubling for Bogart and Cagney in the forceful finale, but such stand-out scenes as Cagney's chase after the stage with its fantastic variety of inventive camera angles and clever cross-cutting as well as its inspired use of natural locations, the shoot-out with Bond on a freight train (marred slightly by use of a process screen), the attempted rescue and lynching, and the final confrontation between Stephens and Bogart are as exciting as anything of their kind.What makes this film especially exciting is that all this action is contained in the one film and in 80 minutes at that! 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). His only other western roles were in A Holy Terror in which he played foreman of the villain's ranch (he didn't know he was a villain) and Treasure of the Sierra Madre, a modern western set in Mexico. 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. On the other side of the fence are ranged Rosemary Lane, not the most beautiful heroine but a more realistic one and a pleasant change from the all glamor and no talent stereotype of the western girl. Donald Crisp plays an honest judge, the sort of role he could do standing on his head; Harvey Stephens is effective as the hero and Hugh Sothern has a meaty part as an empire builder. Charles Middleton is a lawyer on the right side for once and there is an amusing cameo by Ray Mayer as a frightened pianist.Bacon's direction is not only slick and assured but drives the film at a whipping pace. Production values are outstanding with vast sets, hordes of costumed extras, a Steiner music score, black-and- white photography by Wong Howe (though neither Howe nor Steiner have contributed their best work) and a fair amount of location shooting. The script has deftly combined most of the traditional elements of the western plot into a giant and extremely successful and effective block-buster.

arbarnes 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. Quite frankly it is a huge treat to see them in such a setting, and there should be no need for detrimental sniggers. Some of the supporting characters are interesting in their moral shading too, especially the judge –Donald Crisp in one of his best parts. The film is extremely fast-paced. Sometimes one could wish for more depth to a scene, or a greater exploration of character development, but the narrative has a clear purpose and doesn't allow us this luxury. The film is never boring and far more interesting than its reputation would have us believe. My only complaint is to do with the hat Cagney wears. 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.

classicsoncall 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. With time running out, The Kid is too late to stop the mob hanging of his father, and sets out to administer his own brand of justice on McCord's henchmen - Indian Joe, Curley, Handley (Ward Bond), and Doolin. 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". But if it's offbeat Cagney and Bogey you're after, this is a good place to start. You'll have a better time too if you go for the enjoyment factor and not for critical viewing, there's enough fun stuff here to take the edge off a rainy afternoon.