The Oklahoma Woman (USA, 1956) 73 min B&W DIR-PROD: Roger Corman. SCR: Lou Rusoff. MUSIC: Ronald Stein. DOP: Frederick E. West. CAST: Richard Denning, Peggie Castle, Mike Connors, Bruno VeSota, Jonathan Haze, Dick Miller. (American Releasing Corporation)
Although this early credit for Roger Corman is a very minor film, this scruffy, gritty little western is interesting for its female characters doing much of the action. This dynamic would be even better explored in Corman’s subsequent Gunslinger (1956), but still, this hour-long programmer is a pretty good time-killer. Steve Ward (Richard Denning) moseys back into town after many years, trying to forget his past as a gunman, but won’t be able to shirk violence very easily when his old flame Oklahoma (Peggie Castle) is running for election. Cathy Downs is cowgirl Susan Grant, whose father is Oklahoma’s opponent in the election race- and Oklahoma will stop at nothing to “eliminate the competition”.
This oater is mildly interesting for the fact that Steve tries to avoid using guns whenever possible, even when saving Susan from danger. He even refuses to shoot at the outlaw that attempts to kidnap her! Corman fans will enjoy spotting regulars of his stock company: Mike Connors is Tom Blake, Oklahoma’s henchman; Jonathan Haze (in a beard) is the outlaw Blackie who is once again a scapegoat; and good old Dick Miller is a bartender! (Couldn’t you envision these cowboys telling him all their problems?) This cheap western has an authentic feel, thanks to its grainy photography and shabby sets. It is so unglamourous, that one gets a sense that this is more of a realistic, and more lived in, frontier than that of any glossy Hollywood picture.
Originally published in The Roger Corman Scrapbook.
Greg Woods
Greg Woods has been a film enthusiast since his teens, and began his writing "career" at the same time- prolific in capsule reviews of everything he had watched, first on index cards, then those hardcover dollar store black journals, then an old Mac IIsi. He founded The Eclectic Screening Room in 2001, as a portal to share his film love with the world, and find some like-minded enthusiasts along the way. In addition to having worked in the film industry for over two decades, he has been a co-programmer of films at Trash Palace, and a programmer/co-founder of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate. He has also written for Broken Pencil, CU-Confidential, Micro-Film, and is currently working on his first novel. His secret desire is for someone to interview him for a podcast or a DVD extra.