It is the late-1800s and the US government is buying land from Indians in an area known as the Cherokee Strip, in the Oklahoma Territory. Gold intended for the Indians is hijacked by the gang of Whip McCord (played by Humphrey Bogart). The gang is in turn ambushed and robbed by Jim "The Oklahoma Kid" Kincaid (James Cagney). This leads to a deadly feud between McCord and Kincaid.A good old-fashioned good guys vs bad guys western. Plot is fairly basic, but works. Similarly the acting is a bit over-the-top, but works. It is basically the swagger of James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart that propels the movie, and makes it work. Makes it quite amusing at times, too...On a side note, this might actually be the first movie to include both Cagney and Bogart, so the movie is of historical significance too.

The problem is not the actor, James Cagney (The Oklahoma Kid) but the unwritten credibility rule that this film (unlike most westerns) does not follow: a hero cannot be as good on the draw and fistfights as to place him too far above the others. Add to that a routine plot and the conclusion is that Cagney and Bogart deserved something better.The big hat does not suit Cagney well, he keeps blowing the smoke off his gun and in a cheesy scene he sings a lullaby in a poor Spanish. Bogart's physical type and costumes he wears, blend better. On the plus side is the excellent cinematography of James Wong Howe, the constant action scenes, the final brawl, and being able enjoy the great Cagney performing a musical number (not the lullaby). Only avid western movie fans like myself would care to see this film and overall it is a rewarding experience, after all we learn to appreciate even the flaws.

James Cagney writes about "The Oklahoma Kid', his first western film, in his fascinating autobiography, Cagney By Cagney. It seems the original picture was the idea of screen writer Edward Paramore ( 1895-1956 ) who conceived the idea of doing a story particularly modelled after Kit Carson. Cagney and Paramore researched it and Cagney came up with some pretty exciting things he wanted to do. Warner's pulled Paramore off the script and without a word to Cagney changed the director. When he got the final script he writes; It had as much to do with actual history as the Katzenjammer Kids. It had become a typical horse opera, just another programmer. But James Cagney manages to make this film entertaining by adding his typical charming and sentimental touches, such as his character Jim Kincaid " feeling the fresh air with his finger tips " and singing his own father's favourite song, " I Don't Want To Play In Your Yard." He even got to do a fancy rope trick. In one scene Cagney is standing on a rock while a bunch of bad guys led by Humphrey Bogart and Ward Bond pound by on their horses, and Cagney's character is supposed to launch a lariat around the neck of Ward Bond's horse. Naturally, such trick roping was done by an expert, but on this occasion Cagney asked the wrangler doing the roping, to show him just how it did it. He showed him the looping and general mechanics of the procedure, and Cagney thought just for the hell of it he'd try the trick himself, never dreaming it would work. As Bogart and Ward came in on the shot riding their horses past the rock, Cagney threw the loop button-bright right over the neck of Ward's horse. He held on to the rope for just a brief second, then let go-otherwise he would have taken Ward Bond right off his perch. Cagney writes; The director, Lloyd Bacon, yelled "Cut!" "Why didn't you hang on?" Lloyd asked me. "What did you want me to do-kill Ward?" Lloyd said merrily, "Why not?" The wrangler was weary of Cagney's claims of never doing any rope tricks in his life. And every time he saw that wrangler thereafter he always said " So you never threw a rope before?" Cagney's reply; "So help me, never did." Although Cagney didn't think much of the picture, it was appreciated by audiences and praised by critics of the time. Anyone who loves James Cagney along with a solid cast of fine actors, Humphrey Bogart, Donald Crisp, Rosemary Lane, Ward Bond, will find watching this film, a lot of fun and very entertaining.

This is one for collectors; when those personifications of Urban gangsters Cagney and Bogey are transplanted to an Oklahoma territory that is so far ahead of progress that it boasts an electric door-bell Cagney rings it long and hard on two separate occasions)it shows that les freres Warner spared no expense on researching the period. Journeyman director Lloyd Bacon phones it in as do just about everyone from Cagney right on down to an uncredited Clem Bevans and the plot - you should excuse the expression - manages to hit every cliché withing shooting distance and some that should have been well out of range. Oklahoma crude would make an ideal subtitle for this snake oil but see it if you must.