Black Gold

Plot-- The O'Reilly father and son have leased an apparently dry-hole oil well and will soon have to turn it back to the owner Anderson if it doesn't soon produce. But is it really a dry-hole or does Anderson know something the well meaning O'Reilly's don't. Meanwhile, will O'Reilly Jr. ever take to book learning, and will the two good-lookers Hank and Cynthia finally get romantic.

The independent production's a well done 30's programmer, with a solid story, good acting, and location filming at a real oil field that also proves eye-catching. (My guess is the Signal Hills site in greater LA.) Even Mason and Darro as well as the extras look dirty enough to be actually working there. Also, youngster Darro scoots around like a little cannonball, apparently doing all his own stunts up and down the rig.

Then too, the romantic interludes between Mason and Shea blend well into the storyline without interrupting it. Also, director Hopton keeps things moving, along with some action coming right at the camera, so be prepared to duck. I guess the only drawback is 'Snowflake' Toones supplying racial humor, but at least he's not heavily mocked and even appears as one of the roughnecks.

All in all, the details add up to nifty hour's entertainment, better than average for its programmer type.

Frank Shannon is a wildcatter with a couple of weeks to run on his lease. If he can strike oil, it turns into a ten year lease, which is exactly what Berton Churchill, who leased him the land, doesn't want; although it's a tough drill, the latest reports say it will be the richest strike around. Shannon is broke, but he brings in geologist Leroy Mason. So it becomes a race between Shannon, Mason, and Shannon's son Frankie Darro, against Churchill and his gang of goons including Stanley Fields and Dewey Robinson.

It's a cheap Poverty Row production which spends a lot of time showing well towers, but there is one great sequence, when the sabotage kills Shannon. Also Fred Toones gets a role that's not pure stereotype. Is that enough to make it a great movie? No, of course not. But there are some very good moments amidst the stereotyped story.

Frankie Darro's cinema appearances are never less than tolerable, as is the case here, an action/adventure affair with oil drilling forming its background, a quite popular minimally budgeted effort that regularly played the side street "B" movie circuit for at least twelve years after its initial theatrical release, its title becoming a mimetic phrase for crude oil, and although the plot is somewhat hackneyed, a capable cast makes the most of thin material. Darro plays as Clifford "Fishtail" O'Reilly, his nickname given him by his father Dan (Frank Shannon) after a drill bit used with rotary rigs during the early days of oil exploration that form the setting for the storyline. When Dan falls to his death due to sabotage arranged by loan sharking J.G. Anderson (Berton Churchill) who wishes to take possession by default of the well, Clifford must decide if he will continue in working the site wherein he has spent many of his ripening years. His initial uncertainty ceases when freelance geologist Hank Langford (Roy Mason) convinces him that the well is about to gush, additionally joining with Fishtail in working the rig, while being stimulated by the presence of Clifford's friend and guardian Cynthia (Gloria Shea). Because Anderson's acquisitive interest in the affair is imperiled by Langford's involvement, the latter, as well as the younger O'Reilly, are soon in danger of losing more than eventual oil based income. This is a short (53 min.) film, that is long on documentary montage of oil drilling techniques, additionally and quaintly supplied with two original musical numbers, one of which is sung by Darro and Mason. It benefits from the able camera-work of Arthur Reed and strong turns are contributed by Darro, Mason and the beautiful Shea, with acting honours going to ever reliable Churchill, cast as leader of the Forces of Evil.

"Wildcat riggers risk their lives in the pursuit of oil. Their jobs get even more dangerous when ruthless oil baron J.C. Anderson sets his sights on their territory. When longtime driller Dan O'Reilly falls to his death from a well tower sabotaged by Anderson's strong-arm thugs, his teenage son 'Fishtail' inherits the property and the troubles that come with it. With the help of his geologist pal, Hank Langford, the boy fights to bring in a gusher before the deed to the well-site expires," according to the Alpha Video synopsis.

This was the first of two films adapted from "The Joy of Living" by Peter B. Kyne; but, after watching "Black Gold" and "Tough to Handle" (1937) back-to-back, it's difficult to believe they are sourced from the same story. Possibly, one of these credits is an error. In the other film, young star Frankie Darro is a New York City paperboy involved with sweepstakes fixers; here, he confronts a crooked oilman.

Actor Russell Hopton directed "Black Gold" with some interesting touches. Darro was often given a handsome older man to "bond" with (later changed to the ethnic comic character appearing herein as "Snowflake"), and you sometimes wonder about Darro's affections. In this one, he (as Clifford) and LeRoy Mason (as Hank) appear more bi-sexualized than usual, thanks to the way particular scenes are staged and scripted. Watch and listen especially, after Darro begins to eat Mr. Mason's apple, to their "piano duet" followed by a tea party with pretty Gloria Shea (as Cynthia), then the picnic.

****** Black Gold (1/20/36) Russell Hopton ~ Frankie Darro, LeRoy Mason, Gloria Shea, Berton Churchill

Unremarkable film about a bunch of good guys trying to find oil while a bad guy tries to get it for himself. It has the usual pack of thugs who throw their weight around. A crusading union type guy trying to pull the others together when the going gets tough. It's not a terrible movie, but not very suspenseful or believable. The young lead was apparently pretty charismatic back in the thirties. He looks like a refugee from the Bowery Boys, ready to fight, with that mop of black hair and bottom heavy build. It has a few action scenes and a conclusion that isn't particularly satisfying. It is worth a look as a period piece.