The Boy from Oklahoma *** (1954, Will Rogers Jr, Nancy Olson, Lon Chaney Jr, Anthony Caruso) – Classic Movie Review 7417

Director Michael Curtiz’s acceptable, simple-viewing 1954 comedy Western The Boy from Oklahoma stars Will Rogers Jr, who pleasantly takes over the easy-going, good-natured persona of his father as Tom Brewster, a correspondence-school law student who rides into town and is cynically offered the job of sheriff by town boss Barney Turlock (Anthony Caruso).

Brewster reluctantly becomes a gun-shy, peace-loving sheriff, ready with a rope but not a shooter, and gets on the case when the mail is robbed. The trail leads to the killers of the previous sheriff –  the very same outlaw Barney Turlock and his gang.

Rogers Jr may not be in the same league as his dad, but he proves an okay, genial presence, and he is well supported by Nancy Olson as Katie Brannigan, Lon Chaney Jr as Crazy Charlie, Wallace Ford and American chat show host Merv Griffin, plus Warner Bros’ fine stock company (Clem Bevans, Louis Jean Heydt, Sheb Wooley, Slim Pickens, Tyler MacDuff, James Griffith and George Chesebro in his final film) and the studio’s important director Curtiz.

The screenplay by Frank David and Winston Miller is based on Michael Fessier’s story The Sheriff Was Scared.

The Boy from Oklahoma is directed by Michael Curtiz, runs 87 minutes, is made and released by Warner Bros, is written by Frank David and Winston Miller, is based on Michael Fessier’s story The Sheriff Was Scared, is shot in WarnerColor by Robert Burks, is produced by David Weisbart and is scored by Max Steiner.

Where there’s a will, there’s a Western. Will Hutchins (born 5 May 1930) as Sugarfoot.

Warner Bros reused the script the basis for its 1957 TV series Sugarfoot, taking the title from the studio’s unrelated 1951 Randolph Scott Western Sugarfoot. Will Hutchins (born 5 May 1930) played the correspondence-school law graduate Tom Brewster in 69 60-minute episodes between 1957 and 1961.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7417

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