Classic Westerns

Tulsa (1949)

Director: Stuart Heisler
Actors: Susan Hayward, Robert Preston, Pedro Armendariz, Chill Wills
Runtime: 90 min.

In 1920s Oklahoma ranchers and oilmen come into conflict on the plains and a rancher dies after discovering that his prize cattle are dying after drinking water tainted by oil from neighboring wells. His enraged daughter, Cherokee (Susan Hayward) decides to drill for oil on her own after meeting conservation minded geologist Brad Brady (Robert Preston).

Trivia: The film received an Oscar nomination for Special Effects. Susan Hayward was nominated for Four Academy awards and had one win as best actress for 1958s I Want to Live. She also starred as leading lady opposite John Wayne in several films, including The Conqueror and she was one of several cast and crew members of that film, including Wayne, to later die of cancer; presumably incurred as a result of exposure to radiation from atmospheric atom bomb tests conducted in the Utah desert.