Two iconic gangster stars – James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart – once had a showdown in a lesser-known Western movie, The Oklahoma Kid. Neither actor was ever famous as a Western star, and only had limited experience in the genre. Cagney, for his part, was famous specifically for his work in gangster movies.
Humphrey Bogart also had a lot of history when it came to gangster flicks. Although they don’t account for many of Humphrey Bogart’s best movies, they made up a sizable part of his filmography. In the 1930s, in fact, gangster movies were almost exclusively the projects that Bogart was cast in. One exception to this was a western that reunited him with one of his gangster movie co-stars, James Cagney.
Humphrey Bogart fought James Cagney in The Oklahoma Kid – What It’s About
Humphrey Bogart is the main villain of The Oklahoma Kid
From 1938 to 1939, Bogart and Cagney made three movies together, the first being Angels with grim faces And the last being The Roaring Twenties. Sandwiched between the two releases was The Oklahoma KidA western that placed Cagney in the heroic lead role of gunslinger Jim Kincaid aka the Oklahoma Kid. Bogart played Whip McCord, who was – perhaps unsurprisingly – a notorious gangster and the leader of a gang of train robbers. What put them in trouble was McCord taking over Kincaid’s hometown.
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The lawfulness that McCord brought to The Oklahoma Kid’s Taking on the city of Tulsa drove the movie’s story, with Kincaid and his family firmly opposed to Bogart’s character. Their rivalry came to a head when McCord killed a member of the Kincaid family, turning their beef into something much more personal and setting up a heated final battle.
Why the Oklahoma Kid is worth watching
The Oklahoma Kid is an underrated B-Movie Western
Although the film was outside the wheelhouse of both Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney, The Oklahoma Kid Still makes for a worthwhile viewing experience. Of course, it is not good to play with critics, but still offered a fun, albeit traditional Western story. Humphrey Bogart’s propensity for playing rough, rebellious characters lent itself well to the role of a ruthless gangster like McCord, and Cagney – despite not being an obvious fit for Western films – didn’t seem out of place. in The Oklahoma Kid.
The story presents nothing unfamiliar, but is enjoyable nonetheless, as it uses some of the best western tropes. The Oklahoma Kid Builds up to an exciting revenge tale, and pays it off with a popular staple of the western genre – an intense fist fight between the two stars at the end of the movie. All things considered, The Oklahoma Kid is a fun deviation from the work that both Bogart and Cagney typically deliver.
The Oklahoma Kid can’t compete with Bogart & Cagney’s other movies
Grim-faced Angels and the Roaring Tweens are even better
The Oklahoma Kid is indeed an underrated film, but that’s not to say it’s the best of Humphrey Bogart’s collaborations with James Cagney. while tough, It is still the weakest of the films they made together. Whereas The Oklahoma Kid is a largely forgotten entry in the western genre, Angels with grim faces is widely regarded as one of the best gangster movies ever made. Cagney and Pat O’Brien are the co-directors of the film, which explores a tragic friendship between two people who start out as childhood friends but wind up on very different paths.
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O’Brien is the heroic lead of the film, with him as the priest and Cagney as the gangster. The journey they go on as O’Brien’s Jerry tries to reach what’s left of the goodness in Cagney’s character helps Angels with grim faces Stand out as one of the latter actor’s most memorable roles. what’s more, Cagney’s performance earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. As for Bogart, his role as a criminal associate to Cagney’s character is not of great significance, but it is an important step for the actor to become a Hollywood star.
The Roaring Twenties Sees the redeeming qualities of Cagney’s Eddie Bartlett gradually emerge, allowing his character development to be one of the highlights of the film.
Bogart got a lot more to do in both The Oklahoma Kid and his third and final film with Cagney, The Roaring Twenties. Once again, Cagney has top billing in a film that explores the rise and fall of a gangster played by the actor. In this one, Cagney and Bogart play members of a trio of soldiers who embark down different roads after the First World War. Cagney and Bogart’s characters both become career criminals while the third – played by Jeffrey Lynn – joins the opposite side of the law as a district attorney.
Similar to Angels with grim faces, The Roaring Twenties Sees the redeeming qualities of Cagney’s Eddie Bartlett gradually emerge, allowing his character development to be one of the highlights of the film. Bogart’s performance gives a boost to the story, as his status as an unapologetic villain creates a clear contrast with Eddie and makes their dynamic compelling to watch. Given all its strengths, it’s no surprise that THe Roaring Twenties Has a reputation as an outstanding gangster movie.
Other westerns from Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney to watch
Bogart & Cagney made several other noteworthy Westerns
The Oklahoma Kid May not be a hit, but it wasn’t the last time studios took a turn on Cagney and Bogart with their western movies. Bogart appeared in another just a year later when he co-starred in Virginia CityOne of a handful of Errol Flynn Westerns produced by Warner Bros. Virginia City It’s not Flynn’s best western, but it’s a lot like it The Oklahoma Kid In that it delivers a fairly straightforward but entertaining story where Bogart is an amoral gangster and the main villain.
Without question, Bogart’s greatest contribution to the western genre was The treasure of Sierre Madre. Not similar The Oklahoma Kid And Virginia City, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was made at a time when Bogart was already a household name and one of Hollywood’s most reliable stars. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 100% Rotten tomatoes Score alone is indicative of its overall quality and success in using Bogart’s screen persona to create a great Western protagonist.
James Cagney doesn’t have a major western to his name that matches the legacy of Humphrey Bogart. The treasure of the Sierra MadreBut he dabbled in the genre a little more well over a decade after The Oklahoma Kid. As interest in gangster movies waned, Cagney branched out a bit, returning to Westerns in the 1950s with two low-profile films, Run for cover And Honor to a bad person, bOthers of these are films that gave him top billing but paired the aging star with a younger, male co-lead.