TVLSE, Oklv. – Many Tulsans may not know that a feature-length Hollywood film was once produced right in their backyard during the city’s reign as the “Oil Capital of the World”. On Tuesday, Feb. 13 Circle Cinema offered a theatrical viewing of that movie, “Tulsa” (1949) as part of their Okie Film Nights series. The event partnered with the Tulsa Historical Society who provided an introduction before the screening. This year marks the film’s 75th anniversary. Although the film brought about a big hoopla for Tulsans during its theatrical release, the plot depicts a very strange story with minimal allusions to a historical period involving violent and traumatic events for Native American allotment owners.
The film centers around a Cherokee ranch owner who seeks her fortune in the oil industry. Taking place during the oil boom and the Tulsa allotment era in the early 1900s, the plot places the characters in a very young Tulsa when zealous non-Native businessmen were eager to dig up the natural minerals from the land by any means possible.
Cherokee “Cherry” Lansing is the central figure in the film. She is a Cherokee woman, who is conveniently named after her tribe. Cherokee is not the character’s nickname, it is simply her name. Another character in the film even brings attention to this name, commenting “What an odd name, sort of Indian-ish”. Lansing is depicted with very little connection to the Cherokee culture. She does however own a ranch. Although it is not explicitly mentioned, it could be implied that the ranch was built on Lansing’s family allotment.
Lansing has a close friend, a Cherokee man named Jim Redbird who owns a neighboring ranch of his own. As the plot progresses, Lansing and Redbird slowly amass great wealth from drilling oil on their properties. Lansing increases her land’s drilling capacity to the point where Redbird believes it is too much. He begins to grow concerned about the ecological consequences that drilling the land’s natural resources could bring.
When Redbird refuses to allow the installation of more oil wells on his property, Lansing and other oil businessmen scoff at his trepidations. The businessmen bring Lansing before a judge, and threaten to declare him mentally incompetent, or “crazy” in order for the state to assign him a guardian.
During the allotment era, guardians were assigned to Native American allotment owners in order to provide aid or guidance to protect their financial assets. Oftentime, these guardians were strangers to the Native Americans they were assigned to. The guardianship system was historically abused and allowed for guardians to trick, rob and murder Native Americans for their allotments without legal consequences.
From there, the plot becomes contested between characters who wish to install more oil wells on the land, and those who oppose it. Unfortunately the film’s moral message becomes rather unclear in the process. It appears to communicate that while it is possible to drill natural resources excessively, it is possible to find a healthy balance in drilling fossil fuels and respecting the land. At the time the film was released, oil was still considered an entrepreneurial endeavor that received very few criticisms.
Native American Representation in the 1940s
Lansing was portrayed by actress Susan Hayward. Although the character Lansing is a Cherokee woman, Hayward was a white actress who never claimed Native American heritage. Hayward would go on to accumulate many Academy Award nominations throughout her career, finally winning one for best actress for her work in the 1959 film, “I want to Live!”.
The character Redbird is portrayed by Mexican-American actor Pedro Armendáriz, another featured actor with absent Native American heritage.
Another Native American role in the film was played by Hollywood star Iron Eyes Cody who played the uncredited role of an Osage man. Cody was born Espera or “Oscar” DeCorti and was the descendent of Italian immigrants. Cody became known for playing hundreds of Native American roles in Hollywood, despite the fact that he did not have any Native American ancestry. Although Cody’s ancestral lineage was debunked during his career, he remained a strong advocate for Native Americans. Cody’s contributions to Hollywood remain controversial among Native American advocates, however he claimed he loved the Native American people and even adopted a Salt River Pima-Maricopa child named Robert “Tree” Cody, who would go on to become a well-known flutist, singer and dancer.
John Ryan is a background character that is introduced as a rancher and citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The character Ryan was portrayed by First Nations actor Jay Silverheels, one of the few actual Indigenous performers to play an Indigenous role in the film. Silverheels was most well-known for his role as Tonto in the television series, “The Lone Ranger”. Although he would later become tight casted for the role of the Native American sidekick, Silverheels would go on to become a spokesperson for improving Native American portrayals in media.
“Tulsa”’s Legacy
Although “Tulsa” is not a story that necessarily stood the test of time, it does provide an interesting glimpse into pop culture’s perspective on the city that was once coined the “Oil Capitol of the World”. It is a historical revisionist account of a Native American ranch owner going up against oil barons, starting their own enterprise and utilizing the natural resources from their land.
The word allotment does not appear once in the film’s script. This makes it unclear if the Native American characters received and retained their land by inheritance, or if it was simply purchased. The writers allude to the guardianship system, and even demonstrate how it was abused to force Native American landowners to make decisions against their will.
The film does a poor job of providing genuine Indigenous representation. The producers of the film are non-Indigenous telling an Indigenous story. Many creative liberties are taken that contradict the historic trauma and injustice experienced by Native Americans in the area at the time. The cast is mainly composed of non Indigenous performers.
Allotment Movies Today
In 2024 Hollywood has made improvements to how Native Americans are represented in media, as well as telling a more historically-accurate story of allotment history. In 2023 the film “Killers of the Flower Moon” was released on the big screen. The film tells the story of Molly Burkhart, a wealthy Osage allotment landowner. The story focuses on the crimes committed against the Osage people during the Osage Reign of Terror. This was a period set within the same time frame of “Tulsa” when Osage allotment owners went murdered and missing for the headrights to their land.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” featured an all-star cast, including Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Blackfeet actress Lily Gladstone. It was shot locally in Osage Nation, and features Indigenous actors performing Indigenous roles. The film’s producers even consulted with Osage tribal leadership to make sure each detail relating to culture in the film was accurate and genuine. Gladstone made history by becoming the first Indigenous Golden Globe winner for her role in “Killers of the Flower Moon”. She is also currently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Leading Actress.
For those curious to view a movie about allotment ownership in Oklahoma, “Tulsa” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” depict different perspectives on the subject. Audience critical reception appears to indicate that “Killers of the Flower Moon” is a more engaging story. However, “Tulsa” still provides a unique glimpse at the city during the 1940s, and its legacy as the “Oil Capital of the World”.
At the time it was released, “Tulsa” was a financial flop. Rough estimates of the time suggest that the film lost over $700,000 at the box office.
“Tulsa” can currently be found in the public domain.
