''Blowing Wild'' is a 1953 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Hugo Fregonese Hugo Geronimo Fregonese (8 April 1908 – 11 January 1987) was an Argentine film director and screenwriter who worked both in Hollywood and his home country during the Golden Age of Argentine cinema, classical era of Argentine cinema.''Cine Na ...

starring

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...

, Barbara Stanwyck, and

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known as Anthony Quinn, was an American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental virility" in over 100 ...

. It was written by Philip Yordan. The story revolves around a

love triangle A love triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with someone is simultaneo ...

set in the oilfields of an unnamed South American country plagued with bandits. Ruth Roman also stars and adds to the romantic entanglements.

Frankie Laine Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American singer and songwriter whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performa ...

sang the title song, "Blowing Wild (The Ballad of Black Gold)", which was written by Dmitri Tiomkin, with lyrics by

Paul Francis Webster Paul Francis Webster (December 20, 1907 – March 18, 1984) was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Original Song, and was nominated sixteen times for the award. Life and career Webster was born in New York City, United S ...

Plot

After the bandit El Gavilan and his men blow up their oil rig, broke

wildcatter A wildcatter is an individual who drills wildcat wells, which are exploration oil wells drilled in areas not known to be oil fields. Notable wildcatters include Glenn McCarthy, Thomas Baker Slick Sr., Mike Benedum, Joe Trees, Clem S. Clark ...

s Jeff Dawson and "Dutch" Peterson head back to town looking for work. Sal Donnelly, an American down on her luck, tries to use her charms to get Jeff to buy her a ticket to get home; Jeff offers his oil lease as payment, but the ticket taker shows him a fistful of leases he already has. Jeff accepts a very dangerous job delivering unstable

nitroglycerin Nitroglycerin (NG) (alternative spelling nitroglycerine), also known as trinitroglycerol (TNG), nitro, glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), or 1,2,3-trinitroxypropane, is a dense, colorless or pale yellow, oily, explosive liquid most commonly produced by ...

the next day for $800, despite Dutch's protests. That night, Dutch tries to mug a man for enough money to buy a meal. The man turns out to be "Paco" Conway, an old friend and former partner of Jeff and Dutch, who has struck it rich. He offers them work, but his marriage to Jeff's old flame Marina makes Jeff turn it down. The next day, Jeff and Dutch (and the nitroglycerin) are ambushed by El Gavilan. They get away, though Dutch is shot in the leg. When Jeff goes to collect their pay, Jackson claims he does not have that much on him. Sal, whom Jackson is romancing, tells Jeff that Jackson has $2500 in his wallet. Jeff gets his money, after a brawl, and gives $200 to Sal for her ticket. However, a policeman confiscates Jeff's $600, as Jackson has other creditors, though he is gracious enough to leave Sal her money. With Dutch in the hospital, Jeff reluctantly goes to work for Paco, drilling a new oil well. Marina makes romantic overtures to Jeff, but he avoids her as best he can. He reminds her that he loved her once, but could not trust her. She admits it, but says she realized she loved him too after he had left. Paco remains oblivious to what is going on. To Jeff's initial annoyance, Sal gets a job as a blackjack dealer and sticks around. Later though, he starts going into town to see her. When El Gavilan threatens to blow up Paco's oil wells unless he pays $50,000 extortion money, Paco considers paying, much to Jeff's disgust. Marina sides with Jeff, calling her husband a coward. A drunken Paco later laments publicly that his wife loves another man. He finally realizes the other man is Jeff. When Paco tells her that he loves her regardless, Marina pushes him into a well, where the machinery kills him. Marina claims that Paco fell in by accident. When she lets slip to Jeff that she killed Paco so they could be together, he nearly strangles her, then regains control of himself and leaves the house. Just then, the bandits attack. The local police and Jeff fight them. Marina is irresistibly drawn to the fatal oil well during the battle, and dies when it is blown up. Jeff kills El Gavilan, then leaves with Dutch and Sal.

Cast

as Jeff Dawson * Barbara Stanwyck as Marina Conway * Ruth Roman as Sal Donnelly *

as Ward "Paco" Conway *

Ward Bond Wardell Edwin Bond (April 9, 1903 – November 5, 1960) was an American character actor who appeared in more than 200 films and starred in the NBC television series ''Wagon Train'' from 1957 to 1960. Among his best-remembered roles are Bert th ...

as Dutch Peterson * Ian MacDonald as Jackson *

Richard Karlan Richard Karlan (April 24, 1919 – September 10, 2004) was an American actor. He appeared in the films ''Snow Dog'', ''Union Station (film), Union Station'', ''Between Midnight and Dawn'', ''The Lemon Drop Kid'', ''Love Is Better Than Ever'', '' ...

as Henderson * Juan García as El Gavilan (as Juan Garcia)

References

External links

* * * {{Hugo Fregonese 1953 films 1953 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films American black-and-white films Films scored by Dimitri Tiomkin Films shot in Mexico Films set in South America Warner Bros. films Films about petroleum 1950s English-language films Films directed by Hugo Fregonese 1950s American films English-language Western (genre) films