Black Gold (Warner Bros.) (1962)

‘Black Gold’ Friendships SS Explosive Diane McBain attempts to separate Philip Carey and James Best as the two friends battle each other in this scene from “Black Gold,” the Warner Bros. oil boom drama opening at the 2 nceses Theatre. Fay Spain and Claude Akins are also starred in the roughand-tumble tale of the wildeatters who struggled to gain control of the Oklahoma oilfields in the early 1920’s. Jim Barnett produced and Leslie H. Martinson directed the film from a script by Bob and Wanda Duncan. Mat 2-B Still No. 946/34 Blonde ‘Black Gold’ Beauty's Hint: Girls, Place Poise Before Boys Audiences who have detected the sophisticated glamour of Diane McBain which shines through the cheap cotton dresses and oil-smeared bluejeans of her starring roles in “Claudelle Inglish” and “Black Gold” may be surprised to learn that just a few years ago her grandmother sent her off to modelling school to develop poise. Lovely Miss McBain, starring opposite Philip Carey, James Best, Fay Spain and Claude Akins in “Black Gold,” opening at the Theatre; admits now that she was shy and unsure of herself. “Every girl needs instruction and advice on how to make herself more attractive. In my case, it was a lucky day when my grandmother decided I should take a course at the Loretta Young Modelling School to develop poise. “I was shy and unsure of myself. I didn’t think I was very attractive. However, I was quickly schooled on proper makeup, good taste in clothes and how to dress to make the most of my strongest features. “But just as importantly, the teachers emphasized that beauty aids are only part of what makes a girl lovelier. “IT was taught how to walk properly with head high and given suggestions on how to approach people without shyness. They even coached us on what to talk about. We were cautioned about politics, religion and sex as the three great pitfalls of conversation. “T agree that these subjects are potentially dangerous and | try to avoid them at large social gatherings. However, I’m afraid I don’t always follow that rule in smaller groups of friends where I’m inclined to express my opinions frankly. “Poise is one of the pre-requisites of loveliness. If a woman slumps when seated, nervously shifts her eyes instead of keeping them on the person with whom she is talking, she is not likely to receive any compliments on her beauty. I had never really followed my mother’s advice to straighten up, but I certainly improved at the school and my confidence increased. “There are so many factors that enter into a woman’s sense of confidence. For instance, I know that if I put on a few pounds I don’t have as much self-assurance, I’m not as at ease on the set or with my friends. “Hats are great morale boosters. They are still the butt of many jokes, but they really can make a woman feel more confident. I know that I feel happier in a hat. I favor cloches. A properly selected piece of millinery will enhance the beauty of any woman. “Besides it has a sort of therapeutic value. I think a lot of women get a real lift when they buy a new hat. “A modelling or charm school can give a girl all of the tools and techniques to enable her to enhance her beauty. But she has to use them properly. “She really has to work with them, repeating them every day until they become second nature.” eseeee AL UU sess Page Four Ancient Auto Plus Modern Miss: Big Threat? You Bet! Lovely Diane McBain had to cope with one of the toughest assignments of her motion picture and television acting career during the filming of “Black Gold,’ the Warner Bros. drama dealing with the rough-andtumble adventures of wildcatters in the Oklahoma oilfields during the early 1920's. She had to learn to drive a Model T Ford. Complete with three foot pedals, magneto, spark lever, handoperated accelerator and all, the vehicle is one of the studio’s 100-odd vintage cars valued at nearly a quarter-of-a-million dollars . . . and a model discontinued before the 20year-old actress was born. “I’m sure that some of the people who owned cars like this one and were told to get a horse went right out and got one,” contended Diane, who costars with Philip Carey, James Best, Fay Spain and Claude Akins in. theshlm, Opening = osuie s-s.0 cate at the Theatre. Sharing her distress was Director Leshe H. Martinson—but for a somewhat different reason. When Martinson asked Diane if she had completed her driving lessons, she replied “Of course, although [’m not very good at working the clutch and the gas lever at the same time, and I’m never certain which of those pedals is the brake.” Martinson promptly ordered the entire street set cleared of all personnel but the camera crew during the shooting of Diane’s driving sequence. ‘Black Gold’ Paints Boom Town Drama Philip Carey, Diane McBain, James Best, Fay Spain and Claude Akins star in “Black Gold,” the Warner Bros. drama recounting the adventures of Oklahoma oilfield wildcatters during the early 1820’s opening..... ateihet. ax. 2a Theatre. Diane, who has portrayed a farmer’s daughter in her two previous films, once again plays one in “Black Gold” — a courageous and determined daughter who struggles to discover oil on her late father’s arid farm. Carey and Best portray a pair of rough-and-tumble wildcatters who come to her aid when Akins, as the region’s most successful and ruthless operator, attempts to take her land from her. A Delightful Diane Drills For Dreams During Black Gold’ Lovely Diane McBain drilled for oil on the Warner Bros. backlot to make a motion picture—and, ironically, to make a childhood dream come true. The motion picture is “Black Gold,” a rough-and-tumble drama of the rugged wildcatters who fought for the rich Oklahoma oilfields during the early 1920’s. Philip Carey, James Best, Fay Spain and Claude Akins are also starred in the rowdy story of romance and adventure produced by Jim Barnett and directed by Leslie H. Martinson from a script by Bob and Wanda Duncan. The dream is a ranch well-stocked with horses and dogs. A percentage of Diane’s earnings is put into a special fund for the purchase of the ranch or farm. The irony? Luscious Diane is strictly a city-bred girl, yet in “Black Gold”—as in “Parrish and Claudelle Inglish” before it—she plays a farmer’s daughter. In “Claudelle Inglish” and “Black Gold” Diane’s beauty has managed to shine through cheap cotton dresses befitting a sharecropper’s daughter and the muddled bluejeans of a young woman determined to discoyer oil on her late father’s farm. No Need To Roam Star Learns Home Provocative Fay Spain did not even have to venture outside of her own Hollywood home to do research for her starring role in Warner Bros.’ “Black Gold,” the turbulent drama of oil wildeatting in Oklahoma in the early 1920’s opening ........ at the Theatre. Providing Fay with first-hand experiences from that rough-and-tumble era was her aunt, Mrs. Martha Rowland, with whom she lives. Mrs. Rowland was brought up in Oklahoma and at 16 married a Cherokee Indian on whose land oil was discovered. And she admits that although they made a fortune from their oil rights and that it was quickly spent, she treasures her wonderful memories. In addition to recounting her own experiences for Fay, Mrs. Rowland was able to show the young actress photographs and other memoribilia from the period. Philip Carey, Diane McBain, James Best, Miss Spain and Claude Akins head the cast of “Black Gold,” produced by Jim Barnett and directed by Leslie H. Martinson from a script by Bob and Wanda Duncan from an original story by Harry Whittington. Cherokee Chances Second Strike At Oil In Black Gold’ Tron Eyes Cody, a Cherokee Indian from Muskogee, Oklahoma, gets his second chance to strike oil in “Black Gold,” the Warner Bros. drama of the rough-and-tumble Oklahoma oil field wildcatters opening at the 7, LR SL Theatre. Iron Eyes missed his first chance to become an oil millionaire when he sold his land to a farmer in 1924. A year later oil wells were gushing on the property. In “Black Gold,” starring Phil Carey, Diane McBain, James Best, Fay Spain, and Claude Akins, Iron Eyes portrays the manager of Miss McBain’s Oklahoma farm during the oil boom. Figuratively speaking, Iron Eyes has already struck oil in Hollywood. He owns a Hollywood mansion and a fine reputation as an actor, technical advisor and author of books on Indian legends and customs. Iron Eyes came to Hollywood with Tim McCoy after touring Europe as a dancer and archer with the latter’s Western show. In Hollywood he was technical adviser on some of the biggest Westerns before making his acting debut in “Unconquered.” For nine years he was under contract to Cecil B. DeMille. In Southern California Boy Scout circles, Iron Eyes Cody is a revered name. He has taught thousands of boys how to use a bow and arrow, has lectured them on Indian customs and given them helpful pointers on camping over the past years. Captured Generals Pave Way To Film Fame, All For Best Capturing two Nazi SS_ officers paved the way to an acting career for James Best, who stars opposite Philip Carey, Diane McBain, Fay Spain and Claude Akins in “Black Gold,” the Warner Bros. oil boom drama opening at the Theatre. During the late days of World War II, Best, a corporal in the Military Police, discovered the hideout of a Nazi officer in Weisbaden, Germany, surprised him at gunpoint and brought the man to American headquarters. Information obtained from the first officer led to the capture of a second. Best was promoted to sergeant and favorable attention was given to his request for a transfer to the Army’s Special Service Division. It had been only a few months before that the Indiana farm boy had seen his first stage play—as produced by a Special Services unit. Though he had never previously thought of an acting career, Best was fascinated by what he saw on the stage and developed a tremendous desire to try his hand at acting. After his transfer request was granted he spent 18 months touring Europe with an Army troupe. Best now has over 300 TV roles and 36 motion picture portrayals to his credit. And once again his restless ambition has sent him into a ececee AL LEG weeenee new field. The ex-Army corporal is currently rewriting his novel “High Is The Willow.” He is rewriting it because the original manuscript was destroyed during the raging West Coast fires last Fall in the Hollywood apartment of the secretary who was retyping it. “High is the Willow” is the story of a young southern sharecropper who’s trying to break out of his environment. ‘Won't Dance’ Star Is Tip-Top Tapper As Oil Age Flapper Beautiful, provocative Fay Spain at the age of 14 defiantly declared “I don’t dance,” and she never even stepped on a dance floor with a boy friend until she performed the lovely song-and-dance number featured in “Black Gold,” the Warner Bros. oilfield adventure drama opening ..... Diener coustystes Theatre. Fay’s co-stars, Philip Carey, Diane McBain, James Best and Claude Akins, were puzzled by her attitude after watching her display a pair of Hollywood’s shapeliest legs and spicy dancing talent. “As a girl,” explained Fay, “I didn’t have time to learn to dance. While attending high school in White Salmon, Washington, I held two jobs. Every day I worked as a cashier at the local movie theatre from 3 p.m. until 11 p.m. On Saturday and Sundays | was also a waitress in a restaurant from 5 a.m. until 2 p.m. “As a result, I never danced at school. Later I developed a mental block and I was terrified to even try. I’d make excuses whenever a_ boy friend suggested dancing. “Tt came as a surprise when Director Les Martinson told me I had a song-and-dance number in ‘Black Gold.’ It wasn’t Arthur Murray who taught me dancing in a hurry. It was choreographer James Gonzales, and he quickly dispelled my inhibitions. “Dancing before 100 ‘atmosphere’ players and the entire crew on the set might seem terrifying to a neophyte dancer. Somehow it helped me eliminate that mental block. Now I’d like to dance all over Hollywood.” Jim Barnett produced “Black Gold,” a rugged, rough-and-tumble account of wildcatters during the Oklahoma oil boom, from a script by Bob and Wanda Duncan based on a story by Harry Whittington. ‘Black Gold’ Star Does His Best’ In Rugged Rags-To-Riches Climb Acting is like wildcatting for oil: you never know when you’re going to strike a gusher. That’s the opinion of James Best, starring in “Black Gold,” the rough-and-tumble Warner Bros. oil drama opening at the Cal eter re oS Be fart eececwee eee Theatre. Best, who co-stars with Philip Carey, Diane McBain, Fay Spain and Claude Akins in the adventure-romance set in the Oklahoma oil fields, had some rough going before he hit acting paydirt in Hollywood. “There’s the same romance, excitement and frustration in wildcatting as in acting. That old maxim: ‘try, try again’ applies equally to both professions. “You can try repeatedly without any success. Then suddenly you can make a strike when you have just about abandoned hope. You can go from rags to riches and sometimes back to rags again,” declares Best. In “Black Gold” Best portrays a young wildcatter in the early 1920’s who struggles for years before he strikes his first paying well. Best’s own story began in a small Indiana town. Shortly after graduating from high school he joined the Army Air Corps during World War II. Near the end of his service he received his first taste of acting with an Army Special Services group in Europe. Upon his discharge Best decided to make acting his career, and he did his share of starving for his art while trying to obtain a break on the Broadway stage. He spent his first night in the city sleeping on the subway. Best landed his first New York job when he ate in an Italian restaurant and then announced that he couldn’t pay. The compassionate owner gave him a job as a dishwasher. His initial acting assignment was with a winter stock company in New Jersey. Later he toured the country with the musical “Marinka.” But there were many lean weeks. The first semblance of striking an acting gusher came when he was summoned to Hollywood by producer Robert Goldstein, who had been impressed by photos of the handsome young actor. Best was signed to a Universal-International contract and worked in 23 motion pictures over the next two years. Then came a temporary lull in his career. For several months he lived in a garage, but he kept trying. And then indications of a second gusher and an impressive string of TV roles that led to his present status of being in demand for both motion pictures and television. “T’m glad I didn’t give up trying. There isn’t a more satisfying or thrilling profession than acting.” Wildcat, Wildcatter Fay Spain embraces James Best in this exuberant scene from “Black Gold,” the Warner Bros. Oklahoma oilfield drama opening at the Theatre. Miss Spain stars as a raucous saloon entertainer who falls in love with oil wildeatter Best, but winds up marrying a ruthless speculator. Philip Carey and Diane McBain head the cast of the adventure drama set in the boom years of the early 1920’s. Jim Barnett produced and Leslie H. Martinson directed the film from a screenplay by Bob and Wanda Dunean. Mat 1-C_ Still No. 946/59 ecececee GUL TEIC «eee ve