Slick production: Movies and TV shows focused on the oil industry

Daniel Plainview was truly a self-made man. He clawed and scratched his way into being an exceedingly successful oil man. Of course, his rise was not totally ethical, and his misanthropy certainly did him no favors. “There Will Be Blood” is one of the masterpieces of the new millennium, helmed with brilliance from Paul Thomas Anderson and featuring perhaps the best performance of Daniel Day-Lewis’ career, which is saying a lot. Just don’t go bowling with Daniel when he’s had a few.

“Giants” is as epic as “There Will Be Blood,” but it is decidedly a ‘50s film. That is to say, it’s a little on the nose at times, a little melodramatic in places. Even so, the sprawling tale of decades of life in Texas among wealthy ranchers and oilmen is very good. It also featured James Dean in what would prove to be his final role, as he earned a posthumous Oscar nomination.

The Osage found oil on their tribal land, and they were not immune to the lure of material wealth. They are just humans, after all. Unfortunately, oil draws attention, including from craven, cutthroat folks who desire riches of their own, and perhaps even feel entitled to wealth. Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” is a retelling of a morbid period when murders abounded targeting the Osage, another fine work from the director features a few excellent acting turns. That includes from musician Jason Isbell.

To the extent it is remembered, “Five Easy Pieces” is remembered for Jack Nicholson’s diner ordering protocol. However, the movie was nominated for four Oscars back in the day and was part of the heyday of what is thought of as quintessential ‘70s cinema. Nicholson plays a former piano prodigy who threw it all away and, when we meet him, he’s working on an oil rig in California. The poster for “Five Easy Pieces” is of Nicholson at the oil field.

Steven Seagal directs himself in “On Deadly Ground.” Michael Caine and R. Lee Ermey, two actors who were always happy to take a paycheck if offered one, co-star. All that is to say “On Deadly Ground” is terrible. Seagal plays an environmentalist firefighter named, ahem, Forrest Taft. He works in Alaska and goes head-to-head against the baddies, who are an oil company.

The oil industry has been intrinsic to the American economy for over a century, so it’s not surprising oil-centric movies have existed for quite some time. “Boom Down” features a reteaming of the “It Happened One Night” duo of Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, and Spencer Tracy is in the mix as well. Gable and Tracy play two wildcatters (oil speculators, basically) who join forces to try and strike it rich.

The Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was one of the biggest environmental disasters of the new millennium. It was only a matter of time before a movie was made about it. In the end, it proved to be a Mark Wahlberg movie directed by Peter Berg, so it’s about Wahlberg playing a tough guy hero, using the oil spill mostly just as a backdrop for his action-hero persona.

People who are not oil barons or rig workers work in the oil realm. For example, in “Hellfighters” the focus is on a firefighting crew in Houston that specializes in oil well fires. As is seen in a few of the movies already mentioned, when an oil field goes up in flames, it’s not a pretty sight. John Wayne, in a fitting role for him, plays the leader of the firefighting brigade. “Hellfighters” somehow manages to be a bit inert, which is hard to do with the focus being on fighting massive fires.

Stanley Kramer made a lot of “message movies,” but “Oklahoma Crude” is not one of his more serious or heavy-handed offerings. It’s something of a dramedy, with Roger Ebert astutely comparing it to “The African Queen” in a different setting. Here, we have two excellent actors, George C. Scott and Faye Dunaway, trying to wildcat on Dunaway’s track of land, which she believes contains an oil field.

In the 1900s, particularly the early 1900s, Tulsa, Oklahoma was considered an oil capital of the world. Right in the thick of that a movie billed as a “lusty, brawling saga” was set in the city. It has action. It has romance. Also, it’s fallen into the public domain, so it’s easy enough to find it.

This is one of the earliest oil-centric movies made, though oil is not fully front and center. It‘s called “Blackmail,” after all. Edward G. Robinson plays a former oil firefighter turned oil man, but he has a secret. Years earlier, Robinson’s John Ingram had escaped from a chain gang, and now, a man from his past has shown up. You can guess where things go, given the title.

With “Mad Max,” an Australian doctor named George Miller birthed a massive action franchise. While a lot is going on from a dystopian perspective, an oil shortage is at the heart of the collapse. This is explored even further in “Mad Max 2,” aka “The Road Warrior,” given that a full-on war over oil, or “guzzaline” as it were.

Perhaps the most successful primetime soap, “Dallas,” is about the sordid lives of the rich. The focus for over a decade was on the Ewing family, and much of the action took place at their sprawling Southfork estate. However, the Ewings made their money in oil. While the day-to-day of the oil industry is certainly not at the core of “Dallas,” we wouldn’t get the soapy stuff without that Ewing Oil money.

ABC created “Dynasty” essentially to compete with “Dallas.” The producers and creators were not subtle about that. “Dynasty” is focused on the family of…an oil magnate. This show was even soapier and pulpier, perhaps best remembered for Joan Collins’ turn as the oil magnate’s ex-wife Alexis. For a clear imitator, “Dynasty” was a success, running for over 200 episodes.

In “Blood & Oil” a young couple moves to the fictional Rock Springs, South Dakota after the biggest oil discovery in American history. There, they run afoul of Don Johnson’s Harlan Briggs, a ruthless oil magnate. One character is described as having a “triple life.” Yes, “Blood & Oil” was a 2015 attempt to do something not that different from a “Dallas” or a “Dynasty.” This time it didn’t work, though, as the show was canceled after 10 episodes.

America doesn’t have a monopoly on oil stories. “Roughnecks” is a British show that aired on BBC1 in 1994 and 1995. Do recall that British shows are often brief, so two seasons and 13 episodes is totally the norm. The show focuses on the crew of an oil rig in the North Sea, making it the rare show focused on oil workers and not the people getting rich on oil money.

FOX bet big on “Lone Star.” The show starred James Wolk as a man living a double life in Texas. In his one life, he’s living with his girlfriend in Midland. In his other life, though, Wolk is married to the daughter of an oil tycoon and plotting to take over his business. All that hype didn’t pay off. “Lone Star” was canceled after two episodes.

The latest addition to this world is “Landman.” It’s a quasi-Western airing on Paramount+, so you know it’s a Taylor Sheridan project! Based on the popular podcast “Boomtown,” the modern show stars Billy Bob Thornton, among others, during an oil boom in West Texas. Demi Moore and Jon Hamm are also in the cast. The show has already gotten a second season, though that may just be because Paramount wants to keep the “Yellowstone” guy happy.