But not until that viewing did it sink in that McLintock might be a movie about Oklahoma, scripted as it was in the nature of a historical novel. That glimmer led me to research a bit more and the result is this post which I hope that you will enjoy, in addition to the movie itself. The result of my investigation led me to conclude and say without any hesitation that McLintock is a comedic western tale which has Oklahoma Territory as its setting, and the parts of the story which are presented as historic fact are solidly accurate. The story line itself is based on William Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew ala John Wayne's unmistakable style.
Below, I'm presenting for your viewing a condensed slide-show of the movie without audio which lasts 8-9 minutes but which contains controls so that you can move around or end watching as you will. I've assembled this from 100+ screen captures within the real movie. It contains a summary annotations as well as historical notes along the way. Below that, I've embedded the full 2-hour movie from Hulu's website, for as long as it remains available there. After that, I've added some notes about how the movie measures up to real Oklahoma history. Have fun and enjoy the show!
Click on the graphic to start the 8-9 minute slide show
containing historical notes and the movie summary
An Oklahoma Territory adaptation of Taming of the Shrew
The 2-Hour Full Movie
From Hulu, for as long as remains available there -- sometimes it isn't
A no-commercial but not wide-screen version is also available at the link below:
Click Here To Play McLintock At The Alternate Location
The Real History. Even though McLintock is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew and the story itself is fictional, the story's setting is based upon accurate historical Oklahoma facts.
Click below for a brief 6 minute slide show which explains that.
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10 comments:
You have done your research well, but you have overlooked one possibility - Wyoming. There are pointy mountains in Wyoming, there are cruel winters in Wyoming, there is a National Park in Wyoming, there is a Green River in Wyoming. Wyoming did not become a state until 1896 and '95 is definitely mentioned in the movie. The only thing Wyoming is missing are the Commanche's, our Indians are Lakota Sioux. So I respectfully submit that Wyoming is a possibility.
Oops! Wyoming became a state in 1890. Is my face red?
Thanks for your comments, Wyocowgirl1. But, hey, since the movie is just a piece of fiction, so who can say for sure? References to "Sooners" and "Ft. Sill" are Oklahoma oriented, however.
Colorado- In GW's first address to the settlers who want to farm he states that the MESA VERDE was "made for the buffalo, works pretty well or cattle."
Mesa Verde is in fact in Colorado, and if you listen to the opening lines from the song, Triple Creek is in fact in Colorado also. They are most likely referring to Colorado. The are a lot of "Holloywood" in the movie, without question. However, those two facts, and the above 6000 ft seems to point to Colorado. Likely Colorado City, Cortz or even Pueblo.
They talk about west of Denver, when did Oklahoma became west of Colorado I thought it was east. They talk about 6,000 elevation is that Oklahoma elevation? The sooners where brought in by train. The Comanche have to travel to Fort Sill. Have u never heard of "trail of tears".
In states in the movie Mesa Verde and 6000 feet above sea level, last I checked Oklahoma is not above 6000 feet above sea level.
Also remember that many Southwest Indian tribes were moved to the Oklahoma territory during that time along with Eastern Indian tribes. So the moving referencing Fort Sill in Oklahoma makes sense.
Reservation land near ft sill would be caddo county, Oklahoma. Indian capital of the nation (Anadarko, county seat) . Ft sill is Comanche county which is boarding county of caddo.
Even though the movie talks about Sooners and Fort Sill it has to take place in Colorado Territory. The Mesa Verde is in Colorado and I don't know of any place in Oklahoma that is 6000 feet above sea level. Plus the fact that Drago tells Dev Warren that he is letting the prettiest filly West of Denver get away in regards to Becky McClintock and last I looked on a map Oklahoma is East of Denver.
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