Black Gold (1928)

Filmed entirely in the area of Tatums, Oklahoma, an all-black town: Oil has been discovered on the range-land nears Tatus, and all ranching had been abandoned to the drilling of wildcat oil-wells. Mart Ashton, owner of the Circle Bar Ranch, has also caught Black Gold Fever to the extent of using all his cash and selling his large herd of cattle to finance the cost of a drilling-rig and crew. On an adjoining tract, the Ohio Company brings in a well and Ashton is put in the position of drilling an off-set well within thirty days or lose all rights to drill on his own land. However, he has ran out of money and his driller, Pete Barkley, is scheming with Walter Wonder, cashier of the Ranchman's National Bank, to delay the drilling. He borrows the needed money from the bank, but Wonder accuses him of stealing it, and the U. S. Marshal jails him. His ranch foreman, Ace Brand, knows he is innocent but is unable to prove it. With no crew and only seven days left to bring in the well, it is up to Ace, "Peg" Reynolds, a one-legged cowboy, and Alice Anderson, Ace's sweetheart, to bring in the well.