Produced by the American Petroleum Institute in 1953, “American Frontier” was directed by Willard Van Dyke. In 1953, the American Petroleum Institute released American Frontier produced and directed by Willard Van Dyke. The movie portrays petroleum exploration in North Dakota and its impact on the citizens, businesses, and fledgling industry within the state.
The narrator opens with a brief introduction, “The wind blows west from the Great Lakes, the wind sings like a wild bird across the northern state. Coming at last to this place, this sweep of America.” Then we meet Nils Halverson, a school teacher who, along with his father, are wheat farmers in a predominantly Norwegian Williams County. Halverson, while day dreaming during school, remarks, “There is a tense feeling in the air. A sense of waiting as though some great door is about to swing open.” Halverson takes the audience back to “how it all began.” First, oilmen showed up and talked the farmers into signing leases. After a considerable amount of acreage is leased and the company completes seismic work, the drilling begins. Halverson, having visited the well of his neighbors, sits in his chair at home and wonders about how he, his wife, and his father would spend the money if they became suddenly wealthy. He wonders about his community. The scene shifts and soon the audience is privy to a community meeting that opens with the statement, “Alright maybe it will all come to nothing, maybe it’s just another false alarm. All I’m saying is it’s important that we plan a little just in case.” (16:13) “Plan for what?” There will be a “couple thousand new comers overnight . . . “It will be the frontier all over again.” Halverson cuts in, “What is this oil? What happens when they find it? A wild scramble, boom, and bust? What happens? I don’t know, I’m just asking. I want to know.” (16:48) Everyone involved in, with, and around the petroleum industry, since its beginnings in Pennsylvania in 1859, up to and including present day North Dakota and Texas, have one question on their minds: When will it end? When will the boom bust? Halverson then remembers the discovery, and the growing. Halverson says, “Bit by bit we began to realize how big a thing this was. A river of cars. The streets and hotels jammed with a stream of newcomers reflecting all the marvelous varied cross weave of America.” Continuing he adds, “Every day bringing a new flood of cars. Every train bringing new faces . . . A construction engineer, a pipe salesmen, (22:12). The imagery, then as now, depicted the scene: “The ceaseless pounding of work was like a heart beat pouring energy out through the veins of America.” (25:27) The petroleum industry, then as now, leaves unanswered questions about those left behind, unable to participate in the economic growth. In 1953 Halverson asked, “What about the folks back in town who don’t own any land? What about them? What would oil mean to their future? (26:00) Halverson, counting those blessed by the new industry remarks, “Local people working at new jobs, experts coming in bringing their special skills, and teaching them in turn to my friends. I finally understood that oil will enrich the lives of hundreds of my neighbors who will never own a well, or see a drop of petroleum. I finally knew for sure that the coming of oil was good for all of us.”
Willard Van Dyke (December 5, 1906 – January 23, 1986) was an American filmmaker, photographer, arts administrator, teacher, and former director of the film department at the Museum of Modern Art.
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