Beats me why this Technicolor film was titled "Thunder Bay", which is the name of a Canadian city on Lake Superior and the associated little 'bay', with no obvious connection to this story about the first distant offshore oil rig emplaced in the Gulf of Mexico. Perhaps refers to the often stormy relations between the principals? There was some thunder associated with the very dramatic sequence when a hurricane hit soon after the rig was finished, but before oil was struck. Not only was Steve(James Stewart) alone on the rig, except for Stella(Joanne Dru), a shrimp boat carrying jilted lover Phillipe approached and a bundle of dynamite sticks was attached to the rig, hoping to blow it up and blame it on the storm. While waves dashed over them and the fuse burned, they fought on the open platform until Phillipe fell into the sea. Beats me why the boat wasn't pitched into the rig, probably wrecking both. Steve's assumption that Stella was in on the sabotage plan also makes no sense. If successful, she would have died along with Steve! Steve stays mad at her after this until the finale, when assured that she was not involved.
This was just one of a whole series of crises that threatened to bring an end to this pioneering endeavor. Twice , lynching mobs of local fishermen threatened Steve and his workers. Incredibly, Steve dispersed the first mob by throwing sticks of dynamite near them! The resulting 'explosions' looked and sounded like flares rather than dynamite! The final confrontation, near the end, was dissipated by the serendipitous spectacle of a gusher, as the mob swarmed onto the rig platform, combined with news that the long sought 'golden shrimp' bed had been discovered around the drill site. This last facet comes across as an unlikely fabrication to placate the concern that oil production in the Gulf might have a severe negative effect on commercial fisheries. There is no such thing as a commercial 'golden' shrimp in the Gulf! Yes, big oil spills have since caused marine life devastation. However, oil rigs also encourage many forms of life, acting as artificial reefs, especially important where natural reefs have being dying out. We are presently confronted with the debate whether depleted rigs should be removed, or remain to promote sea life.
This story has some historical credibility, in that it takes place in 1946-7, when the first oil rig far off the Gulf coast actually was emplaced. Most of the film was appropriately shot on the LA Gulf coast. Stewart plays a Horatio Alger-like figure, who along with his faithful partner, played by Dan Duryea, begin the film penniless, armed only with a model of how to build an offshore rig that could withstand hurricanes. They have to convince not only the beleaguered president of the oil company(played by Jay Flippen), but also the local fishermen, that their scheme is worth the risk. The former proves much easier than the latter.
A secondary aspect of the plot involves two beautiful flirtatious Nordic-looking daughters of an elderly Latino fisherman, who have a strong hankering to leave this little backwater village, and find Stewart's and Duryea's characters convenient prospects toward a more exciting, affluent, life. Unfortunately, papa doesn't like losing his daughters to these outsiders, expecting that they would marry fishermen like himself. Joanne Dru's character(Stella) has baggage of a hurtful 3 year romance in Chicago. She and Steve spend the film alternatively hating and loving each other. Marcia Henderson, playing Stella's more naïve younger sister, develops a more stable relationship with Duryea. But, we suspect he is not really a right man for her: too old and a potential drunkard. Duryea mostly played villains, and his role as Stewart's sometimes disapproving sidekick doesn't feel quite comfortable.
If you like stories about oil discoveries, you might check out some of the following films I am familiar with: "Boom Town"(1940), "Flowing Gold"(1940), Tulsa(1949) and "Joe Dakota"(1957). Of these, "Tulsa" has the most similar plot to the present film. It's a war between cattle and oil interests. In place of poor Cajun fishermen, the oil interests have to deal with Native Americans. In the end, its decided that cattle and oil, like shrimp and oil, can get along well enough. Another film the present film reminds me of is the 1936 "Trail of the Lonesome Pine"(also shot in Technicolor, believe it or not!). Fred Mac Murray takes on Stewart's role, as the representative of a coal company that wants to mine the coal on land belonging to warring backwoodsmen. Again, there is a bittersweet romance with one of the 'native' girls.
