Cimarron (1931)

A newspaper editor settles in an Oklahoma boom town with his reluctant wife at the end of the nineteenth century.

Director:

Wesley Ruggles (uncredited)

Writers:

Edna Ferber (novel), Howard Estabrook (screen version)

Stars:

Richard Dix, Irene Dunne, Estelle Taylor

Won 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Richard Dix	...	Yancey Cravat
Irene Dunne	...	Sabra Cravat
Estelle Taylor	...	Dixie Lee
Nance O'Neil	...	Felice Venable
William Collier Jr.	...	The Kid
Roscoe Ates	...	Jesse Rickey (as Rosco Ates)
George E. Stone	...	Sol Levy
Stanley Fields	...	Lon Yountis
Robert McWade	...	Louis Hefner
Edna May Oliver	...	Mrs. Tracy Wyatt
Judith Barrett	...	Donna Cravat (as Nancy Dover)
Eugene Jackson	...	Isaiah
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Roberta Gregory	...	Indian Girl

Storyline

When the government opens up the Oklahoma territory for settlement, restless Yancey Cravat claims a plot of the free land for himself and moves his family there from Wichita. A newspaperman, lawyer, and just about everything else, Cravat soon becomes a leading citizen of the boom town of Osage. Once the town is established, however, he begins to feel confined once again, and heads for the Cherokee Strip, leaving his family behind. During this and other absences, his wife Sabra must learn to take care of herself and soon becomes prominent in her own right.

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Plot Keywords:

oklahoma land rush | oklahoma | newspaper | newspaper editor | frontier | 

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Taglines:

Edna Ferber's Mighty Novel Becomes The Towering Colossus Of The Films !

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

9 February 1931 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cimarrón

Filming Locations:

Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,433,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the extras was Nino Cochise, the actual grandson of the great Chiricahua chief Cochise. He and his good friend Apache Bill Russell were in this movie as well as several others.

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Goofs

During the period of the film set in 1907, Yancey is the Progressive Party's candidate for governor of Oklahoma. The Progressive Party did not form until 1912, and then disbanded after Theodore Roosevelt's unsuccessful third party candidacy that year.

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Quotes

Yancy Cravat: Louie Heffner, as coroner do your official duty and remove the body.
Louie Heffner: Okay, Yancy. It was self-defense and justifiable homicide. This town needs a Boot Hill and I'll start it with this burial.
Yancy Cravat: Fellow citizens! Under the circumstances, we will forego the sermon and conclude this service with a brief word of prayer.

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Connections

Featured in 100 Years of the Hollywood Western (1994)

User Reviews

A Sprawl

This is a sprawl -- like Ferber's novels themselves -- and it remains unshaped, a chronicle rather than a constructed narrative. That said, the dusty scenes where the town of Osage rises effectively parallel the early efforts of Hollywood to construct a new medium. The awkwardness actually works as as kind of subtext once the family has moved from "civilized" Kansas to the territory. (Incidentally, no one has mentioned that the great 1943 musical, "Oklahoma," deals with the same history). Dix is a silent screen star -- over-acting, overly gestural, over-posturing -- caught in a new world of sound. That tension works less well, but the issue of Yancy's taking off for years at a time is simply not resolved. Where has he been when he returns after a five year absence? No one says, but, perhaps more strange, no one asks. Dunne's character grows up, shedding her prejudices, thus giving Oklahoma "permission" to join our Union, with its "liberty and justice for all." This one is worth watching for historical purposes, not so much for entertainment. Estelle Taylor, Jack Dempsey's wife, also a holdover from the silents, is good here, though seen too seldom and not given a potenitally intriguing link to Yancy. His interest is purely altruistic and that strains credulity.