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 | newspaper | newspaper editor | frontier | land rush | 

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Taglines:

Earth-shaking in its grandeur! A titanic canvas sprung to life!

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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

The first film to be nominated for every major Academy Award, including Best Picture.

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Goofs

Mr. Levy says "Moses wrote the Ten Commandments". In fact according to the bible Moses brought down the Ten Commandments that had been written in stone by God.

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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

Version of Cimarron (1960)

User Reviews

Catching Up with 1931's Best Picture of the Year Oscar Winner!

Out of sight for decades, Radio Pictures' 1931 Academy Award winner was supposed to be reissued in 1951 after RKO Radio had their extremely successful reissue of KING KONG. It never happened. Not until VHS came along. We finally watched it tonight, and it holds up well.

Covering primarily one man's journey from the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1886 and continuing through the Oklahoma Oil Rush of 1907 and on to 1927 when they had automobiles and streetcars, CIMARRON cuts a wide sweep. The amazing thing to watch is that all the actors and actresses are just like real people and at no time appear like actors speaking dialog over-and-over-till-they-get-it-right. CIMARRON is like a real trip to Oklahoma a hundred years ago.

I recommend this movie as a must-see for classic movie fans; as I dis-recommend the 1960 MGM remake - an awful misfire that was extremely irritating to watch. If you ever saw John Wayne in THE BIG TRAIL you have some idea of the realistic approach to the 1931 CIMARRON.