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Cimarron

  • 19311931
  • PassedPassed
  • 2h 3m
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
6.2K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Irene Dunne and Richard Dix in Cimarron (1931)
  • Drama
  • Western
A newspaper editor settles in an Oklahoma boom town with his reluctant wife at the end of the nineteenth century.A newspaper editor settles in an Oklahoma boom town with his reluctant wife at the end of the nineteenth century.A newspaper editor settles in an Oklahoma boom town with his reluctant wife at the end of the nineteenth century.
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
6.2K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Wesley Ruggles(uncredited)
  • Writers
    • Edna Ferber(novel)
    • Howard Estabrook(dialogue)
    • Louis Sarecky(contributing writer)
  • Stars
    • Richard Dix
    • Irene Dunne
    • Estelle Taylor
Top credits
  • Director
    • Wesley Ruggles(uncredited)
  • Writers
    • Edna Ferber(novel)
    • Howard Estabrook(dialogue)
    • Louis Sarecky(contributing writer)
  • Stars
    • Richard Dix
    • Irene Dunne
    • Estelle Taylor
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 82User reviews
    • 41Critic reviews
    • 70Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 3 Oscars
      • 5 wins & 4 nominations total

    Photos35

    Irene Dunne, Richard Dix, and Douglas Scott in Cimarron (1931)
    Irene Dunne and Richard Dix in Cimarron (1931)
    Irene Dunne and Edna May Oliver in Cimarron (1931)
    "Cimarron" Irene Dunne 1931 RKO
    Irene Dunne and Richard Dix in Cimarron (1931)
    Richard Dix in Cimarron (1931)
    Irene Dunne and Richard Dix in Cimarron (1931)
    Irene Dunne and Richard Dix in Cimarron (1931)
    Estelle Taylor in Cimarron (1931)
    Richard Dix in Cimarron (1931)
    Cimarron (1931)
    Richard Dix in Cimarron (1931)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Richard Dix
    Richard Dix
    • Yancey Cravatas Yancey Cravat
    Irene Dunne
    Irene Dunne
    • Sabra Cravatas Sabra Cravat
    Estelle Taylor
    Estelle Taylor
    • Dixie Leeas Dixie Lee
    Nance O'Neil
    Nance O'Neil
    • Felice Venableas Felice Venable
    William Collier Jr.
    William Collier Jr.
    • The Kidas The Kid
    Roscoe Ates
    Roscoe Ates
    • Jesse Rickeyas Jesse Rickey
    • (as Rosco Ates)
    George E. Stone
    George E. Stone
    • Sol Levyas Sol Levy
    Stanley Fields
    Stanley Fields
    • Lon Yountisas Lon Yountis
    Robert McWade
    Robert McWade
    • Louis Hefneras Louis Hefner
    Edna May Oliver
    Edna May Oliver
    • Mrs. Tracy Wyattas Mrs. Tracy Wyatt
    Judith Barrett
    Judith Barrett
    • Donna Cravatas Donna Cravat
    • (as Nancy Dover)
    Eugene Jackson
    • Isaiahas Isaiah
    Roberta Gregory
    • Indian Girlas Indian Girl
    Claire Rochelle
      Alice Adair
      Alice Adair
        Max Barwyn
        Max Barwyn
        • Sabra's Luncheon Greeteras Sabra's Luncheon Greeter
        • (uncredited)
        Frank Beal
        Frank Beal
        • Louis Venableas Louis Venable
        • (uncredited)
        Tyrone Brereton
        • Dabney Venableas Dabney Venable
        • (uncredited)
        • Director
          • Wesley Ruggles(uncredited)
        • Writers
          • Edna Ferber(novel)
          • Howard Estabrook(dialogue) (screen version)
          • Louis Sarecky(contributing writer) (uncredited)
        • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
        • All cast & crew

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        Storyline

        Edit
        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, though, he begins to feel confined 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. —George S. Davis <mgeorges@prodigy.net>
        • oklahoma land rush
        • old age makeup
        • character name as title
        • nickname as title
        • timeframe 1880s
        • 79 more
        • Plot summary
        • Plot synopsis
        • Taglines
          • World's Mightiest Show!
        • Genres
          • Drama
          • Western
        • Certificate
          • Passed
        • Parents guide

        Did you know

        Edit
        • Trivia
          The first Western to win an Oscar and the first Western to win a Best Picture Oscar. It would be another 59 years before a Western would win the Academy Award for Best Picture again when Dances with Wolves (1990) took the main prize.
        • 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.
        • Quotes

          Mrs. Tracy Wyatt: One of my ancestors was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

          Sol Levy: That's all right. A relative of mine, a fellow named Moses, wrote the Ten Commandments.

        • Connections
          Edited into Land of the Open Range (1942)

        User reviews82

        Review
        Top review
        8/10
        thoughtful and lavishly produced western
        "Sprawling" is the adjective most often associated with novels and movies-from-novels by Edna Ferber. Her stories span geographical locations, family generations and economic strata, usually with a strong female at the center. In the case of CIMARRON it's the story of how Oklahoma became a state seen through the life of Sabra Cravat (Irene Dunne), demure wife of gun-totin' macho dude Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix). It's a fascinating and not pleasant relationship: He always hankering for another risky adventure and she wanting to settle down and be respectable. He is also politically minded, a fighter for the underdog, defender of the prostitute ("victim of the social order") and the Indians (robbed of their land and cheated thereafter), dispenser of frontier justice against the bad guys (but only when provoked to the limit) and literate to boot (frequently quoting Shakespeare, Milton and the Bible). The film is splendidly produced with well staged action sequences (particularly the opening Oklahoma land rush which puts even DeMille's exodus to the Red Sea to shame) and realistic recreation of a filthy, crowded, violent and anarchic boom town which gradually gentrifies as the decades pass. Interiors are similarly authentic. Wesley Ruggles directs multiple crowd scenes with great mastery. And the whole film is structured in fully realized episodes beginning with a title card and a year (1889 to start, 1930 to finish) and ending with a close up on the character at hand as the screen slowly fades to black. The Dix character is heroic in the old style and though many modern viewers find his acting preposterous, I disagree. I think he is the perfect actor for the character he is playing. Yes, such a person would definitely be out of place in today's urban world, but so what? We aren't watching a contemporary story anyway. The supporting cast, particularly George E. Stone as a Jewish peddler who is defended against ruffians by Dix, Edna May Oliver as the pushy, judgmental neighbor and Stanley Fields as a grizzled sociopath are my favorites.

        Ferber's feelings about intolerance always informed her stories and make us think. Seeing a film like this 78 years after it was made also reminds us that although the US has come a long way, the consciousness that all was not well was firmly operating even back then and available for wide public consumption. CIMARRON works as pure entertainment as well as history; in fact the film and novel themselves are now history and have been folded into the larger history of this country.

        The only problem technically is the soundtrack which has become fuzzy. Maybe a pristine print is lurking around somewhere. And the supporting character of a black house servant played by Eugene Jackson will raise PC hackles from the early scene in which he is perched on a platform above the family dinner table fanning the white employers with bird feathers through one degrading interaction after another with whites. But this film was made in the age when most black actors (and black people) played servile or childlike roles, so it is not a surprise to see the practice here.
        helpful•18
        3
        • mukava991
        • Jul 4, 2008

        Details

        Edit
        • Release date
          • February 9, 1931 (United States)
        • Country of origin
          • United States
        • Languages
          • English
          • French
        • Also known as
          • Сімаррон
        • Filming locations
          • Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA
        • Production company
          • RKO Radio Pictures
        • See more company credits at IMDbPro

        Box office

        Edit
        • Budget
          • $1,433,000 (estimated)
        See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

        Technical specs

        Edit
        • Runtime
          2 hours 3 minutes
        • Color
          • Black and White
        • Aspect ratio
          • 1.20 : 1

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