Best Pictures #44:
1930-31 (4th) Academy Awards Outstanding Production Winner
Cimarron (1931)
Cimarron, RKO’s
big budget western that was the Academy’s choice for Outstanding Production of
1930-31, has not aged well. It was well received by critics at the time, but a
modern viewer would be likely to disagree. I know I did. As of 2017, Cimarron holds a 53% rating on RottenTomatoes.com, based on only 17 reviews. It did not perform well at the
box office and actually lost money for RKO in its initial theatrical release.
Its poor box office performance was more than likely due to the onset of the
Great Depression, which was in full effect by 1931. It was rereleased in 1935
and made back most of its money.
Cimarron tells the
decades spanning story of 19th century newspaper editor Yancey
Cravat who settles his family in the boom town of Osage, Oklahoma just after
the Land Rush. Richard Dix plays Yancey and though he received an Oscar
nomination for Best Actor, his performance comes across as overly grandiose and
exaggerated even for an era with heightened acting styles. Dix uses big gestures
the way a silent film actor would, and one must keep in mind that talkies were
only three years old when Cimarron
was made. Yancey is determined to settle on a piece of one of the last
frontiers of the United States. In the most exciting scene in the movie, Yancey
takes place in the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889. This reenactment took one week
to film, used 5000 extras, and required 28 cameramen to shoot. We see horses
and covered wagons at the starting line waiting for the starting pistol. Despite
not getting any land in the Rush, Yancey moves his family to Osage against the
protestations of his wife, Saba, played by Irene Dunne. Yancey is set on
building a new home in a new land for his family.
As a modern-day viewer, I found Cimarron old fashioned and dated, and not in a charming way. The
very first thing we see and hear in the movie is a couple of cowboys yelling at
some American Indians, calling them “redskins.” Yancy’s wife, Saba, is
especially repulsed by the native peoples, calling them “dirty” and “filthy”
and scolds her son for playing with a Native American boy. It is mentioned
briefly by another character that Yancey is sympathetic to Native Americans,
which does not win him any favor with the white settlers. However, aside from
naming his son Cimarron, there is only one scene showing his sympathy for
Native Americans when Yancey objects to a businessman’s scheme to steal Native
American land on which oil was recently discovered. This scene takes place in
1907 when Yancey is running for governor. He jeopardizes his campaign by
printing an editorial that states: “the time has come to give the redman full
citizenship.”
A young black boy named Isiah moves with Yancey to Osage and
Yancey is kind to him, but he also points out a watermelon patch to Isiah when they
first arrive in Osage. Isiah is the most servile character in the movie and is
meant to be comic relief; this character portrayal is one of many things that
has not aged well. His scenes would make a modern audience cringe. However, at
least Isiah is a character. There are no Native Americans with speaking parts
in a film called Cimarron. The
portrayal of the treatment of blacks and Native Americans is unfortunately
period appropriate, but does not enhance the film with any sense of realism.
Female characters fair only slightly better in terms of
portrayal and treatment in Cimarron. In
a scene which I was only able to half enjoy, Sabra marches right up to the town
bully and scolds him for shooting her husband’s hat off his head—bullets were
more accurate back then, I guess. Yancey marches up to her and tells her
not to interfere in a “friendly shootout” between two men. He tells her that it
will all over town that he hides behind his wife’s petticoat. Yancey may be out
to tame the west but it is Sabra that runs the home and the newspaper on the
many occasions when Yancey gets “wanderlust” and leaves his home and family at the
drop of a hat to take part in a new land rush or settle new lands. We’re
supposed to accept and even admire that he cannot set down roots for more than
a few years. He disappears for years at a time without a word sent home which
is something I cannot admire, no matter much land there is to tame. In her
husband’s absence Sabra becomes a congresswoman, but the film barely pays
attention to that. At least Irene Dunne received an Oscar nomination for Best
Actress for her role as Sabra.
Despite Cimarron’s
epic scope, it does not have breathtaking visuals or memorable set pieces aside
from the Land Rush scene at the opening of the film. The cinematography was
nominated for an Oscar and while I’ll concede that what is on screen is well
photographed, there is no distinct visual style or flair to any scene of the
movie. Cimarron did win an Oscar for
Art Direction, which is an impressive element of the movie. RKO bought 89 acres
of land outside of Encino, CA to build the “boomer town” of Osage. The sets and
look of the town make the shots of the crowded downtown area impressive. The
set design likely helped the cinematography get a nomination, but much more
likely the Academy voters liked the film so much they nominated it for every
category for which it qualified. Cimarron
had the most nominations of any film at the 4th Academy Awards with
a total of seven. It was the first film to be nominated for all of the “major
categories” (Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, Screenplay). Cimarron would be the most awarded film
of the night with 3 wins: Art Direction, Writing Adaptation, and Outstanding
Production. It was the only film produced and released by RKO to win Best
Picture.
Cimarron is
technically a Pre-Code film but has none of the daring or boldness associated
with Pre-Code movies. It feels dull and bland today. Even with shoot outs and
the Land Rush scene, this movie lacks thrills and excitement. The characters
and dialogue are stock, stilted, and bland. Dix’s character is overblown. He is
THE MAN in Osage; he runs the newspaper, shoots down outlaws, becomes the town
minister, is known by everyone, shoots a whiskey bottle out of someone’s hand,
and when he shoots an outlaw, the outlaw essentially thanks Yancey before he
dies. It’s a bit much. Yancey is practically a superman and because of this I
never felt any danger or concern for him or his family. There is no challenge that is not
immediately and easily conquerable for Yancey, aside from the Land Rush. His
character feels artificial, perhaps because Dix’s dated performance and the way
the character is written. Yancey has a vision of taming the West that many male
characters have in classic westerns, but Cimarron does not feel like a classic
western. A film has no control over which elements will become dated and effect
the way it is viewed by later audiences. There are countless films that have
dated themes, acting styles, or dialogue but still retain their entertainment
value and a sense of charm. Cimarron,
however, is not one of those films.
Producer: William LeBaron
Director: Wesley Ruggles
Screenplay: Howard Estabrook, based on the novel by Edna Ferber
Cast: Richard Dix, Irene Dunne, Estelle Taylor
Release Date: February 9th, 1931
Total Nominations: 7, including Outstanding Production
Wins: 3, including Outstanding Production, Writing Adaptation-Howard Estabrook, Art Direction-Max Rèe
Other Nominations: Actor-Richard Dix, Actress-Irene Dunne, Director-Wesley Ruggles, Cinematography-Edward Conjager
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