Cimarron (1931)

In the early years of the Great Depression RKO (Radio-Keith-Opheum) Pictures, a studio founded shortly after the first sound pictures, looked to make a big splash on the big screen putting themselves into the ranks of the major players along side studios such as Warner Brothers, MGM, and Fox. RKO would invest the large some of $1.5 million to produce a great western epic based on a novel by Edna Ferber, the author of Show Boat and the Pulitzer Prize winning So Big. Cimarron would be a massive production that would tell the story of the founding of the West and bring RKO acclaim during its time with being the first film to make a huge impression at the Academy Awards.

Cimarron, an old western term referring to a territory once inhabited by native Americans that was taken into possession by settlers after being claimed by the US government, tells the story about a family as they move west to claim a piece of newly opened land in the Oklahoma Territory and watch as they grow along with there newly formed town. The picture opens with a massive scaled scene as the Oklahoma Territory is opened up and thousands of settlers race to claim a little piece of this land to call their own. With over 5000 extras filmed racing across the wilderness the film opens with a splash reminiscent of the size seen in films like Intolerance or the Ten Commandments. We trek along with Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix) and his wife Sabra (Irene Dunne) as they begin their lives anew in this new wild land. They would eventuially settle in the fictional town of Osage. Here we watch as the town learns its identity and watch as the Cravats help mold the town with Yancey's newspaper being part of the community. We watch as decades pass and how the characters grow through many events including fights with gunslingers, treatment of the native Americans, the dealing with unsavoury women in the town, raising of children, becoming prominent figures in the city and state, and evolve with their thoughts and feeling towards the many matters that surround them through the years. We watch as the two become old and leaving us with an image of Yancey as the heart of the Oklahoma pioneering spirit.

The film was where the audience feels like they have lived a lifetime along with the characters spanning the course of about 50 years in the film. With its massive land chase scene and broad range of time periods the picture gives the feeling of being an epic picture. Much praise was given to the picture espcially at the Academy Awards, being the first picture to be nominated for the "big five" awards: best picture, director, actor, actress, and screenplay (adaptation). Of those awards it would win best picture and best screenplay plus the film would nominated for best cinematography and even win for best art direction, no doubt for the massive scale and period settings. Despite all the praise the film would be a loss for the studio due to the Depression, but RKO was still only getting its feet wet in larger productions and would make a presents in the coming years of Hollywood's Golden Age.

Over time the film has fallen out of favor. The film was made in a very different period and many aspects in the film are well dated. Most notably seen in this picture is the portrayal of racial stereotypes. Unlike many films of its day Cimarron does give the feeling of being a progressive film but fails with the odds put against it with how the minorities are portrayed on screen. The character of Yancey is a pioneer that is sensitive to the natives whom Americans had stolen their land, but he still seeks to push forward the manifest destiny that Americans believed was given to them. Sabra is the character that does the most growing as she sees the red men as dirty savages, but will one day come around to accept even his son falling in love with an Indian girl. In all the film is down hearted to Indians, but masks it with a hint of Indian acceptance, but not sorrow for the troubles and heartache forced upon them by white Americans. The Jews, is portrayed by a solitary soul, and is a rather weak character that no one defends until the last minute when Yancey intervenes with some ruthless tough guys. Then there is Isiah, the happy, uneducated, watermelon craving black servent that refers to Yancey as "masser." Isiah is mistreated by his previous "owners" (despite slavery being abolished) but is happy to stow away to live with the Cravats in their quest. It is rather odd to see Isiah die heroicly in attempt to shave the Cravat children, but is never mourned or even noticed when he dies. The film overall is rather lined with racism under the veil of the progressive Yancey. The stereotypes are dated and can be seen as very offensive, but the film was made for a different time, not meant to harm but rather to have these characters put in place because that was what was acceptable at that time. This would hurt the chance of a legacy for this picture despite it being the first of only very few westerns to win the the best picture award.

The picture would help send RKO in the right direction where they prduce many of screens biggest stars, including Irene Dunne who was just beginning to make her mark when she was nominated for best actress in this film. Many of Hollywoods biggest stars would work for RKO with the likes of Fred Astaire, Kathrine Hepburn, and even King Kong.

Despite the initial praise, Cimarron is considered one of the worst films to win best picture. With no real legacy left behind other than having its title forever gracing the wall along with every other best picture winner at the Kodak Theatre, home of the Oscars. The picture has nothing of great value to the cinematic world today. It is an example of how a picture was made for its day and not much more. Some films are timeless, sadly, with the exception of maybe the epic beginning, this one is not.