Cimarron (1930-1931)

Cimarron won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1930-1931, the first Western to be selected for the top honor. Ironically, it wasn't until 1990 that another Western won for Best Picture, and that was Dances with Wolves. Both films are about the pioneers who were willing to take a chance on new territory and a chance at a new and different life. Both are somewhat long movies as well, and sadly, both are overrated. Cimarron is not a great movie; in fact, it's a bit boring, another trait that it shares with Dances with Wolves. (Well, I still think Dances with Wolves is more than just a "bit boring.")

The movie covers several decades in the lives of the Cravat family, a newspaper editor and his wife and children, who move into the Oklahoma territory upon its opening for settlement in 1889. Actually, Yancey Cravat isn't just a newspaperman; he's also a lawyer and a politician and a minister and a little bit of everything. He's played by Richard Dix, or I should say, he's overplayed by Richard Dix. Dix seems to be acting as if he were on a stage or in a silent movie, so exaggerated are his gestures and facial expressions. His wife, Sabra, is played by Irene Dunne, and she's much more realistic in her performance than Dix. Both were nominated for acting awards, though; neither one of them won, however. It isn't difficult to see why.

Tucked away in this movie is a performance by one of my favorite supporting players. Edna May Oliver plays Mrs. Tracy Wyatt. Her distinctive facial features perhaps inevitably consigned her to supporting parts; she was never considered beautiful enough to be a leading actress. However, she always brings enthusiasm and humor to her roles, as she does here. She's a joy to watch whenever one of her brief moments on the screen allows her to shine. She knows she's the comic relief, and she makes sure that you remember just how funny she is.

Cimarron isn't good history, certainly, but it's really more about the kind of people who came to Oklahoma rather than what happened to the territory (and later state). Dix's character is one of those men who is always looking for adventure, who is never satisfied with whatever he has managed to conquer. I suppose that makes his fate in this film all the more tragic (although I honestly was not as moved as I think the filmmakers might have wanted me to be). As a portrait of a certain kind of individual, Cimarron is a modest success.

I want to point out just how much the film is a product of its time period. The African-American characters are subjected to ridicule here, particularly one young male character who follows the Cravats to Oklahoma. There is much anti-Indian sentiment, most fervently expressed by Sabra Cravat at first, although she later does change her opinion to match that of her sympathetic husband. There's even a fair dose of anti-Semitism in the treatment of the character of Sol Levy, who nevertheless does remain a friend of the Cravats throughout the movie. It's tough to watch these moments and not feel sadness at the ways that Hollywood has depicted various groups of people over the years.