4. Cimarron (1931)

Director: Wesley Ruggles

Starring: Richard Dix, Irene Dunne

Other Oscar Wins: Best Writing, Best Art Direction

Other Oscar Nominations: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Richard Dix), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Irene Dunne),  Best Director, Best Cinematography

Favorite Line: "They will always talk about Yancy. He's gonna be part of the history of the great Southwest. It's men like him that build the world. The rest of them, like me... why, we just come along and live in it."

Richard Dix, Irene Dunne and Junior Johnson in Cimarron.

Cimarron, an epic about the early settlement of Oklahoma, is long, slow, and lacking in likeable characters.

I found Cimarron very hard to watch as I personally don't find the subject very interesting, and although the film was well done, as I said already, it is very slow paced. The most stunning thing about it is the sheer scale of the film. The land rush scene, found right at the beginning of the picture, took a week to film, using 5,000 extras, 28 cameramen, 6 still photographers, and 27 camera assistants. It is absolutely massive, and impressive, but sadly, that is where the intrigue ended for me.

Art by Olly Moss.

The most frustrating thing that I found, was that I tried so hard to be focused on the film, but the characters aren't likeable enough for the audience to want to root for them. Yancy Cravat, the film's main protagonist, is a lawyer and the publisher of a newspaper. He is very progressive in his thinking. He wants to give the Native Americans their rights and often talks about how the government is stealing their land, and he is kind to his servants. He is a strong leader in the building of new settlements. All of this is great. The problem is that he cannot stay in one place. He ups and leaves often, either dragging his wife and children along with him, or ditching them entirely, without staying in contact with them. I wanted so badly to root for him, but he is considerate of everyone but his family. As for his wife, she is horribly prejudiced against anyone who is different, which makes her a write off right from the start. On top of that, she complains quite a lot, but you don't feel bad for her.

I was not a fan of this movie. I can understand the immensity and grandeur of the piece and how that would warrant appreciation, but as for story and character, it is horribly lacking.