Cimarron (1931)

My Review

The Best Picture of 1930-1931 is…..”Cimarron.” This is the story of a newspaper editor who moves to an Oklahoma boom town with his reluctant wife in the 1890’s. Director Wesley Ruggles and screenwriters Howard Estabrook and Louis Sarecky adapted the 1930 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber into an epic motion picture which covers forty years. The film contains top-rate production values, memorable performances, and a sweeping dramatic story.

The cast is headed by Richard Dix and Irene Dunne as the pioneering couple. Dix made the successful transition from silent pictures to talkies, and Dunn is at the beginning of her career. Co-stars include Estelle Taylor, William Collier Jr., Nance O’Neill, Roscoe Ates, George E. Stone, Stanley Fields, Edna May Oliver, Robert McWade, and Judith Barrett. The watchable “Cimarron” was the eighth highest grossing film of 1931 for RKO Radio Pictures.

It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning three – Best Picture, Best Writing, and Best Art Direction. Non-winners include Best Director, Best Actor (Dix), Best Actress (Dunne) and Best Cinematography (Edward Cronjager). It was filmed primarily at the RKO Encino Ranch in Encino in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California. “Cimarron” is the first of only four westerns to win the Best Picture Oscar, including “Dances with Wolves” (1990), “Unforgiven” (1992), and “No Country for Old Men” (2007).