Production Company: RKO Radio Pictures
"We're going to a brand-new, two-fisted, rip-snorting country full of Indians, rattlesnakes, gun-toters and desperadoes. Whoopee!" -Yancey Cravat
Setting
Osage, Oklahoma
Osage, Oklahoma
The Plot
The historical but fictional film, based on the book by Edna Ferber, presents us with a clash of cultures and attitudes.
Yancey is a restless jack-of-all-trades: the new town’s newspaper editor, a lawyer, fast-shooting law enforcer and even a preacher. Wanderlust gets the better of him, leaving his wife Sabra (Irene Dunn) to raise the family and run the newspaper.
The film remains in Osage once they arrive and follow the lives of the Cravat family and members of their circle of associates.
The historical but fictional film, based on the book by Edna Ferber, presents us with a clash of cultures and attitudes.
Yancey is a restless jack-of-all-trades: the new town’s newspaper editor, a lawyer, fast-shooting law enforcer and even a preacher. Wanderlust gets the better of him, leaving his wife Sabra (Irene Dunn) to raise the family and run the newspaper.
The film remains in Osage once they arrive and follow the lives of the Cravat family and members of their circle of associates.
The Review
The film opens with its famous and impressive Land Rush scene, thousands of people and wagons at the newly-opened Oklahoma territorial border awaiting the 12pm starting gun with the male lead Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix) among them.
Mostly set in the fictional ‘Boom Town’ of Osage, not to be confused with today's Osage in Oklahoma which is tiny, we see the townsfolk making do with what they have. Yancey is mainly the Editor of the new paper The Oklahoma Wigwam but at the same time he gets to use his shooting skills, act as a lawyer, and run the first church service...and they say men can't multi-task! The town’s first church service for all, referred to as the Osage First Methodist-Episcopalian-Presbyterian-Congregational-Baptist-Catholic-Unitarian-Hebrew Church is unlike any I’ve been to, starting with a secular song so everyone knew the words, and ending with a fatal shoot-out and closing in prayer.
Another example of loyalty is Sabra who is the model of ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’, she keeps things running while her husband goes off in search of new land, adventures and making history. Ironically, it is Sabra who makes history by the end of the film. Girl Power!
The issue I had with Cimarron was that the storyline was disjointed and lost focus at times. Overall it was about the birth of a new state, though it went in different directions at different times and many sub-plots were never fully-explained. Sabra’s character grew into a wise and admirable older woman, however we missed out on seeing her character actually develop. A woman in a more modern film would not have shown so much loyalty to her husband if he vanished for 5 years at a time...her loyalty is to be admired even if her husband needs a clip round the ears!
On a technical note, the characters didn't always age in sync with one another, though Sabra's vocals were always spot-on to whichever age she was playing which is no mean feat for an actor.
The acting overall was convincing, special mention to Estelle Taylor as town prostitute Dixie Lee for her moving life story showing there is more than meets the eye when it comes to judging someone, though the town gossip Mrs Tracy Wyatt was a bit over-played by Edna May Oliver. Tracey's mannerisms and loud outfits give the impression of a cross-breed of Hyacinth Bucket and Madame Thenardier.
Some minor storylines could have been cut to speed things up where it was needed, but overall Cimarron is a great example of 1930s film, and gives a good grasp of the lives of pioneers in the late 19th Century. High Rickety!
The film opens with its famous and impressive Land Rush scene, thousands of people and wagons at the newly-opened Oklahoma territorial border awaiting the 12pm starting gun with the male lead Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix) among them.
Mostly set in the fictional ‘Boom Town’ of Osage, not to be confused with today's Osage in Oklahoma which is tiny, we see the townsfolk making do with what they have. Yancey is mainly the Editor of the new paper The Oklahoma Wigwam but at the same time he gets to use his shooting skills, act as a lawyer, and run the first church service...and they say men can't multi-task! The town’s first church service for all, referred to as the Osage First Methodist-Episcopalian-Presbyterian-Congregational-Baptist-Catholic-Unitarian-Hebrew Church is unlike any I’ve been to, starting with a secular song so everyone knew the words, and ending with a fatal shoot-out and closing in prayer.
Another example of loyalty is Sabra who is the model of ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’, she keeps things running while her husband goes off in search of new land, adventures and making history. Ironically, it is Sabra who makes history by the end of the film. Girl Power!
The issue I had with Cimarron was that the storyline was disjointed and lost focus at times. Overall it was about the birth of a new state, though it went in different directions at different times and many sub-plots were never fully-explained. Sabra’s character grew into a wise and admirable older woman, however we missed out on seeing her character actually develop. A woman in a more modern film would not have shown so much loyalty to her husband if he vanished for 5 years at a time...her loyalty is to be admired even if her husband needs a clip round the ears!
On a technical note, the characters didn't always age in sync with one another, though Sabra's vocals were always spot-on to whichever age she was playing which is no mean feat for an actor.
The acting overall was convincing, special mention to Estelle Taylor as town prostitute Dixie Lee for her moving life story showing there is more than meets the eye when it comes to judging someone, though the town gossip Mrs Tracy Wyatt was a bit over-played by Edna May Oliver. Tracey's mannerisms and loud outfits give the impression of a cross-breed of Hyacinth Bucket and Madame Thenardier.
Some minor storylines could have been cut to speed things up where it was needed, but overall Cimarron is a great example of 1930s film, and gives a good grasp of the lives of pioneers in the late 19th Century. High Rickety!
The Slap
This is unquestionably issued to Lon Yountis, the town troublemaker played by Stanley Fields who leads a gang that terrorises the minorities and clashes several times with Yancey. Classic film fans may recognise him as the Sheriff from Laurel and Hardy's Way Out West. Yancey himself could probably do with a slap, however his family seem to accept and understand his going away and he is not presented as a bad guy at any point in the film, and he redeems himself by always sticking up for the downtrodden regardless of the status quo.
This is unquestionably issued to Lon Yountis, the town troublemaker played by Stanley Fields who leads a gang that terrorises the minorities and clashes several times with Yancey. Classic film fans may recognise him as the Sheriff from Laurel and Hardy's Way Out West. Yancey himself could probably do with a slap, however his family seem to accept and understand his going away and he is not presented as a bad guy at any point in the film, and he redeems himself by always sticking up for the downtrodden regardless of the status quo.
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