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| Cimarron | 
 enlarge | Directors: Nick Grinde, Rudolf Ising, Wesley Ruggles
Actors: Richard Dix, Irene Dunne, Estelle Taylor, Nance O'neil, William Collier Jr.
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $3.99
You Save: $15.99 (80%)
New (53) Used (20) from $3.81
Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 18093
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 123
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: WARD65287D
ISBN: 0790748363
UPC: 012569528727
EAN: 9780790748368
ASIN: B000BYA4HE
Theatrical Release Date: February 9, 1931
Release Date: January 31, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: ******BRAND NEW****** ** Over 1.5 million orders shipped worldwide and more than 500 000 items in stock, BUY FROM A TRUSTED SOURCE, ESTABLISHED SINCE 1998 - INETVIDEO ~~~
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Amazon.com
This epic Western won the 1931 Academy Award for Best Picture. Heartthrob Richard Dix plays Yancey Cravat (yes, really, that's his name) a frontiersman, newspaper editor, and former gunslinger who's studly enough to fill in as preacher or lawyer should the situation demand. Yancey brings his young bride Sabra to the wild Oklahoma territory to taste the adventure, crusade for social justice, and leave his family for years at a time. Modern viewers will have trouble making it past one or two horrifying racist caricatures at the start, made doubly odd because of the film's intended message of tolerance. Once it gets underway, though, Cimarron can be quite a bit of fun. Most of its pleasures are of the guilty variety--Dix's performance in particular is endearingly huge--but there are a few genuine highlights. The Oklahoma Land Rush sequence is still exciting and wet blanket Sabra turns out to have far more gumption than anyone imagined. --Ali Davis
Product Description
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 01/31/2006 Rating: Nr
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 When the Old West was much less Old December 30, 2008
I decided that I wanted to watch all the Best Picture Academy Award-winning films from the very first one. Unfortunately, like many of my generation, the older a movie is, the less I can tolerate it. This is not something I'm proud of, but it's just the way it is. But I was pleased that CIMARRON was an exception. It is in fact the oldest film (talkie) I have ever seen all the way through.
When I first sat down to watch it, I didn't even know how to pronounce it: SIMMER-ON. At the risk of sounding cliche, CIMARRON is a grand, sweeping epic that spans the time of over forty years. The plot revolves around Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix) and his wife Sabra (Irene Dunn) and their adventurous life together picking up stakes in Kansas to settle in Oklahoma after the massive land rush. This part of the film, along with many, many other scenes, was incredibly filmed, especially when one remembers that this was several decades before what we now call computer graphic imagery (something which in my opinion is working very hard on ruining the movie industry).
Yancey Cravat is the quintessential Dudley Do-right. He reminds me of a mixture of Charles Ingalls, Rocky Balboa, and Roy Rogers. He's the tall, buff, proud man in the White Hat. He can draw a six-shooter in a blink, fire it with dead aim, print and edit a picture-perfect newspaper, present a jury-convincing impromptu defense argument, deliver a standing-room only church sermon, and stand up for the poor, needy, and under-privileged in a way that would have made Father Flanagan blush.
The movie does have a few slow moments, as any great epic might. But they always pass, and the film is overall very enjoyable. One thing that struck me as very interesting is that this movie about the Old West was made only a few decades after the time of the Old West. In fact, many people from that time period were probably around (and might have even lended their advice and insight) when CIMARRON was made. It would be no different than someone making a movie today about World War II.
Many will criticize this movie as politically incorrect. But the funny thing about political correctness is what is politically correct today will be politically incorrect tomorrow. The same goes with CIMARRON. I have no doubt that when this movie first appeared in the early 1930s there were many critics who thought the film was far too-sympathetic toward black citizens and Native American Indians. It was very rare back then to have such a film. Now, the scales have tipped toward the other direction, and CIMARRON is not progressive enough.
I don't watch movies to be enlightened in a social or political manner. I watch them for entertainment and for great storytelling purposes. And for these two reasons I can call CIMARRON a four-star film.
 A Creaky Western Saga February 8, 2008
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
It's hard to believe this 1931 relic won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Wesley Ruggles' clumsy production of Edna Ferber's "Cimarron" survives only as a curio. The western saga opens with a rehash of the Oklahoma land-rush sequence from William S. Hart's 1925 classic "Tumbleweeds" and goes downhill fast. Richard Dix's cartoonish portrayal belongs in the School of Bad Acting, but Irene Dunne makes the most of her first starring role. In retrospect, "Cimarron" might have worked better as a silent film.
Early Irene Dunne in Classic Western January 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a sprawling epic version of Edna Ferber's novel. It starts with the original Oklahoma Cimmaron land rush (1889) and ends in during the height of the oil rush (1930).
This is a great movie about the a part of US history that most people have only heard breifly about. And like Ferber's more famous book Show Boat, this film takes on civil rights - this time the rights of native Americans and the rights of women (Sabra is elected to Congress.) It even touches slightly on anti-semitism.
This also marks the second film for Irene Dunne. While she will have better roles in the future, this film shows her raw talent.
My big question is why haven't they restored this film? There are constant scratches throughout the film and certain scenes are shakey. This can be corrected with today's computer technology. This film won three Academy Awards including Best Picture, Screenplay and Interior Decoration. Plus Dix, Dunne, director and cinematographer received nominations. (This was massive because there were only 8 categories that year!!)
DVD EXTRAS -
Short Subject - The Devils Cabaret (1930) - this is a sixteen minute early color short subject (actually red is the only color in it because it was the easiest to produce.) The novelty is in the color technique not the actual short.
Cartoon - Red Headed Baby (1933) - this is a six minute Merrie Melodies cartoon that takes place in a Santa-esque toy factory.
Great technical achievements, but lacking in other areas December 28, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Cimarron was an early talkie that made great strides in sound, allowing natural interaction between the cast and a more natural movement of the camera, allowing the filming of some truly spectacular scenes.
The shots of the Oklahoma Land Rush stampede involve ground-breaking sound and cinematography that make it one of the most realistically shot scenes up to that time. Other well filmed scenes include those of Osage's dusty streets with the camera tracking the main characters as they walk along while hundreds of extras bustle about them, showing the life of a busy boom town shortly after the land rush. Unfortunately, this is pretty much where my praise of this film ends.
This film stars Richard Dix as Yancey Cravat, a man who was born under a wandering star. Unfortunately, that didn't stop Yancey from taking a wife and having children, it just stopped him from taking any responsibility for that same wife and children. Through the years, Yancey chases one hair-brained scheme after another while his long-suffering wife Sabra (Irene Dunne) takes responsibility for the newspaper Yancey started but abandons time and again. Sometimes Yancey's adventures keep him home, other times they take him away for years at a time. The film focuses on Yancey's adventures, while the whole time I'm wondering what Sabra is up to. In modern times, her story is much more compelling and sympathetic.
Richard Dix's performance is quite hammy by modern standards. You'll find yourself laughing in places that were not intended to be funny by the film's creators, and in spite of your laughter, you'll still find Yancey to be completely unlikeable. He would make a great politician in the 21st century - he is very apt at doing one thing, saying another, and still finding time for splendid oratory. The worst thing about this film, which was not unusual for its day, was the stereotyped rendition of Cravat's servant Isaiah. For example, in one scene Isaiah gets very excited when Yancey points out a cart full of watermelons. Usually I can put this sort of thing in the context of the times in which the film was made, but this material really goes the extra mile in being cringeworthy.
There are two extras on the DVD. First there's a vintage color musical short - `The Devil's Cabaret' - which is an example of something that could only have been done pre-code. At "Satan & Co., Inc.", the Devil is upset because too many people are going up to Heaven rather than down to Hades. He gives his assistant, Mr. Burns the task of getting more people to his domain. In front of a nightclub, Mr. Burns invites a crowd of people to come inside to "The Devil's Cabaret" and be entertained. After they enjoy songs and dancing, the people go willingly to Hades. To me, this early Technicolor short was more entertaining than the movie. The second extra feature is an early Merry Melodie cartoon entitled `Red-Headed Baby'. There are no extras related to the film itself.
Remarkably, this film won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1931. Even more remarkably, Richard Dix was nominated for Best Actor for his performance in this film. Less remarkably, Irene Dunne was nominated for Best Actress for her performance, in spite of the lack of depth of the examination of her character in the film. There are two reasons to watch this film (a) To see the very good technical achievements it featured in sound and cinematography (b) To see the very bad things about it including Dix' hammy performance, the stereotypes that were common in films of that era, and the fact that in the early twentieth century nobody apparently thought that the long-suffering Sabra was doing anything other than her duty as a wife in spending most of her time waiting for her husband to come home from his misadventures.
This release of "Cimarron" is just a repackaged version of the previous DVD release. If you have that DVD and are happy with the packaging, there is no reason to buy this version.
America's Ideals Displayed! December 14, 2007
"Cimarron" (1931) won three Oscar & had four nominations more, IMHO deservedly. Even if we regard it with modern eyes and some characters seem cartoonish as Isaiah's presentation, nevertheless the boy is endowed with the same pioneer spirit as Yancey Cravat and with the same heroic mettle.
The whole film is an epic poem to America's best ideals: independent pioneer spirit, equality for all creeds, equality for all ethnic groups, equality of opportunities for everybody, freedom for all well-meaning people, press freedom and tolerance for sexual behavior.
The story follows the life and deeds of Yancey Cravat and his family in Oklahoma territory and his struggle to publish an independent newspaper, presented in significative episodes from 1889 till 1930.
Richard Dix playacting may give the impression of overacting but the viewer should take into account that at 1931 role-play was still strongly influenced by silent-movie stereotypes and all in all he gives a vivid characterization of the hero.
Irene Dunne gives a very much sober interpretation; however both of them were nominated to Best Actress and Best Actor Oscar award.
For film-loving people the whole opening sequences of Oklahoma Land Rush are just glorious, full of action and stamina not to be usually seen!
I think this movie deserves, in justice, to be called a classic. Enjoy it!!!.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
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