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- Robert Harris
Cimarron, based upon the novel by Edna Ferber and directed by Wesley Ruggles is one of the truly great early westerns.
Of the five major studios, RKO (earlier FBO), was the only one to not have had a foothold in the silent era. They began fully formed in 1929 with sound and Technicolor, making huge investment in their early productions.
Cimarron stars matinee idol Richard Dix, along with an early RKO stalwart, who would go on to star in a few other films, named Irene Dunne.
The film was a huge risk-taking endeavor, costing over 1.4 million dollars, and giving the world one of the biggest scenes yet to hit theaters - the race recreating the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush - a sequence that needs to be seen to be believed.
With this release, Warner Archive makes a huge step toward making every Academy Award winning film accessible on Blu-ray.
For the record, Cimarron was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director -- and Won for Best Writing, Adaptation, Best Art Direction...
And Best Picture 1931.
This is a brilliant restoration that goes well beyond even the level of Out of the Blue, and somehow hides all of the negative attributes of almost a hundred years of use.
Resolution shines - black levels, grain structure and stability are superb.
Cimarron is a magnificent production in all regards, that like The Broadway Melody derives a place in every serious library.
The opinion of Variety - January 27, 1931
"An elegant example of super film making and a big money picture. This is a spectacular western away from all others. It holds action, sentiment, sympathy, thrills and comedy - and 100% clean. Radio Pictures has a corker in "Cimarron."
It was given some dandy advertising for the Globe’s premier. It’s a picture that can stand any kind of strong exploitation, some of that prize Radio campaigning, where they know they have a picture.
When it may be said that the only possible fault finding about this expensive talker may be its length, 124 minutes, and that it will be difficult to cut it down for the regular picture houses without losing some of its value somewhere, that about sums up everything. Of course, 124 minutes will interfere with the usual turn-over of a picture house program, but as shown at the Globe, not a foot is padding.
Two outstanders in the playing, Richard Dix and Edna May Oliver. Each surprisingly excellent. Dix with his straight character playing of a westerner and an Oklahoma pioneer who dies before his statue is unveiled in that state, while Miss Oliver is nothing less than exquisite in her eccentric comedy role of a Colonial dame in the wilds.
A notably balanced company and an evenly balanced performance. But of the remainder perhaps nothing will draw more attention than the skillful aging of the main role players, from 1888 to 1929, a period they pass through of over 40 years on the screen.
Wesley Ruggles apparently gets the full credit for this splendid and heavy production. His direction misses nothing in the elaborate scenes, as well as in the usual film making procedure.
Big production bits start with the land rush into Oklahoma in 1888, then the gospel meeting in a frontier gambling hall where Dix makes his biggest mark, an attempted bank robbery and the court room trial of Dixie Lee, the harlot. Each of these, and others, carries its own individuality. There is something different about them all.
The land rush starts the action, men on horses and in wagons racing to capture some part of the two mil-lion acres released by the Government to the first comers after the boom of a cannon at noon. Action is further pushed into that bit when the same Dixie Lee outwits Dix by securing his horse and being the first to stake out the Bear Creek claim he was after. But in the trial where Dixie looks set for a jail term as a wanton, it is Dix who becomes her champion pleader to the jury, despite the protest of his wife, and secures as an acquittal.
It is Dix, too, who balks the bank bandits, alone, with his two-handed gun play. Dix is using the guns frequently. His first shot in the picture lopped off a piece of an ear of the heavy, and in the gospel meeting Dix ended the meeting by killing the same villain, who tried to shoot first.
Dix’s reform work as a quick shooter and editor of the local weekly turned the wild overnight camp of Osage, Okla., into a respectable town, with his influence felt throughout the newly squatted territory. Which is why he got the monument years after.
Of the other women, Estelle Taylor as Dixie Lee somewhat fades Irene Dunne as Dix’s young and old wife. Miss Taylor’s showings are few but she makes them impressive. Miss Dunne does nicely enough in a role of a loving wife and mother, which does not permit her to be much else. What she later accomplishes in a political way is suggested rather than acted. Roscoe Ates as a stuttering printer lands several laughs.
It’s doubtful if a red-blooded western such as this, another period in American history, has held as many big diverting scenes as “Cimarron.” Many parts of it grip, ofttimes quite tight, and for this reason as well as in general the women will go for it along with the men, and the kids, too."
From the New York Times
"A graphic and engrossing screen conception of Edna Ferber's widely read novel, "Cimarron," was presented by Radio Pictures last night at the Globe before a keenly interested audience. In it Richard Dix plays that unique character, Yancey Cravat, poet, pistoleer, lawyer and editor, the man who is periodically attacked with the wanderlust. This picture, a stupendous undertaking in view of the time that is covered and the hosts of persons in its scenes, starts with the land rush forty years ago to the Indian territory now known as the State of Oklahoma. It ends in 1930 with many of the characters who were in the first scenes still surviving.Although it is episodical, it holds one's attention and Mr. Dix gives a fine impersonation of Cravat. Cravat's nonchalance and his impulsiveness may seem more than a trifle strange at times, but he is nevertheless a person to be remembered. He is consistently inconsistent. His sangfroid is remarkable, but he goes on until he comes to a tragic end.From the first to the last scene one is often stirred by this chronicle. It has its subtleties and it has been most intelligently directed by Wesley Ruggles. It gives a wonderfully impressive idea of the early days in the territory, from the time the hordes of persons on horseback, in wagons and on foot make the dash to lay out their claims on the signal of a pistol shot, to the gradual improvements that come to Osage as years go by. "
I concur.
Image – 4.5
Audio – 4
Pass / Fail – Pass
Plays nicely with projectors - Yes
Worth your attention - 10
Upgrade from DVD - Yes!
Slipcover rating - n/a
Very Highly Recommended
RAH
Thank you for supporting HTF when you preorder using the link below. As an Amazon Associate, HTF earns from qualifying purchases. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.
Of the five major studios, RKO (earlier FBO), was the only one to not have had a foothold in the silent era. They began fully formed in 1929 with sound and Technicolor, making huge investment in their early productions.
Cimarron stars matinee idol Richard Dix, along with an early RKO stalwart, who would go on to star in a few other films, named Irene Dunne.
The film was a huge risk-taking endeavor, costing over 1.4 million dollars, and giving the world one of the biggest scenes yet to hit theaters - the race recreating the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush - a sequence that needs to be seen to be believed.
With this release, Warner Archive makes a huge step toward making every Academy Award winning film accessible on Blu-ray.
For the record, Cimarron was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director -- and Won for Best Writing, Adaptation, Best Art Direction...
And Best Picture 1931.
This is a brilliant restoration that goes well beyond even the level of Out of the Blue, and somehow hides all of the negative attributes of almost a hundred years of use.
Resolution shines - black levels, grain structure and stability are superb.
Cimarron is a magnificent production in all regards, that like The Broadway Melody derives a place in every serious library.
The opinion of Variety - January 27, 1931
"An elegant example of super film making and a big money picture. This is a spectacular western away from all others. It holds action, sentiment, sympathy, thrills and comedy - and 100% clean. Radio Pictures has a corker in "Cimarron."
It was given some dandy advertising for the Globe’s premier. It’s a picture that can stand any kind of strong exploitation, some of that prize Radio campaigning, where they know they have a picture.
When it may be said that the only possible fault finding about this expensive talker may be its length, 124 minutes, and that it will be difficult to cut it down for the regular picture houses without losing some of its value somewhere, that about sums up everything. Of course, 124 minutes will interfere with the usual turn-over of a picture house program, but as shown at the Globe, not a foot is padding.
Two outstanders in the playing, Richard Dix and Edna May Oliver. Each surprisingly excellent. Dix with his straight character playing of a westerner and an Oklahoma pioneer who dies before his statue is unveiled in that state, while Miss Oliver is nothing less than exquisite in her eccentric comedy role of a Colonial dame in the wilds.
A notably balanced company and an evenly balanced performance. But of the remainder perhaps nothing will draw more attention than the skillful aging of the main role players, from 1888 to 1929, a period they pass through of over 40 years on the screen.
Wesley Ruggles apparently gets the full credit for this splendid and heavy production. His direction misses nothing in the elaborate scenes, as well as in the usual film making procedure.
Big production bits start with the land rush into Oklahoma in 1888, then the gospel meeting in a frontier gambling hall where Dix makes his biggest mark, an attempted bank robbery and the court room trial of Dixie Lee, the harlot. Each of these, and others, carries its own individuality. There is something different about them all.
The land rush starts the action, men on horses and in wagons racing to capture some part of the two mil-lion acres released by the Government to the first comers after the boom of a cannon at noon. Action is further pushed into that bit when the same Dixie Lee outwits Dix by securing his horse and being the first to stake out the Bear Creek claim he was after. But in the trial where Dixie looks set for a jail term as a wanton, it is Dix who becomes her champion pleader to the jury, despite the protest of his wife, and secures as an acquittal.
It is Dix, too, who balks the bank bandits, alone, with his two-handed gun play. Dix is using the guns frequently. His first shot in the picture lopped off a piece of an ear of the heavy, and in the gospel meeting Dix ended the meeting by killing the same villain, who tried to shoot first.
Dix’s reform work as a quick shooter and editor of the local weekly turned the wild overnight camp of Osage, Okla., into a respectable town, with his influence felt throughout the newly squatted territory. Which is why he got the monument years after.
Of the other women, Estelle Taylor as Dixie Lee somewhat fades Irene Dunne as Dix’s young and old wife. Miss Taylor’s showings are few but she makes them impressive. Miss Dunne does nicely enough in a role of a loving wife and mother, which does not permit her to be much else. What she later accomplishes in a political way is suggested rather than acted. Roscoe Ates as a stuttering printer lands several laughs.
It’s doubtful if a red-blooded western such as this, another period in American history, has held as many big diverting scenes as “Cimarron.” Many parts of it grip, ofttimes quite tight, and for this reason as well as in general the women will go for it along with the men, and the kids, too."
From the New York Times
"A graphic and engrossing screen conception of Edna Ferber's widely read novel, "Cimarron," was presented by Radio Pictures last night at the Globe before a keenly interested audience. In it Richard Dix plays that unique character, Yancey Cravat, poet, pistoleer, lawyer and editor, the man who is periodically attacked with the wanderlust. This picture, a stupendous undertaking in view of the time that is covered and the hosts of persons in its scenes, starts with the land rush forty years ago to the Indian territory now known as the State of Oklahoma. It ends in 1930 with many of the characters who were in the first scenes still surviving.Although it is episodical, it holds one's attention and Mr. Dix gives a fine impersonation of Cravat. Cravat's nonchalance and his impulsiveness may seem more than a trifle strange at times, but he is nevertheless a person to be remembered. He is consistently inconsistent. His sangfroid is remarkable, but he goes on until he comes to a tragic end.From the first to the last scene one is often stirred by this chronicle. It has its subtleties and it has been most intelligently directed by Wesley Ruggles. It gives a wonderfully impressive idea of the early days in the territory, from the time the hordes of persons on horseback, in wagons and on foot make the dash to lay out their claims on the signal of a pistol shot, to the gradual improvements that come to Osage as years go by. "
I concur.
Image – 4.5
Audio – 4
Pass / Fail – Pass
Plays nicely with projectors - Yes
Worth your attention - 10
Upgrade from DVD - Yes!
Slipcover rating - n/a
Very Highly Recommended
RAH
Thank you for supporting HTF when you preorder using the link below. As an Amazon Associate, HTF earns from qualifying purchases. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.
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