Cimarron
List Price:
Our Price: $2.99
You Save: $16.98 (85%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.34 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Irene Dunne, Richard DixBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 124 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-01-31
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: 65287
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product features:
- Spaces were neither wide nor open in most early Sound Westerns. Not so in Cimarron. It starts with one of the most renowned giddy-ups in cinema history: a thundering recreation of the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush.From there Cimarron, based on the bestselling epic by Giant and Show Boat novelist Edna Ferber, traces the generations-spanning saga of that land. There rugged Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix) and
DVD Reviews of Cimarron
DVD Review: Great technical achievements with stereotypes galore
Summary: 3 Stars
Often, in the early talkies, you'll notice what you thought were sane actors talking to inanimate objects instead of their fellow castmembers. Of course, what they were really doing was talking into the hidden microphones, but the whole image can be quite a hilarious spectacle to the unknowing audience. 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 film is very impressive when taken in the context of its technical achievements. The shots of the opening of the Oklahoma Land Rush, and the Land Rush stampede itself 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. Yancey goes after one hair-brained scheme after another while his long-suffering wife Sabra (Irene Dunne) must come up with ways to clothe, feed, and house herself and their children. Sometimes Yancey's adventures keep him home, other times they take him away for years at a time. It's all the same to Yancey as long as he is in the midst of excitement of some sort. 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 rendition of Cravat's servant Isaiah. The stereotypes are truly jaw-dropping. For example, in one scene Isaiah gets very excited when Yancey points out a cart full of watermelons at his new home. It makes you wonder how the actor portraying Isaiah felt about this, how the filmmakers felt about this, and how the audience felt about this sort of material back in 1930. Honestly, what were they thinking?
The extras on this DVD are stingy. There's a vintage color musical short - `The Devil's Cabaret' - which is a very strange musical number with an even stranger pre-code storyline, and 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 was more entertaining than the movie. The second extra feature is a classic cartoon - `Red-Headed Baby' - that runs six minutes. It's an early Merry Melodie that focuses primarily on a Baby toy that Santa is building. After Santa goes to sleep, the toy sings a song for the other playroom toys. The animation has that primitive charm that is trademark Merry Melodie, but as a whole there is nothing really special about it. 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.
Description of Cimarron
CIMARRON - DVD MovieBestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Hamlet (The Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2000-09-19; DVD
Best price: $13.75
Price in other shops:
You Can't Take It with You (Remastered)Sony; Release date: 2008-12-09; DVD
Best price: $6.97
Price in other shops:
Mrs. MiniverWarner Brothers; Release date: 2004-02-03; DVD
Best price: $6.16
Price in other shops:
Mutiny on the BountyWarner Brothers; Release date: 2004-02-03; Published: 2004-02-01; DVD
Best price: $5.65
Price in other shops:
All Quiet on the Western Front (Universal Cinema Classics)NBC Universal; Release date: 2007-02-06; DVD
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
The Life of Emile Zola (Special Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2005-02-01; DVD
Best price: $5.70
Price in other shops:
Grand HotelWarner Brothers; Release date: 2005-09-06; DVD
Best price: $3.87
Price in other shops:
The Great ZiegfeldWarner Brothers; Release date: 2004-02-03; DVD
Best price: $4.19
Price in other shops:
WingsParamount; Release date: 2012-01-24; DVD
Best price: $13.23
Price in other shops:
The Broadway Melody (Special Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2005-02-01; DVD
Best price: $4.62
Price in other shops: