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Cimarron (1960 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Cimarron' is a 1960 American Western film based on the Edna Ferber novel 'Cimarron'. The film stars Glenn Ford and Maria Schell and was directed by Anthony Mann and Charles Walters, though Walters is not credited onscreen. Ferber's novel was previously adapted as a film in 1931; that version won three Academy Awards.
'Cimarron' was the first of three epics (along with 'El Cid' and 'The Fall of the Roman Empire') that Mann directed. Despite high production costs and an experienced cast of western veterans, stage actors and future stars, the film was released with little fanfare.
Plot
Sabra Cravat joins her new husband, lawyer Yancey "Cimarron" Cravat, during the Oklahoma land rush of 1889. They encounter Yancey's old friend William "The Kid" Hardy and his buddies Wes Jennings and Hoss Barry. On the trail, Yancey helps Tom and Sarah Wyatt and their eight children, taking them aboard their wagons.
It seems to Sabra that her husband knows everyone in Oklahoma. A small crowd cheers Bob Yountis and his henchman Millis when they attack an Indian family. Yancey joins his friend Sam Pegler, editor of the 'Oklahoma Wigwam' newspaper, in resisting Yountis.
Yountis warns Pegler against using the paper for his crusading as he had done in Texas. Sabra is angry that Yancey risked his life for an Indian but she helps the others, including peddler Sol Levy and printer Jesse Rickey, in righting the Indians' overturned wagon. Sam and his wife Mavis reveal more about Yancey's past as a cowboy, gambler, gunman and lawyer.
When 50,000 settlers race across the prairie to claim land, Tom falls and Sarah claims a dry, worthless patch. Pegler is trampled to death, and Dixie beats Yancey to the land that he wanted, so he asks Jesse to stay to help him run the paper.
In the new town of Osage, which consists of tents and half-built storefronts, Yountis and The Kid terrorize Levy in the street. Yancey tries but fails to persuade the Kid to change. One night, Yountis leads a lynch mob against the Indian family. Yancey arrives too late to stop it, but he kills Yountis and brings Arita and her baby Ruby home. Meanwhile, Sabra gives birth to a boy whom they name Cimarron, Cim for short.
Four years later, Osage is thriving. Tom has built an oil-drilling apparatus but he is a laughingstock. Wes, Hoss and The Kid, wanted outlaws, try to rob a train but are all killed soon after. When Yancey destroys the $1,000 reward check, Sabra is furious because he does not consider their son's security. Yancey leaves to be part of the Cherokee Strip, but Sabra refuses to join him. Years later, he returns and Sabra and Cim forgive him.
Tom finally strikes oil, but Yancey is disgusted to learn that Tom bought the rights to oil found on Indian land. However, Yancey's campaign to win the Indians justice is a huge success, and he is invited to become governor of the Oklahoma Territory. Sabra is disappointed to discover that Cim and Ruby have grown close.
In Washington, D.C., Yancey finds Tom with a group of influential men and learns that the price of his appointment is his integrity. When Yancy tells Sabra that he can't be governor, she sends him away forever.
Cim and Ruby marry without warning and set off for Oregon, though Sabra tells him that he is throwing his life away.
Ten years later, on the occasion of the 'Oklahoma Wigwam'
Cast
Main
* Glenn Ford as Yancey Cravat* Maria Schell as Sabra Cravat
* Anne Baxter as Dixie Lee
* Arthur O'Connell as Tom Wyatt
* Russ Tamblyn as William Hardy (The Cherokee Kid)
* Mercedes McCambridge as Sarah Wyatt
* Vic Morrow as Wes Jennings
* Robert Keith as Sam Pegler
* Charles McGraw as Bob Yountis
* Aline MacMahon as Mavis Pegler
* Harry Morgan as Jesse Rickey (Credited as Henry "Harry" Morgan)
* David Opatoshu as Sol Levy
* Edgar Buchanan as Judge Neal Hefner
Supporting
* Lili Darvas as Felicia Venable* Mary Wickes as Mrs. Neal Hefner
* Royal Dano as Ike Howes
* L. Q. Jones as Millis
* George Brenlin as Hoss Barry
* Vladimir Sokoloff as Jacob Krubeckoff
* Eugene Jackson as Isaiah
Cameo/Uncredited
* Andy Albin as Water Man
* Rayford Barnes as Cavalry Sergeant Who Breaks Up Fight
* Herman Belmonte as Dancer at Ball
* Mary Benoit as Mrs. Lancey
* Barry Bernard as Butler
* Jimmie Booth as Wagon Driver
* Danny Borzage as Townsman
* Chet Brandenburg as Townsman
* Janet Brandt as Madam Rhoda
* Paul Bryar as Mr. Self Politician
* Robert Carson as Senator Rollins
* John L. Cason as Suggs
* William Challee as Barber
* Mickie Chouteau as Ruby Red Feather
* Fred Coby as Oil Worker
* Gene Coogan as Butler / Townsman
* Jack Daly as Wyatt's Man
* John Damler as Foreman
* Richard Davies as Mr. Hodges
* George DeNormand as Townsman at Celebration
* James Dime as Townsman
* Phyllis Douglas as Sadie
* Ted Eccles as Cimarron Cravat Age 2
* LaRue Farlow as Dancer
* Franklyn Farnum as Townsman at Schoolhouse
* George Ford as Townsman at Celebration
* Coleman Francis as Mr. Geer
* Ben Gary as Reporter
* James Halferty as Cimarron Cravat Age 10
* Sam Harris as Ball Guest
* Lars Hensen as Dancer at Ball
* Clegg Hoyt as Great Gotch
* Irene James as Townswoman
* Colin Kenny as Townsman at Schoolhouse
* Paul Kruger as Party Guest
* Jimmy Lewis as Hefner Boy
* Dawn Little Sky as Arita Red Feather
* Eddie Little Sky as Ben Red Feather
* Buzz Martin as Cimarron Cravat as a Young Man
* Kermit Maynard as Setter
* Mathew McCue as Townsman
* J. Edward McKinley as Beck
* Walter Merrill as Reporter
* Jack Perry as Townsman
* John Pickard as Ned Cavalry Captain
* Ralph Reed as Bellboy
* William Remick as Reporter
* Gene Roth as Connors
* Jack Scroggy as Walter
* Charles Seel as Charles
* Bernard Sell as Townsman at Celebration
* Jack Stoney as Man at Lynching
* Harry Tenbrook as Sooner at Camp Fight
* Arthur Tovey as Dancer at Ball
* Ivan Triesault as Lewis Venable Sabra's Father
* Charles Watts as Lou Brothers Politician
* Helen Westcott as Miss Kuye Schoolteacher
* Robert Williams as Oil Worker
* Jeane Wood as Clubwoman
* Wilson Wood as Reporter
* Jorie Wyler as Theresa Jump
Production
In February 1941, MGM bought the remake rights to 'Cimarron' from RKO for $100,000. In 1947, MGM announced an operetta version starring Kathryn Grayson and produced by Arthur Freed, but this did not happen. In February 1958, MGM announced its plans to produce 'Cimarron' as the studio's second film using the MGM Camera 65 process following 'Raintree Country' (1957). One month later, Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson were considered to star in the film. Ultimately, Glenn Ford, who previously starred in the Westerns such as '3:10 to Yuma' (1957) and 'The Sheepman' (1958), was attached to star.
In October 1959, Arnold Schulman was signed to write the screenplay. For his script, Schulman introduced several characters, including those of journalist Sam Pegler (Robert Keith) and Wes Jennings (Vic Morrow), while removing the Cravats' daughter, Donna and a boy named Isaiah. King Vidor declined an invitation to direct. Anthony Mann was eventually named as director. Known primarily for the critically acclaimed hits 'The Glenn Miller Story' (1954) and 'Men in War' (1957), Mann had previously directed eight Westerns. However, disagreements with producer Edmund Grainger caused Mann to leave the project halfway through filming. Mann had wanted to film entirely on location, but Grainger wanted a majority of scenes instead to be filmed in studio. Director Charles Walters finished the film but received no screen credit.
The climactic scene portraying the Oklahoma Land Rush was shot in Arizona and featured over 1,000 extras, 700 horses and 500 wagons and buggies.
Anne Baxter, who played Dixie Lee, revealed in her autobiography 'Intermission' that Ford and Maria Schell developed an offscreen romance: "During shooting, they'd scrambled together like eggs. I understood she'd even begun divorce proceedings in Germany. It was obviously premature of her." However, by the end of filming, "... he scarcely glanced or spoke in her direction, and she looked as if she were in shock."
Reception
Box office
According to MGM records, 'Cimarron' earned $2,325,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $2,500,000 overseas, resulting in an overall loss of $3,618,000.Critical reaction
'Harrison's Reports' wrote: "The background music is undistinguished. There's enough marquee strength, action, romance, and the 'land rush' scene at the beginning is worth the price of a soft ticket. Color photography is outstanding." Thomas M. Pryor, reviewing for 'Variety', praised Schell and Ford's performances, and wrote "Although 'Cimarron' is not without flawsthoughtful examination reveals a pretentiousness of social significance more than valid expositionthe script plays well."Bosley Crowther of 'The New York Times' felt the film's opening "makes for a dynamic and illustrative sequence on the screen. But once the land rush is over in this almost two-and-one-half-hour-long filmand we have to tell you it is assembled and completed within the first half-hourthe remaining dramatization of Miss Ferber's bursting 'Cimarron' simmers down to a stereotyped and sentimental cinema saga of the taming of the frontier." A review in 'Time' magazine criticized the film's length, writing 'Cimarron' "might more suitably have been called Cimarron-and-on-and-on-and-on. It lasts 2 hours and 27 minutes, and for at least half of that time most spectators will probably be Oklacomatose."
Awards and nominations
In 1961, the film was nominated for Best Art Direction (George W. Davis, Addison Hehr, Henry Grace, Hugh Hunt and Otto Siegel) and Best Sound (Franklin Milton).
Glenn Ford's performance earned a nomination for a Laurel Award for Top Action Performance, though he did not win.
See also
* List of American films of 1960
References
Footnotes
Citations
Bibliography
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