File:Cimarron_(1931_film)_poster.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Film · TMDB
5.6When the government opens up the Oklahoma territory for settlement, restless Yancey Cravat claims a plot of the free land for himself and moves his family there from Wichita. A newspaperman, lawyer, and just about everything else, Cravat soon becomes a leading citizen of the boom town of Osage. Once the town is established, however, he begins to feel confined once again, and heads for the Cherokee Strip, leaving his family behind. During this and other absences, his wife Sabra must learn to take care of herself and soon becomes prominent in her own right.
Cast
- Richard Dix as Yancey Cravat
- Irene Dunne as Sabra Cravat
- Estelle Taylor as Dixie Lee
- Nance O'Neil as Felice Venable
- William Collier Jr. as The Kid
- Roscoe Ates as Jesse Rickey (as Rosco Ates)
Themes
- newspaper
- gunslinger
- indian territory
- oklahoma
- family history
- frontier
- black and white
- newspaper editor
- pre-code
- land grab
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Ratings
IMDb
5.8/10
7,111 votes
Rotten Tomatoes
52%
Metacritic
70/100
- Year
- 1931
- Runtime
- 123 min
- Genres
- Drama, Western
- Rated
- Approved
- Awards
- Won 3 Oscars. 5 wins & 5 nominations total
via OMDb · IMDb
Key facts
- Directed by
- Wesley Ruggles
- Screenplay by
- Howard Estabrook , Louis Sarecky
- Based on
- Cimarron , 1930 novel, by Edna Ferber
- Produced by
- William LeBaron , Louis Sarecky (assoc.)
- Starring
- Richard Dix , Irene Dunne
- Cinematography
- Edward Cronjager
- Edited by
- William Hamilton
- Music by
- Max Steiner
- Production company
- RKO Radio Pictures
- Distributed by
- RKO Radio Pictures
- Release dates
- January 26, 1931 ( 1931-01-26 ) (New York City) February 9, 1931 ( 1931-02-09 ) (US)
- Running time
- 124 minutes
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Budget
- $1,433,000
- Box office
- $1,383,000
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Duration
- 131
- FilmAffinity ID
- 443711
- Image
- 1931 - Embassy and Strand Theaters Ad - 1 Mar MC - Allentown PA.jpg
Show 4 more facts
- publication date
- 1931-02-09
- title
- Cimarron
- Commons category
- Cimarron (1931 film)
- review score
- 50%
Sources (10)
via Wikidata · CC0
~11 min read
Article
Cimarron is a 1931 American pre-Code epic Western film starring Richard Dix and Irene Dunne, and directed by Wesley Ruggles. Released by RKO, it won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (written by Howard Estabrook and based on Edna Ferber's 1930 novel Cimarron), and Best Production Design (by Max Rée). It is the first of four Westerns to ever win the top honor at the Academy Awards, being followed almost 60 years later by Dances with Wolves in 1990, Unforgiven in 1992, and No Country For Old Men in 2007.
Both Dix and Dunne were nominated for their leading roles, and Edward Cronjager for Best Cinematography, but did not win. Estelle Taylor, Edna May Oliver, and Roscoe Ates appeared in supporting roles. Epic in scope, spanning forty years from 1889 to 1929, Cimarron was RKO's most expensive production up to that date, as well as its first production to win the Best Picture Oscar. It was a critical success, although it did not recoup its production costs during its initial run in 1931. Due to the film being registered for copyright late in 1930, it entered the public domain on January 1, 2026.