Cimmaron story
Cimarron is a 1931 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). 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.
36 total · 3 choice · 8 major · 25 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| heroism | choice | Yancey was a heroic adventurer. He was lauded as a hero by the people of Osage for almost single-handedly taking down a gang of bandits who were causing a ruckus in the town and terrorizing the locals. The story concluded with the people of Osage raising a statue of Yancey to honor him. |
| life in the American Wild West | choice | The story is largely set in the fictional Oklahoma frontier town of Osage. The story follows the town's development from lawless nothing to a to a flourishing urban center. |
| the need for adventure | choice | The hero of the story Yancey Crevat was driven by an unquenchable thirst for adventure. After settling in the booming frontier town of Osage with his family, he built a successful career as a newspaper publisher. The spirit of adventure, however, soon got the better of him and he irresponsibly bolted on his wife and children to settle land in the newly opened Cherokee Strip. From that point on one gathers that Yancey became an adventure seeking drifter. The viewer later learns, for instance, that he went off to fight in the Spanish-American War. |
| European colonization of the Americas | major | The viewer is shown the United States take over of Cherokee lands from the perspective of the White settlers. |
| female independence | major | Sabra took over running the publication after Yancey bolted for the Cherokee Strip. Later, she became the first female member of Congress. |
| husband and wife | major | Yancey and Sabra Cravat were in a loving marriage until Yancey ran off seeking adventure. Sabra didn't hold a grudge, and twice welcomed him back. |
| personal conviction | major | Yancey was respected for being a man of principle. For example, he published a controversial op-ed in his newspaper calling for the Cherokee to be granted full citizenship, knowing it would not be a popular opinion. In later life, Yancey stood up for the reviled prostitute Dixie Lee when nobody else in the town would. |
| prostitution | major | Yancey was just about the only person in town to openly take the side of and defend the well-known prostitute Dixie Lee. |
| social oppression | major | The Cherokee were marginalized and pushed off their native land to make way for the White settlers. Yancey advocated to grant the Cherokee full citizenship, but one gathers that this was not a popular opinion. |
| standing up to a bully | major | Yancey stood up to Lon Yountis who was harassing people and had shot Yancey's hat off his head. Yancey ended up killing Yountis in self-defense. |