Cimarron(1931)

Cimarron
Academy Award – BEST PICTURE – 1931

Wichita lawyer and newspaper editor Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix) moves with his family to Oklahoma during the 1889 land rush. He is cheated out of his initial claim, so he moves to town and starts a newspaper. He is unable to settle in one place for very long, though, and disappears for years at a time without letting anyone know where he is, leaving his wife Sabra (Irene Dunne) to raise the children and run his newspaper. After 40 years, she is at a luncheon to celebrate her election to Congress and to participate in the unveiling of a commemorative “Pioneer Statue”. Afterwards she goes on an inspection tour of an Oklahoma oilfield, where it is reported that a roustabout has been badly injured. It is Yancey, and he dies in her arms.

Yancey’s son (Junior Johnson and Douglas Scott as boy, Don Dillaway as adult) is named “Cimarron”, called “Cim” for short (although the movie isn’t about him). He grows up to become an oilfield engineer and marries the Indian hired girl/Osage princess Ruby (Clara Hunt) over his mother’s objections.

Yancey’s spoiled and avaricious daughter Donna (Judith Barrett) marries the richest man in town, Louis Hefner (Robert McWade).

Faithful black servant Isaiah (Eugene Jackson) is killed in the crossfire when a gang of bank robbers shoot up the town.

Peddler Sol Levy (George E. Stone) winds up wealthy, and owning a big store.

The “Pioneer Statue” that is unveiled is of Yancey Cravat striding tall, with a much smaller woman trailing along behind him, but the real “Pioneer Statue” that was unveiled to much hooplah in 1930 was the “Pioneer Woman” statue in Ponca City, Oklahoma.