The Oscar project- Cimarron
May. 8th, 2006 07:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blue_lotus13 Cimarron is one of the few Westerns to win Best picture. This movie didn't do too well when it was released in 1931. In fact, it was a commercial failure, because audiences during the Depression just didn't have the money to see it.
It's an odd film. It follows a homesteader and his family as they head out and settle Oklahoma. Yancey Cravat is an adventure loving, fast moving newspaper editor. In the beginning of the movie, there's a great scene in which groups of people ride out on their horses to stake out their land. Yancey loses some prime land to the wanton woman Dixie Lee, who pretends to fall off her horse. She begs Yancey to put her horse out of its supposed misery, and while he is shooting it, she mounts his horse and grabs the land. Excellent!
The viewer then follows Yancey and his family through the years. Yancey and his wife Sabra are constantly arguing. She is more conservative, and they fight about Indians, the proper way to conduct themselves and so on. He is a champion for the natives, so it's hard not to like him.
There are some crappy stereotypes in this film. Yeah, I know period piece, time specific, ya da da, but they are still a little hard to take. The most pointed one is the Cravat's black servant, Isiah. He has puffy hair and talks in a drawl. At one point, Yancey says, "Look Isiah! Watermelons!"
Isiah answers back, "I sure is glad I came to Oklahomy."
All in all, this is an okay film. My favourite character was definitely wanton woman Dixie Lee.
It's an odd film. It follows a homesteader and his family as they head out and settle Oklahoma. Yancey Cravat is an adventure loving, fast moving newspaper editor. In the beginning of the movie, there's a great scene in which groups of people ride out on their horses to stake out their land. Yancey loses some prime land to the wanton woman Dixie Lee, who pretends to fall off her horse. She begs Yancey to put her horse out of its supposed misery, and while he is shooting it, she mounts his horse and grabs the land. Excellent!
The viewer then follows Yancey and his family through the years. Yancey and his wife Sabra are constantly arguing. She is more conservative, and they fight about Indians, the proper way to conduct themselves and so on. He is a champion for the natives, so it's hard not to like him.
There are some crappy stereotypes in this film. Yeah, I know period piece, time specific, ya da da, but they are still a little hard to take. The most pointed one is the Cravat's black servant, Isiah. He has puffy hair and talks in a drawl. At one point, Yancey says, "Look Isiah! Watermelons!"
Isiah answers back, "I sure is glad I came to Oklahomy."
All in all, this is an okay film. My favourite character was definitely wanton woman Dixie Lee.
