Cimarron (1960)

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Awesome Movie

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

"Cimarron" is much like two films crammed together. The first half is exciting and enjoyable in many ways and the final portion is dull and seems to drag on forever...and then some! Rarely have I seen a film this different at the start and at the finish. As a result, it's a real mixed bag of a movie...worth seeing but it sure should have been a lot better.When the film begins, Cimarron Cravat (Glenn Ford) is back East to marry a recent immigrant, Sabra (Maria Schell). Her way of life is about to change radically, as she's moving from relative comfort to the wide open Oklahoma Territory in 1889. Cimarron wants to go there for the giant land grant but many things seem to get in the way of his and Sabra's plans. They don't get the land they wanted and soon Cimarron finds himself running a newspaper. He also finds himself a do-gooder--one of the only men willing to stand up to evil. And here is where you start to see cracks in their marriage. Cimarron has a very strong sense of right and wrong but his wife just wants stability and security at all costs. As the years pass, this gulf between them widens and ultimately they both go their separate ways. What's next for the duo?This Edna Ferber saga is basically the recent history of Oklahoma-- from territory to statehood--and all wrapped around the fictional story of the Cravats. At times exciting and interesting (such as when Cimarron repeatedly risks his life to stand up for the local Indians) and others long, long and long!!! And, rather depressing when all is said and done. The first half merits a 9 and the last a 2! Rarely have I ever seen a film this uneven.

This movie is an almost complete failure. Anthony Mann directed, but his signature style is absent.Here's what I liked:Overall, this is a very big budget production and there are some nice period costumes, sets and props, including some functioning early automobiles.The Oklahoma land rush scene is fantastic. This is really the only reason to watch this movie.Anne Baxter is pretty sexy, but doesn't have much to do. I would like to have seen her role expanded.Is this the only Western that ever had a Jewish character? Only one I can remember. Anyway, some hard hitting Civil Rights stuff, especially the anti-lynching part.I don't know where to start with the negatives:It felt more like a soap opera than a Western.I like Glenn Ford, but this role is just way, way too big for him. Doesn't even begin to pull it off.The lead German girl was awful.There's basically no heavy. A couple of racists who aren't well characterized at all, that's it.All kinds of crazy, inexplicable plot transitions, none worse than when Glenn Ford simply disappears halfway through the movie. What?

I saw this film recently for the first time. I could see the parallels to Ferber's other very famous work, Showboat, which likewise sweeps an epic camera across decades of development in American history. But what really struck me was reading the commentaries by other viewers. Some went to great lengths to summarize Anthony Mann and his directorial career. But despite the numerous titles of his other films which were listed and judged not a single commentator mentioned what just might be his greatest film of all, Devil's Doorway (1950) starring Robert Taylor as a dispossessed native American and war hero. Please go to that movie's IMDb website and read my and others' very admiring reviews of this classic film. I saw Mann's commenting in Cimarron too about race prejudice and legal chicanery and couldn't help but be struck by those echoes of his 1950 masterpiece.

There is a lot right with CIMARRON, but a lot wrong too. Now on DVD in a great transfer/wide screen/stereo sound, it's interesting viewing. Not having read the book I can't compare, but there are several plot doings that don't have any conclusions. The movie is an epic of sorts and would have run hours if everything came together. A bit illocgical at times. Main plot line is Glenn Ford and Maria Schell a newlyweds coming to settle in Oklahoma when free land is available. In the span of over 30 years there is much going happening both good and bad, just like in real life. If I hadn't seen Glenn Ford in so many films I would think his performance would be excellent, but he kind of mumbles and hems and hahs every other sentence in every film he's in. He acts very much like he did in TEASHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON just a few years earlier. Better direction was needed for his character. Maria Shell was quite wonderful in a difficult role and she's in almost every frame the last 1/4th of the movie. The support actors are all good to fair. Russ Tamblyn disappoints as the baddie. Anne Baxter does well in an ill-defined role. Looks like most of her performance ended up on the cutting room floor or wasn't even filmed. Too many conflicts go unresolved...but it's still an interesting film with much to admire, especially the the cinematography and music score. Worth a look.