Cimarron (1931) 08/22/23

“Terrific as all Creation!”  Wesley Ruggles’s film adaptation of Edna Ferber’s epic novel won the Oscar for Best Picture, helping to establish the RKO studio. Noble Richard Dix and beautiful Irene Dunne’s complex characters span 40 years of Oklahoma history — the oil wells arrive, the wild west fades, and Dix’s heroic Yancey Cravat never settles down. Things get patchy in the second half, but Ferber’s critique of racial prejudice and bigotry is retained. The film’s Oklahoma Land Rush was long considered the biggest action scene this side of the Ben-Hur chariot race. The digital restoration makes the show look and sound brand-new. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
08/22/23