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WARNER

MOVIE INFO

Director:
Wesley Ruggles
Cast:
Richard Dix, Irene Dunne, Estelle Taylor
Writing Credits:
Howard Estabrook

Synopsis:
In 1889, a newspaper editor settles in an Oklahoma boom town with his reluctant wife.

MPAA:
Rated NR.

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio:
English DTS—HD MA Monaural
Subtitles:
English
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
None

Runtime: 124 min.
Price: $21.99
Release Date: 7/25/2023

Bonus:
• “The Devil’s Cabaret” Musical Short
• “Red-Headed Baby” Animated Short
• “Lady, Play Your Mandolin” Animated Short


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RELATED REVIEWS


Cimmaron [Blu-Ray] (1931)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (July 31, 2023)

With 1931’s Cimarron, we get the first Western to win the Oscar Best Picture. Not that many entries in that genre subsequently took hime that trophy, but at least it answers that trivia question.

Set in 1889, attorney Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix) maintains a good life in Kansas but he aspires to the open country and tries to snare a plot of land when the president allows prospectors to grab newly opened Indian territory. Alas, a woman of ill-repute named Dixie Lee (Estelle Taylor) tricks him and beats him to the punch.

Instead, Yancey takes his wife Sabra (Irene Dunne) and young son Cim (Junior Johnson) to the new frontier town of Osage, Oklahoma. There he puts out his shingle and also starts a newspaper.

Yancey wants to clean up the town and helps do so, though his wanderlust continues to lead him away from Osage and his family. The film follows the growth of Osage over a 40-year period, and we also see what happens to the Cravat clan.

I’ll bet the original novel by Edna Ferber was quite good. I feel that way since Cimarron has tons of promise, as it boasts an epic story that could’ve been a winning movie in the right hands.

Unfortunately, it didn’t achieve this success in 1931, as clumsy storytelling robs Cimarron of all its potential. The film skips from one scenario to another with little fluidity or logic, and it barely bothers to develop its characters to any notable degree.

Why does Yancey have such wandering feet? Why does Sabra stick by him?

And what about all the thinly developed supporting characters? The movie fails to dig into these in a satisfying way, as it leaves us with stock personalities and nothing more.

It manages to explore the very early years of Osage to a decent degree, as we get a reasonable feel for the town’s initial growth. After that, however, the movie turns into a highlight reel.

The film flies through the years with abandon and alights on the various eras so briefly that they mean little to us. Some of this becomes inevitable when you turn a long novel into a movie, but more skilled filmmakers could have presented more fluid transitions.

Since Cimarron came out in the formative years of Hollywood, I can cut it some slack for its flaws, I suppose. It’s always good to try to view a movie through the eyes of its era, though that trend can only go so far. For one, it’s virtually impossible to ignore 90 years of cinematic progress.

For another, there’s one big problem when you have to look at a movie as “good for its era”. If it’s unwatchable now, then this doesn’t really matter.

I wouldn’t classify Cimarron as “unwatchable”, but it certainly hasn’t held up well over the years. Frankly, with its clumsy story-telling and hammy acting, it’s hard to believe it ever looked all that good.

Obviously lots of folks must’ve liked it since it took home the Oscar. Today it looks like one of the weaker Best Picture winners.


The Disc Grades: Picture A-/ Audio B-/ Bonus C-

Cimarron appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Expect a splendid presentation.

Sharpness worked well. A few slightly soft shots emerged, but the majority of the film offered solid accuracy.

No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and I saw no edge haloes. The film came with a light layer of grain and it lacked print flaws.

Blacks felt dark and rich, while shadows seemed smooth and concise. The movie barely showed its 92 years of age in this terrific transfer.

While not as good, the movie’s DTS-HD MA monaural audio also held up well after all these decades. Speech showed the expected thinness but the lines lacked edginess and remained perfectly intelligible.

Not much music appeared, but those components seemed adequate, albeit with a tinny feel typical of the era. Effects appeared similarly stiff but they lacked much distortion.

No background noise issues dogged the track. I thought the audio worked nicely for its age.

How did the Blu-ray compare to the DVD from 2006? Audio felt much smoother and clearer.

Visuals displayed obvious improvements, as the Blu-ray was better defined, cleaner and more balanced. This was a clear step up in quality in all ways versus the problematic DVD.

We get three shorts, and first we find the live-action musical The Devil’s Cabaret. Released in 1931, this 16-minute, 24-second piece tells a minor story in which the Devil uses a flashy floorshow to recruit new sinners.

It’s silly and not very entertaining, but it’s a nice archival piece, especially since it showcases an early attempt at color photography.

Next comes a cartoon entitled Red-Headed Baby. The six-minute, 40-second short shows the toys at a workshop as they come to life and party.

Like “Cabaret”, it lacks much entertainment value, but at least it gives us a glimpse of the era’s stylings.

Finally, another animated piece called Lady, Play Your Mandolin finishes the package. It goes for seven minutes, 14 seconds and shows musical shenanigans at a café.

Like the others, it offers some archival value but not a lot of amusement. It does provide a remarkably blatant rip-off of Mickey Mouse, though.

Somewhere inside Cimarron we find a good movie waiting to emerge. Too bad the awkward storytelling of this film robs it of its potential and makes it jarring and lackluster. The Blu-ray delivers excellent visuals and adequate audio but it lacks substantial supplements. Folks who want to see every Oscar Best Picture winner should give Cimarron a look, but I’d advise all others to skip it.

To rate this film please visit the DVD review of CIMARRON

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