According to IMDb, Cimarron is the second lowest-rated Best Picture of all-time, collecting just a 5.9 rating with 5,486 votes. To be quite honest, these people were pretty generous since this has to be one of the worse winners ever.
Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix) is definitely one of the worse main characters I’ve ever seen in a major motion picture. He is selfish, rude, egotistic, self-centred, reckless, carefree, and a few other words I can’t think of. I can’t recall a father and husband who abandons their family more than this guy. First, he disappears to try and stake out some land in the great frontier, then he disappears for seven years to find a new home while leaving his wife Sabra (Irene Dunne) to take over the family business, the local newspaper. After returning home, he decides to defend the woman who stole his land against his wife’s pleas to avoid her. After causing all this destruction to his reputation, he decides to join in on the war between the whites and Indians, forcing Sabra to care for the kids and business by herself for the rest of her life.
Somehow Sabra put up with all these nuisances, which were really hard to keep track of. As much as the film was about him, it also spent a lot of time focused on her struggles and abilities to keep everything together without a man in her life. By the end of the film, she had become a Congresswoman for the state of Oklahoma, an achievement in itself, given the time frame this movie takes place. Everyone may recognize his name, but in the end, I feel like she had accomplished more in life than he ever did.
Cimarron was a slow-paced movie with some action sequences throw in to keep you entertained. Sadly none of it worked for me, and I was quite bored watching this film. I’ve always avoided these classic films because the stories and the acting aren’t what I’ve grown up with. Yes, I have been impressed and blown away by some of these old films recently, some of which I can’t believe I never gave a chance; however, most of them have been busts, just like Cimarron. If anyone out there loves this movie or story, I’d be curious to hear why. 1/10
Ten Stars or Less 