La ruée vers l'Ouest

I admit to not having read the book (but will now go to abe.com to find it!) or seen the earlier film, but find it interesting to compare this enjoyable movie with 'Giant'(Stevens, 1956), which incidentally also had Mercedes McCambridge in it, also concerned an essentially ill-matched couple, prejudice, mixed-race marriage, early oil-barons, and also takes in a number of years in which we see the characters grow older.

Unlike the other reviewers here, I did NOT find Maria Schell's accent annoying in the least. She makes a wonderfully believable pioneer (note: the accent is genuine, which also sets her apart from many other Hollywood 'foreigners') and she has a pleasingly natural acting style. She shines beautifully when she is interacting with other women, be it the wildcat and part-time prostitute Anne Baxter in one of the finest scenes of the film (smouldering and feisty but underused I think) or the earthy and magnificent McCambridge, whose subtle but hilarious Southern accent is expertly modulated and a joy to the ear. So many scenes between women in Westerns of this time are somewhat flat and stagey, but I think they're superb here and set this film apart.

Glenn Ford is good, and although the film rather tries to do too much (as does Giant, in my opinion), it's really a fun way to spend a rainy afternoon or even a hot afternoon. Plenty happens along the way and it has something to say.

I thought perhaps the reason this version of "Cimarron" butchered its source material was because Edna Ferber was dead by the time it was made. But no, she didn't die until 1968. I can't believe she gave her stamp of approval to this film, which, while visually stunning, bears very little resemblance to her novel.

Glenn Ford was a heck of an actor, but too much the strong 'n' silent type to play such a flamboyant character as Yancey Cravat. Maria Schell's accent is distracting, and her Sabra is whiny, clingy and devoid of most of the strength and heroism I love about Ferber's female characters.

The 1931 "Cimarron" is a far more faithful adaptation of the novel, but be warned: The character of Isaiah (conveniently left out of the 1960 version) is an offensively exaggerated black stereotype, which, unfortunately (sorry, Edna) is also true to the book.

Haven't read the novel, but really enjoyed the picture.

The film has so much warmth from its characters. The direction was nice. The stunt work was amazing, quite incredible how it was all achieved.

The film maybe missing the finer points of the novel, but for many people who haven't read it, the film delivers an interesting portrayl of how capitalism takes over the inner lands of America. The evolution of the characters, from being poor to being greedy. The film features many other themes, including infidelity and racism.

The picture could've been 30 minutes longer.

Glenn Ford is brilliant, as is Maria Schell, albeit with an annoying accent.

Enjoyed the direction by Mann and the photography wasn't bad at all.

Overall, an enjoyable film! See it in wide-screen.

I did not see this when it was new. I remember thinking that it wasn't worth the effort then. It is less worth it now.

Its device is its scope, both in time and size. There are not one but two land grabs. it spans 25 years and much attention is spent on the theatrics of the sets. It must have been a strange year for this to have done well. At least we can value it to the extent that its success for Columbia made the scope of Lawrence of Arabia possible for MGM.

The story here is only there to support a celebration of settlers of Indian territories and to pull out a specific type which we are to admire as an ideal, an ideal American.

He is a champion of justice and a man of action. His adherence to certain principles punishes him. He is a proponent of civil rights here coded as Indian rights. What's not to like?

Well. He loves the adventure of the land. We get great vistas that anchor him in the place, a convention of Westerns since Ford. But he is not a man of the land, he is a city boy who likes adventure. That's this film's basic undoing of ideals.

It's reflected in the parallel western convention of woman as place. This guy loves deeply but he just can't settle with a woman. We see two.

When they meet, they talk of wives as mothers, companions and lovers. We are to admire that he does not need the first, is companion to nearly everyone and is deep in his love.

The narrative power of this idea by itself would be weak in any package. It is even worse here because of the inept direction. We see this more sharply now because of the obsolete acting and staging styles.

Ann Baxter is a pretty prostitute whose story of self is close to our hero. Though she has less screen time than the immigrant wife, we are to see her as genuine. It's really about her as the land, as the place, and why it isn't the blond wife.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Cimarron is mostly directed by Anthony Mann and written by Arnold Schulman. It's based on the Edna Ferber novel of the same name and was previously made into a film in 1931. It stars Glenn Ford, Maria Schell, Anne Baxter, Harry Morgan, Russ Tamblyn, Mercedes McCambridge and Lili Darvas. Franz Waxman scores the music and Robert Surtees is the cinematographer. It's a CinemaScope production, filmed in Metrocolor and exterior locations were shot in Arizona.

--At high noon April 22, 1889, a section of the last unsettled territories in America was to be given free to the first people who claimed it. They came from the North, they came from the South and they came from across the sea. In just one day an entire territory would be settled. A new state would be born.

They called it Oklahoma--

With changes from both the novel and the 1931 film, Cimarron 1960 was a big budgeted production. With a huge cast and a running time to match, it was expected to be an epic winner for MGM. It wasn't. For although it has undoubted qualities to please the keen Western fan, it has just too much flab on its belly to let it run free. On the plus side is Surtess location photography and Anthony Mann's ability to stir the blood by way of his action know how. The highlight of the film, and certainly a Western fan's must see sequence, is that of the actual "land-rush" that forms the narrative starting point of the film. A stunning collection of crashes, bangs, death and heartbreak are put together by Mann and the heroes that form the stunt team. Sadly the bar is raised so high so early in the film, it's all down hill from there for expectation and actuality. With the last third of the film laborious in the extreme as an ill equipped Maria Schell attempts to carry the dialogue driven heavy load.

The story is a good one, and Schulman's adaptation doesn't want for trying to reach epic horse opera status. But it's just not a fully formed whole, it comes out as a small group of fine scenes slotted into a gargantuan story of no real distinction. How else can you react to having sat thru two hours of film, to get to the big historical oil strike, to find the film petering out into a series of uninteresting conversations? Much of the problem can maybe be put down to problems off screen? Mann was fired towards the end of production, to be replaced by Charles Walters (High Society), while producer Edmund Grainger himself added scenes in an attempt to clarify the relationship between Yancey (Ford) and Sabra Cravat (Schell). The latter of which was without Mann knowing. This probably accounts for why the final third is so dull. The cast are mostly safe, with Charles McGraw and Aline MacMahon standing out in support slots, the latter of which excels during a graveside scene. But Tamblyn is hopelessly miscast and McCambridge and Baxter are, for different reasons, underused. Waxman scores it as more reflective than sweeping, tho the accompaniment for the "land-rush" sequence is boisterous and uplifting, while hats off to the nice costuming by Walter Plunkett; where Baxter, and us the viewers, benefit greatly.

The great scenes make it a film for Western fans to seek out. But in the context of two of the genre's heroes in Ford and Mann, it's one to easily forget about. 5.5/10