Cimarron

Cimarron, based on a novel by Edna Ferber, tells the story of one man's search for adventure in the newly opened Oklahoma Territory. In 1931, when Cimarron was first made, America was still recovering from the events that led to the Wall Street Crash. Cimarron deals with the process of developing the West and bringing civilization to the Indians; by today's standards the film is considered racially insensitive, though perhaps typical of attitudes in 1931.

Cimarron won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1931 for its producer, William LeBaron. It was the first Western film to win the award. Nevertheless, it is very unpopular with critics, who sometimes call it "the worst of the best pictures." It also won the Oscars for

• Academy Award for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration - Max Ree and
• Best Writing, Adaptation - Howard Estabrook.

It also received four additional nominations:

• Best Actor - Richard Dix
• Best Actress - Irene Dunne
• Best Cinematography - Edward Cronjager, and
• Best Director - Wesley Ruggles.

The film was remade in 1960 in color with most of the overt racial intolerance of the original removed. It starred Glenn Ford and Maria Schell, with Anne Baxter, Mercedes McCambridge and Henry Morgan. This later film was nominated for two Oscars:

• Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color - George W. Davis, Henry Grace, Addison Hehr, Hugh Hunt, and Otto Siegel
• Best Sound - Franklin Milton