Cimarron (1960 film)
Encyclopedia
Cimarron is a 1960 western film based on the Edna Ferber
novel Cimarron
, featuring Glenn Ford
and Maria Schell
. It was directed by Anthony Mann
, known for his westerns and film noir
s.
Ferber's novel was previously adapted in 1931
; that version won three Academy Awards
.
Cimarron was the first of three epics (the others being El Cid
and The Fall of the Roman Empire
) Mann directed. Despite high production costs and an experienced cast of western veterans, stage actors, and future stars, the film was released with little fanfare.
works. Show Boat
, which had already been filmed in 1929 and 1936, was adapted in a highly successful film in 1951. So Big
, which had previously been filmed in 1932, and Giant followed in 1953 and 1956, respectively. In 1960, MGM
and Warner Bros.
competed to film Ferber novels, Warner producing Ice Palace
from a later novel, and MGM remaking Cimarron. These marked the end of the Ferber adaptations, at least until 2008.
The remake of Cimarron saw many changes from both the novel and especially the 1931 film of the same name. With the Civil Rights Movement
gaining momentum, the script, written by Arnold Schulman
, took a kinder approach to Native Americans
. Schulman gave the people more dignity and recognized that they were losing land that was rightfully theirs through the 1893 land rush that was the film's centerpiece. He also introduced several minor characters, such as journalist Sam Pegler (Robert Keith) and Wes Jennings (Vic Morrow
), a prominent member of the Cherokee Kid's (Russ Tamblyn
) gang.
In Anne Baxter's memoir, Intermission, it was implied Ford and Schell were very close during filming but had fallen out by the time of the Oklahoma
premiere in late 1960, for "ugly private reasons", and were not on speaking terms.
(George W. Davis
, Addison Hehr
, Henry Grace
, Hugh Hunt
, and Otto Siegel
) and Best Sound (Franklin Milton
), but failed to win either. While the 1931 adaptation is arguably the better and more successful of the two, the 1960 remake receives more attention and is still broadcast on television
.
Edna Ferber
Edna Ferber was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels were especially popular and included the Pulitzer Prize-winning So Big , Show Boat , and Giant .-Early years:Ferber was born August 15, 1885, in Kalamazoo, Michigan,...
novel Cimarron
Cimarron
Cimarron is the title of a novel published by popular historical fiction author Edna Ferber in 1929. The book was adapted into a critically acclaimed film in 1931 through RKO Pictures. In 1960, the story was again adapted for the screen to meager success by MGM...
, featuring Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...
and Maria Schell
Maria Schell
Maria Margarethe Anna Schell was an Austrian/Swiss actress, who won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival in 1956 for Gervaise....
. It was directed by Anthony Mann
Anthony Mann
Anthony Mann was an American actor and film director, most notably of film noirs and Westerns. As a director, he often collaborated with the cinematographer John Alton and with James Stewart in his Westerns.-Biography:...
, known for his westerns and film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
s.
Ferber's novel was previously adapted in 1931
Cimarron (1931 film)
Cimarron is a 1931 Pre-Code film directed by Wesley Ruggles and based on the Edna Ferber novel Cimarron. It won three Academy Awards.-Background:...
; that version won three Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
.
Cimarron was the first of three epics (the others being El Cid
El Cid (film)
El Cid is a historical epic film, a romanticized story of the life of the Christian Castilian knight Don Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, called "El Cid" who in the 11th century fought the North African Almoravides and ultimately contributed to the unification of Spain.Made by Samuel Bronston Productions in...
and The Fall of the Roman Empire
The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)
The Fall of the Roman Empire is a 1964 English-language epic film produced by Samuel Bronston Productions and the Rank Organisation, and released by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Anthony Mann and produced by Samuel Bronston with Jaime Prades and Michal Waszynski as associate producers. The...
) Mann directed. Despite high production costs and an experienced cast of western veterans, stage actors, and future stars, the film was released with little fanfare.
Background
The 1950s brought renewed interest in Edna Ferber'sEdna Ferber
Edna Ferber was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels were especially popular and included the Pulitzer Prize-winning So Big , Show Boat , and Giant .-Early years:Ferber was born August 15, 1885, in Kalamazoo, Michigan,...
works. Show Boat
Show Boat (novel)
Show Boat is a 1926 novel by American author and dramatist Edna Ferber. It chronicles the lives of three generations of performers on the Cotton Blossom, a floating theater that travels between small towns on the banks of the Mississippi, from the 1880s to the 1920s...
, which had already been filmed in 1929 and 1936, was adapted in a highly successful film in 1951. So Big
So Big (1953 film)
So Big is a 1953 American drama film directed by Robert Wise. The screenplay by John Twist is based on the 1924 novel by Edna Ferber. It is the third adaptation of the book, following a 1924 silent film with Colleen Moore and So Big! with Barbara Stanwyck, released in 1932.-Plot:In the late 1890s,...
, which had previously been filmed in 1932, and Giant followed in 1953 and 1956, respectively. In 1960, MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
and Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
competed to film Ferber novels, Warner producing Ice Palace
Ice Palace (film)
Ice Palace is a 1960 motion picture adapted from Edna Ferber's 1958 novel of the same name. The film, directed by Vincent Sherman and starring Richard Burton, dramatized the debate over Alaska statehood...
from a later novel, and MGM remaking Cimarron. These marked the end of the Ferber adaptations, at least until 2008.
The remake of Cimarron saw many changes from both the novel and especially the 1931 film of the same name. With the Civil Rights Movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
gaining momentum, the script, written by Arnold Schulman
Arnold Schulman
Arnold Schulman is an American playwright, screenwriter, producer, a songwriter and novelist. He was a stage actor long associated with the American Theatre Wing and the Actors Studio....
, took a kinder approach to Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
. Schulman gave the people more dignity and recognized that they were losing land that was rightfully theirs through the 1893 land rush that was the film's centerpiece. He also introduced several minor characters, such as journalist Sam Pegler (Robert Keith) and Wes Jennings (Vic Morrow
Vic Morrow
Victor "Vic" Morrow was an American actor whose credits include a starring role in the 1960s TV series Combat!, prominent roles in a handful of other television and cinema dramas, and numerous guest roles on television...
), a prominent member of the Cherokee Kid's (Russ Tamblyn
Russ Tamblyn
Russell Irving "Russ" Tamblyn is an American film and television actor, who is arguably best known for his performance in the 1961 movie musical West Side Story as Riff, the leader of the Jets gang....
) gang.
In Anne Baxter's memoir, Intermission, it was implied Ford and Schell were very close during filming but had fallen out by the time of the Oklahoma
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
premiere in late 1960, for "ugly private reasons", and were not on speaking terms.
Reception
In 1961 the film was nominated for Best Art DirectionAcademy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(George W. Davis
George Davis (art director)
-Career:Davis began his career at 20th Century Fox, his first film was Joseph L. Mankiewicz's fantasy The Ghost and Mrs. Muir in 1947, a director for whom he frequently worked, notably on House of Strangers , All About Eve -Career:Davis began his career at 20th Century Fox, his first film was...
, Addison Hehr
Addison Hehr
Addison Hehr was an American art director. He was nominated for two Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:Hehr was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction:...
, Henry Grace
Henry Grace
Henry Grace was an American set decorator. He won an Academy Award and was nominated for twelve more in the category Best Art Direction.As an actor he had a role as Dwight D...
, Hugh Hunt
Hugh Hunt
Hugh Hunt was an American set decorator. He won two Academy Awards and was nominated for eleven more in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:...
, and Otto Siegel
Otto Siegel
Otto Siegel was an American set decorator. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film Cimarron.-External links:...
) and Best Sound (Franklin Milton
Franklin Milton
Franklin Milton was an American sound engineer. He won three Academy Awards for Sound Recording and was nominated for three more in the same category.-Selected filmography:...
), but failed to win either. While the 1931 adaptation is arguably the better and more successful of the two, the 1960 remake receives more attention and is still broadcast on television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
.
Cast
- Glenn FordGlenn FordGlenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...
as Yancey Cravat - Maria SchellMaria SchellMaria Margarethe Anna Schell was an Austrian/Swiss actress, who won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival in 1956 for Gervaise....
as Sabra Cravat - Anne BaxterAnne BaxterAnne Baxter was an American actress known for her performances in films such as The Magnificent Ambersons , The Razor's Edge , All About Eve and The Ten Commandments .-Early life:...
as Dixie Lee - Harry MorganHarry MorganHarry Morgan is an American actor. Morgan is well-known for his roles as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H , Pete Porter on both Pete and Gladys and December Bride , Detective Bill Gannon on Dragnet , and Amos Coogan on Hec Ramsey...
as Jessie Rickey - Russ TamblynRuss TamblynRussell Irving "Russ" Tamblyn is an American film and television actor, who is arguably best known for his performance in the 1961 movie musical West Side Story as Riff, the leader of the Jets gang....
as The Cherokee Kid - Lili Darvas as Felicia Venable
- Arthur O'ConnellArthur O'ConnellArthur O'Connell was an American stage and film actor. He appeared in films in 1941 and television programs...
as Tom Wyatt - Mercedes McCambridgeMercedes McCambridgeCarlotta Mercedes McCambridge was an American actress. Orson Welles called her "the world's greatest living radio actress."-Early life:...
as Mrs. Sarah Wyatt - Vic MorrowVic MorrowVictor "Vic" Morrow was an American actor whose credits include a starring role in the 1960s TV series Combat!, prominent roles in a handful of other television and cinema dramas, and numerous guest roles on television...
as Wes Jennings - Robert Keith as Sam Pegler
- Aline MacMahonAline MacMahonAline MacMahon was an American actress. Her career began on stage in 1921. She worked extensively in film and television until her retirement in 1975. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Dragon Seed .-Early life:Aline Laveen MacMahon was born...
as Mrs. Pegler - Charles McGrawCharles McGrawCharles Butters , best known by his stage name Charles McGraw, was an American actor, who made his first film in 1942, albeit in a small, uncredited role. He was born in Des Moines, Iowa.-Career:...
as Bob Yountis - David OpatoshuDavid OpatoshuDavid Opatoshu was an American film, stage and television actor. He was born as David Opatovsky in New York City, where he was reared and educated. His father was the Yiddish writer, Joseph Opatoshu.-Television:...
as Sol Levy - Edgar BuchananEdgar BuchananEdgar Buchanan was an American actor with a long career in both film and television, most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the Petticoat Junction, Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies television sitcoms of the 1960s...
as Judge Neal Hefner - Mary WickesMary WickesMary Wickes was an American film and television actress.-Career:Wickes was born as Mary Isabelle Wickenhauser in St. Louis, Missouri, of German Irish Protestant extraction. She graduated at the age of eighteen with a degree in political science from Washington University in St. Louis, where she...
as Mrs. Neal Hefner