Oscar Best Picture Winner 1932: Cimarron

BY: ORANGECHAIR

In 1932, the film to win Best Picture was a film by the name Cimarron. A film that crosses vast distances in time and space, Cimarron is set during the expansion of the United States. A film that creates heroes and villains where you least expect it, Cimarron is a thought provoking work of art.

Cimarron is the story of Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix), a man thirsty for adventure. After the United States government opens the Oklahoma Territory for settlement, Yancey brings his wife Sabra Cravat (Irene Dunne) and his son to the settlement of Osage. A lawyer and newspaper editor, Yancey sets up a newspaper and quickly becomes well known around town. Yancey begins to do all he can to help Osage, protecting the town from a group of roughnecks that live there and dispatching a group of outlaws that raid the town. Growing restless, Yancey eventually goes to settle Cherokee Territory, leaving his wife to run the newspaper and fend for herself. The rest of the film follows the Cravat family, now with daughter Donna Cravat (Judith Barrett), as they grow up with their father appearing every couple of years.

This film was a well done film with a great story. First off the character of Yancey Cravat was absolutely fascinating. Yancey is set-up as a hero figure. He chivalrously attempts to save a woman, Dixie Lee (Estelle Taylor), though Dixie ends up stealing Yancey’s horse and his plot of land. Furthermore he saves Osage from bandits on his own and turns the town into a safer place to live. While overall Yancey seems heroic he is not as heroic with his family, constantly leaving them on their own so that he can go out in search of adventure. Yancey has done great things for Osage and the country but is not the husband and father a traditionally “good” character should be which makes it difficult to know how to feel about Yancey.

This film moves through a number of different time periods, showing Yancey and Sabre as they grow older and older. Moving through time serves a larger purpose than just showing the characters grow up. In a film that is based in the expansion and growth of America, moving through time also shows how America grows. We see the settlement of Osage turn into a city and see America expand its borders. Beyond simply growing in size we also get to see how America grows socially. The film touches heavily on the racial issues between the pioneers and the Native Americans. By the end of the film, time has passed and feelings have changed.

Yancey walks with a cowboy-like swagger, moving through the films action scenes with quick hands and a quicker tongue. This film was well written with well developed characters and a structure that allows the film to delve into social issues. In 1931 Cimmaron beat East Lynne, the Front Page, Skippy and Trader Horn for Best Picture. The film also won for Best Art Direction and Howard Estabrook took home the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. This was a 7 out of 10 film for me, not necessarily what I think of when I think of an Oscar Best Picture winner but a great film all the same.

Oscar Best Picture Winner 1955: On the Waterfront

BY: ORANGECHAIR

On the Waterfront hit theaters when the country was shaken by the anticommunism scare, pioneering a period of cinematic social realism. The film was said to be inspired by a series of newspaper articles called “Crime on the Waterfront” by Malcolm Johnson that looks at the corruption on the New York and New Jersey docks. On the Waterfront demonstrates this corruption while proving what one can do to inspire the many.

It is made clear very early on in the film that the docks are controlled by the mob connected Union boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb). Working for Friendly is Charlie “the Gent” Malloy (Rod Steiger) and more importantly Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando). Terry, a slow-witted man, is used by Friendly to lure a dockworker into an ambush to be killed (though Terry believes he is just going to be beaten up), a dockworker that was to testify against Friendly. When the murdered dockworker’s sister Edie Doyle (Eva Marie Saint) along with Father Barry (Karl Malden) decide to try and get the workers to take action against Friendly in the form of testifying, they turn to Terry for help as he begins to fall for Edie. Terry must decide if he wants to follow the path of his big brother and continue to work for Johnny Friendly or help Father Barry and Edie make the docks a safer place.

My love for film developed when I was a Junior in High School and took a class called Comp, Lit and Film. Prior to taking this class I had no idea that you could, let alone how to, analyze and break down film. During Comp Lit and Film we watched and analyzed On the Waterfront and since then I have seen it four times, including this most recent time. What is astounding about this film is that each time I watch it, I realize how dense the film and the directing truly is. Director Elia Kazan manipulates shadows, camera angles and light to create layered scene after layered scene resulting in a film film bursting with meaning.
Not only is this film seen as a response to the above mentioned series of articles, it is also sometimes considered a version of a defense or apology from Kazan. Originally enlisting Arthur Miller to write the script, the partnership was ended after Kazan testified in front of the House of Un-American Activities Committee. Terry’s conflict in loyalties represent a conflict that Kazan himself felt. The situation in Kazan’s life made the film all the more personal for him.

This film is a masterpiece; a film to be enjoyed and studied. The film took home the 1955 Oscar for Best Picture, beating The Caine Mutiny, The Country Girl, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Three Coins in the Fountain. Marlon Brando won Best Actor in a Leading Role and Eva Marie Saint took home Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her portrayal of Edie Doyle. Elia Kazan won for Best Director and his writing partner Budd Schulberg, the second writer for the film, won Best Writing. The film also won Best Art Direction-Set Direction, Best Film Editing and Best Cinematography. This is a 10 out of 10 film with a complex yet simple main character; a story that can last through the ages.