Cimarron

About Cimarron (1931)

Cimarron is a 1931 American pre-Code epic Western film starring Richard Dix and Irene Dunne, and directed by Wesley Ruggles. Released by RKO Radio Pictures, it won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (written by Howard Estabrook and based on Edna Ferber's 1930 novel Cimarron), and Best Production Design (by Max Rée).

The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 prompts thousands to travel to the Oklahoma Territory to grab free government land; Yancey Cravat and his young bride, Sabra, cross the border from Kansas to join the throngs. In the ensuing race, Yancey is outwitted by a young prostitute, Dixie Lee, who takes the prime piece of real estate, the Bear Creek claim, that Yancey had targeted for himself. His plans for establishing a ranch thwarted, Yancey moves into the town of Osage, a boomtown, where he confronts and kills Lon Yountis, an outlaw who had killed the prior publisher of the local newspaper.

Summary adapted from the Wikipedia article Cimarron (1931 film) (text available under CC BY-SA 4.0).