The Cimarron Kid (1952) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Western	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1952
Running Time	83:52
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Bud Boetticher
Studio Distributor	ViaVision	Starring	Audie Murphy Beverly Tyler James Best Yvette Duguay John Hudson Roy Roberts Leif Erickson David Wolfe
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	None Given

     Young Bill Doolin (Audie Murphy) is released from gaol on parole and given a train ticket to get home. But when the train he is travelling on is robbed by the Dalton gang, whom Bill used to associate with, Railway Detective Sam Swanson (David Wolfe) is convinced Bill was involved and determined to pin the robbery on him and to send him back to gaol. Given little choice Bill flees to the Dalton’s hideout just in time to join in their ill-fated bank robbery in Coffeyville Kansas where most of the gang are killed and only Bill and Bitter Creek Dalton (James Best) escape. The remnants of the gang including Bitter Creek’s girlfriend Rose (Yvette Duguay) and Dynamite Dick Dalton (John Hudson) seek shelter with sympathic rancher Pat Roberts (Roy Roberts) where Bill falls in love with Robert’s daughter Carrie (Beverly Tyler). The gang, now led by Bill Doolin / The Cimarron Kid embarks on a spree robbing banks and railroads, but possies led by Marshall John Sutton (Leif Erickson), who had previously been friends with Bill, and others financed by the railway relentlessly hunt the gang. With a large reward offered, people who previously had been friends with the Daltons could no longer be trusted. Bill, feeling time running out, plans one last major robbery so he could flee the country with Carrie. But, of course, we all know how one last big score often pans out.

     In the previous couple of years Audie Murphy had played famous outlaws Billy the Kid and Jessie James in different films. In The Cimarron Kid he plays another real life outlaw Bill Doolin. Unlike those other famous outlaws who appear in copious films, Bill Doolin is far less represented, only appearing in a couple of movies although he does feature in a song by US rock band The Eagles (Doolin-dalton from 1973). There is, however, a similarity in the way Murphy plays all three outlaws as basically decent people (“a good kid”) forced by circumstances in committing crimes. None of the portrayals would be historically accurate; they are far more Murphy’s persona than factual. Not that a western film needs to be factual, and indeed The Cimarron Kid is far more fiction than fact for while, for example, the disastrous raid by the gang on Coffeyville is real, Bill Doolin was not present.

     None of this would would not matter if The Cimarron Kid was a better film. There are some good action sequences such as the Coffeyville fight and the battle staged in a railway shunting yard with engines, steam and a turntable which is exciting and well-staged, but too often the film is slow and seems to drag with a lot of stilted dialogue. Only occasionally does it come close to building the sense that these doomed young men are on a dark path to death (as Carrie puts it to Bill) and, even worse, it becomes quite melodramatic, the happy ending a complete fabrication.

     It is noteworthy, however, that this was the first western directed by Bud Boetticher. Not too many years later between 1956 and 1960 Boetticher made seven westerns with star Randolph Scott that are classics of the genre including the fabulous Ride Lonesome and Comanche Station. Here Boetticher does not have a lot to work with in a script with limited characterisations but he still manages to add a few interesting camera angles. And talking about seven degrees of separation, Randolph Scott had also once played Bill Doolin in The Doolins of Oklahoma (1949)!

Video

     The Cimarron Kid is presented in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio, in NTSC and 4x3.

     The old studio system certainly knew how to turn our beautiful looking films and The Cimarron Kid is no exception. Cinematographer Charles P. Boyle had been shooting films since 1925; he was nominated for an Oscar for Anchors Away (1945) but during the 1950s filmed a number of Technicolor westerns so he knew how to get beautiful looking vibrant yet natural colours and rich detail in both close-ups and wider framed shots. Blacks are solid, shadow detail good, contrast and brightness consistent, skin tones natural. I may have noticed a couple of slight blemishes but this is a lovely print of a film that is over 65 years old.

     No subtitles are provided.

Video Ratings Summary

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Audio

     The audio is English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono at 192 Kbps.

     Dialogue is clear. The sounds of galloping horses, gunshots, explosions and steam engines have depth and were good for a mono audio. There is no credit for the music which is somewhat shrill and strident.

     There was no hiss or crackles.

    Lip synchronisation is fine.

Audio Ratings Summary

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Overall

     Nothing. The silent menu offers only “Play” as an option.

     There have been a few releases of The Cimarron Kid, including one in Region 1 which shares a disc with The Texan (1938). In Australia the other listing is in the Audie Murphy: Man of the West Collection II, which is part of this Audie Murphy Ultimate Western Collection. See the summary section below.

     It is the script of The Cimarron Kid that lets the film down. One can ignore I guess the fact that this is a much fictionalised story based on real people and some real events, it is an entertainment after all. The Cimarron Kid is talky and melodramatic but when it gets into the action, especially the sequence in the railway marshalling yard, it is worth watching.

     The video is beautiful and audio fine. There are no extras.

     The Cimarron Kid is included in the 14 disc / 14 film set Audie Murphy Ultimate Western Collection. The 14 movies, made by Murphy between 1950 and 1966, are all westerns except for the army comedy Joe Butterfly. The Audie Murphy Ultimate Western Collection is made up from the Audie Murphy: Man of the West Collection and the Audie Murphy: Man of the West Collection II. Both of these individual Man of the West Collection packs have been released previously. But if you are a fan of westerns or a fan of Audie Murphy and don’t have those two earlier collections, this Audie Murphy Ultimate Western Collection is a good buy.

     The Audie Murphy Ultimate Western Collection was supplied for review by Via Vision Entertainment. Check out their Facebook page for the latest releases, giveaways, deals and more.

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