The Cimarron Kid
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBudd Boetticher
Screenplay byLouis Stevens
Story byLouis Stevens
Kay Lenard
Produced byTed Richmond
StarringAudie Murphy
Beverly Tyler
Yvette Duguay
CinematographyCharles P. Boyle
Edited byFrank Gross
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • January 13, 1952 (1952-01-13) (Los Angeles)
Running time
84 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.25 million (US rentals)[1]

The Cimarron Kid is a 1952 American western film directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Audie Murphy, Beverly Tyler and Yvette Duguay.[2] It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures.

Plot

Bill Doolin (Audie Murphy) is released from jail and is going home on the train when it is held up by his boyhood friends, the Dalton Gang. Doolin finds himself accused of helping the crime and winds up an outlaw.

Cast

Production

The film was based on a story by Louis Stevens. It was assigned to producer Ted Richmond at Universal for Audie Murphy in April 1951.[3]

It was the first Western from Budd Boetticher, who later became famous for his work in the genre.[4] “I became a Western director because they thought I looked like one and they thought I rode better than anyone else," said Boetticher later. "And I didn’t know anything about the West.” It was also the director's first film in color and his first under a long term contract with Universal Pictures.[5]

In the original script, Murphy's character died at the end of the movie, but the studio decided to change it to reflect the actor's rising popularity.[6]

The railroad scenes were filmed on the Sierra Railroad in Tuolumne County, California.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ 'Top Box-Office Hits of 1952', Variety, January 7, 1953
  2. ^ The Cimarron Kid at Audie Murphy Memorial Site
  3. ^ Brady, Thomas F. (April 23, 1951). "AVA GARDNER GETS ROLE WITH GABLE: Named for Metro's 'Lone Star,' Story of Texas Annexation Hartman Project Revived". New York Times. p. 21.
  4. ^ Budd Boetticher: The Last Interview Wheeler, Winston Dixon. Film Criticism; Meadville Vol. 26, Iss. 3, (Spring 2002): 52-0_3.
  5. ^ Sean Axmaker, 'Ride Lonesome: The Career of Budd Boetticher', Senses of Cinema 7 February 2006 accessed 25 June 2012
  6. ^ Don Graham, No Name on the Bullet: The Biography of Audie Murphy, Penguin, 1989 p 224
  7. ^ Jensen, Larry (2018). Hollywood's Railroads: Sierra Railroad. Vol. Two. Sequim, Washington: Cochetopa Press. pp. 25, 28. ISBN 9780692064726.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Cimarron Kid.


Films directed by Budd Boetticher
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