In 1931 you didn't just go out to the desert, line up 500 horses and covered wagons, and recreate the Oklahoma land rush. This is early sound filmmaking. How would you record such a thing with the primitive microphones of the day?

Well, in 1931, that's exactly what Wesley Ruggles did, creating the most impressive opening scene in the history of film up to that point. (It's probably why his film won Best Picture that year, though it's frequently regarded as one of the least merited winners of that award.)

Too bad the rest of the film doesn't measure up to the opening, turning into a meandering biography of a fictional newspaperman (Richard Dix) who repeatedly wanders off from his family, turns in stints as a lawyer and a preacher, and generally muckrakes his way through 40 years of the westward expansion. Badly dated now and more than a little racist.