Cimarron (1931)

Yancey Cravat: adventurer first, activist second -- husband and father...30th?

Mr. Cravat drags his wife and young son to the boomtown of Osage, OK, where they become prominent figures in the community until his feet get itchy again and he disappears for five years.  He breezes into town to defend a prostitute, give his support to his son's love for a native Indian, and put in a bid for governor...until his wanderlust kicks in again.  This time, he's gone for a couple of decades.  What happens the next time he shows up?  He dies.

"Sprawling" is the right word for this but, oddly, so is "plodding."  So many years are packed into so short a time that it's hard to ever really get a feel for who these people are and it winds up feeling rather tedious.

C-