It’s true that this film is frequently criticized now as an unlikely recipient of the Best Picture Oscar, particularly when considering superior films like 'The Front Page' were among the nominees at the 4th Academy Awards (and that classics such as 'City Lights', 'Morocco' and 'Frankenstein' weren't even in contention), but setting aside Richard Dix’s distracting performance—I am genuinely surprised he received a Best Actor nomination—and the inconsistent, occasionally slow or uninspired direction, some of the individual moments are quite powerful. I’m happy to have seen it, and it isn’t the worst film to win Best Picture that I've encountered so far ('Shakespeare in Love' likely holds that distinction, though I’d like to view all of them just to confirm), and I even find myself favoring it over Anthony Mann’s 1960 remake, despite my appreciation for his other films (and admittedly, I’m not a huge Glenn Ford admirer, which might balance things out). Irene Dunne is wonderful, as she always is. It definitely would have benefited from tighter editing; easily thirty to forty minutes could have been cut without anyone noticing—but it's still worth watching at least once, especially for those interested in history and seeing a reasonably accurate portrayal of how the Midwest was settled.

Source on TMDB