Themes: Star-Crossed Lovers, Otherwise Engaged, Love Triangles
Main Cast: Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Gene Nelson, Charlotte Greenwood, Gloria Grahame, Rod Steiger
Release Year: 1955
Country: US
Run Time: 145 minutes
MPAA Rating: G
Plot
Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1943 Broadway musical was considered revolutionary for a multitude of reasons, not least of which were the play's intricate integration of song and storyline, and the simplicity and austerity of its production design. The 1955 film version of Oklahoma! retains the songs (except for Lonely Room and It's a Scandal!, which are usually cut from most stage presentations anyway) and the story, but the simplicity is sacrificed to the spectacle of Technicolor, Todd-AO, and Stereophonic Sound. The story can be boiled down to a single sentence: a girl must decide between the two suitors who want to take her to a social. In her movie debut, 19-year-old Shirley Jones plays Laurie, an Oklahoma farm gal who is courted by boisterous cowboy Curley (Gordon MacRae) and by menacing, obsessive farm hand Jud Frye (Rod Steiger). Fearing that Jud will do something terrible to Curley, Laurie accepts Jud's invitation to the box social. But it's Curley who rescues Laurie from Jud's unwanted advances, and in so doing wins her hand. On the eve of their wedding, Laurie and Curley are menaced by the drunken Jud. During a fight with Curley, Jud falls on his own knife and is killed (this sudden-death motif was curiously commonplace in the Rodgers and Hammerstein ouevre). The local deputy insists that Curley be arrested and stand trial, but he is outvoted by Curley's friends, and the newlyweds are permitted to ride off on their honeymoon. Counterpointing the serious elements of the story is a comic subplot involving innocently promiscuous Ado Annie (Gloria Grahame), her erstwhile sweetheart Will Parker (Gene Nelson) and lascivious travelling salesman Ali Hakim (Eddie Albert). None of the Broadway cast of Oklahoma! was engaged for the film version, though Charlotte Greenwood is finally able to essay the role of Auntie Eller that had been written for her but she'd been unable to play back in 1943. The evergreen songs include Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin', Surrey with the Fringe on Top, People Will Say We're In Love, I Cain't Say No, and the rousing title song. Two versions of Oklahoma! currently exist: the Todd-AO version, filmed on 65-millimeter stock, and the simultaneously shot CinemaScope version, shipped out to the theaters not equipped for the wider-screen Todd-AO process. Both versions have been issued in "letterbox" form on laser disc, and the subtle differences in performance style and camera angles in each and every scene are quite fascinating. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
There may have been better musicals, but few left as lasting a cultural impact as Oklahoma!, whose optimistic, broadly American songs by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein became instant and permanent classics. The enduring and endearing music in this Western included the enchanting Oh What a Beautiful Morning! and the clever Surrey with the Fringe on Top as well as the title song. It was based on the smash Broadway play that had its run in the 1940s. Shirley Jones made her film debut as the country girl who falls in love with a cowboy (Gordon MacRae) but is pursued by a sinister farmhand (Rod Steiger, in one of his earliest roles). At 145 minutes, the film is a little too pleased with itself, but the fresh, sunny impact of the movie triumphed. Its corny sentiments perfectly fit the mood of expansive, contented mid-1950s America. The film actually was shot in Arizona! ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
Joseph C. Wright - Art Director, Agnes de Mille - Choreography, Orry-Kelly - Costume Designer, Motley - Costume Designer, Fred Zinnemann - Director, George Boemler - Editor, Gene Ruggiero - Editor, Adolph Deutsch - Composer (Music Score), Rodgers & Hammerstein - Composer (Music Score), Richard Rodgers - Composer (Music Score), Jay Blackton - Composer (Music Score), Robert Russell Bennett - Composer (Music Score), Russell Bennett - Musical Direction/Supervision, Adolph Deutsch - Musical Direction/Supervision, Jay Blackton - Musical Direction/Supervision, Robert Russell Bennett - Musical Direction/Supervision, Oliver Smith - Production Designer, Floyd D.Crosby - Cinematographer, Robert Surtees - Cinematographer, Arthur Hornblow, Jr. - Producer, Fred Hynes - Sound/Sound Designer, Sonya Levien - Screenwriter, William Ludwig - Screenwriter, Oscar Hammerstein II - From Musical by, Lynn Riggs - Play Author
Oklahoma! was the first feature film photographed in the Todd-AO70 mmwidescreen process. It was simultaneously shot in the more established Cinemascope 35 mm format to allow presentation in theaters lacking 70 mm equipment. Hence, there are actually two different versions of the film comprised of different takes.[1][2]
In 2007, Oklahoma! was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Rodgers and Hammerstein personally oversaw the film themselves to prevent the studio from making the changes that were then typical of stage-to-film musical adaptations—such as putting in new songs by different composers. They also maintained artistic control over the film versions of several of their other stage musicals.
The film Oklahoma! followed the original stage version extremely closely, more so than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein stage-to-film adaptation. However, it did divide the very long (more than 45 minutes) first scene into several shorter scenes, changing the locations of several of the songs in the process.
Rather than beginning offstage, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" was now sung as Curly (Gordon MacRae) rode his horse from the now-seen cornfield "as high as an elephant's eye" to Aunt Eller's farm.
"Kansas City" was sung and danced at the local train station where Aunt Eller (Charlotte Greenwood) and other cowboys meet Will Parker (Gene Nelson), who has just returned from said city.
"I Can't Say No" was sung by Ado Annie (Gloria Grahame) at a lakeside where Laurey has been skinny-dipping (very discreetly shown, with no real nudity).
'"Many a New Day" was sung and danced in Laurey's (Shirley Jones) bedroom, as the women, stopping over at the farmhouse on their way to the Skidmore ranch, change their clothes for the upcoming Box Social that evening.
In a nod to Green Grow the Lilacs, which was the basis of Oklahoma!, Jud attempts revenge on Curly and Laurey by burning a haystack they stand on after the wedding, rather than simply attacking Curly with a knife, as in the stage version of the musical. In the film, however, as Curly and Laurey stand atop the burning haystack, Jud still does pull a knife and taunt Curly. The couple jumps down, with Curly landing on Jud and inadvertently causing him to fall on his own knife. (In the film Carousel, another Rodgers and Hammerstein adaptation, Billy Bigelow, also played by Gordon MacRae, would similarly die by accidentally falling on his own knife).
Robert Russell Bennett expanded his Broadway orchestrations, Jay Blackton conducted, and Agnes de Mille again choreographed. The film omitted very little from the stage production, cutting only two songs (Ali Hakim's "It's a Scandal, It's an Outrage" and Jud's "Lonely Room"), and thus ran two-and-a-half hours, much longer than most other screen musicals of the time. The movie of Oklahoma! revived an early talkie trend which had not lasted long—filming stage musicals virtually complete, and showing them as road show attractions (two performances a day, usually with an intermission, like stage productions). Although the film versions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel (1956) and The King and I (1956) did not have intermissions and cut more from the stage originals than did the film version of Oklahoma!, they also ran over two hours, followed the stage originals quite closely and retained most of their songs. South Pacific (1958), as well as most other stage-to-film musical adaptations that came after it, did have an intermission and was also quite long, as was The Sound of Music (1965). The trend of "road show" stage-to-film musicals lasted into the early 1970s, the last of them being the film versions of Fiddler on the Roof (1971) and Man of La Mancha (1972).
In its original theatrical releases, the Magna Corporation handled distribution of the Todd-AO 70 mm version, while RKO Pictures distributed the 35 mmanamorphic CinemaScope version. Later, 20th Century Fox assumed release of the 35 mm edition. Decades later, the major ancillary rights to this film reverted to The Samuel Goldwyn Company and re-issued both the 70 mm and 35 mm versions theatrically. However, home video rights went outside the parameters of Goldwyn. CBS Video acquired the home video license, and later passed on to its successor CBS/Fox Video. After CBS was bought by Viacom in 2000, the CBS/Fox venture folded, and under contract with the estates of Rodgers and Hammerstein, 20th Century Fox assumed the video (and later DVD) rights, as well as other underlying rights, so the Fox studio, in a way, has back some of its rights it had lost years earlier. All U.S. domestic home video versions are currently by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, while Goldwyn Company successor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer now handles theatrical and television rights.
For unexplained reasons the original UKDVD release is a pan and scan version from a noticeably grainy Cinemascope print, even though the companion DVD of South Pacific was taken from a pristine Todd-AO master and presented in widescreen. The 50th Anniversary US DVD release of Oklahoma! by partial rights holder 20th Century Fox is a double-disc release that includes both the Cinemascope and original 70 mm Todd-AO versions in widescreen. Shirley Jones does audio commentary on the Todd-AO presentation.[2] In March 2006 this version was also released in the UK as part of a set of remastered Rodgers & Hammerstein DVDs.
Musical numbers
"Overture" - Orchestra (played before the film actually begins)
"Main Title" - Orchestra (played over the opening credits)
James Dean and Paul Newman screen tested for the role of Curly in the film but the role went to Gordon MacRae. Joanne Woodward also tested for the film.
Eli Wallach was one of the actors considered for the role of Jud.
The "Kansas City" routine was shot in using the original train station in Elgin, Arizona, with some add ons. It also introduced the "Goon Girls" (dancers Lizanne Truex and Jane Fischer), who were an invention of director Zinneman.
In the song "Kansas City", a few lyrics about a burlesquestripteaser had to undergo minor changes to pass film censorship.[1] In the original Broadway musical, the character of Will Parker sings:
I could swear that she was padded from her shoulder to her heel.
But then she started dancing and when she began to peel,
She proved that everything she had was absolutely real!
For the film, these were changed to:
But then she started dancing and her dancing made me feel
The burlesque performers who appear in Laurie's dream sequence were a motley collection of the cast, many of whom can be spotted in their other roles as respectable members of the community.
Magna Corporation, creators and licensors of the Todd-AO widescreen process, offered Rodgers and Hammerstein a substantial stake in the company to secure their cooperation. This explains why a later Rodgers and Hammerstein film, South Pacific (1958) was also photographed in Todd-AO. The Sound of Music (1965) was photographed in Todd-AO as well, however before the film went before the cameras, 20th Century-Fox, the studio that produced The Sound of Music, purchased the Todd-AO process from Mike Todd.
Menschen am Sonntag •Redes •Friend Indeed •They Live Again •Tracking the Sleeping Death •That Mothers Might Live •The Story of Doctor Carver •Weather Wizards •While America Sleeps •Help Wanted •One Against the World •The Ash Can Fleet •Forgotten Victory
1940s
Stuffie •The Great Meddler •The Old South •A Way in the Wilderness •Forbidden Passage •Your Last Act •The Greenie •The Lady or the Tiger? •Kid Glove Killer •Eyes in the Night •The Seventh Cross •Little Mister Jim •My Brother Talks to Horses •The Search •Act of Violence
