daviddaphneredding
I saw this movie as a boy in 1957, although it was released in 1955, I own the VHS of it now, so I guess it can be said that it has never gotten away from me for all but slightly over ten years of my life. I do believe it is my favorite Rodgers & Hammerstein movie. And too, Magna Productions and the director Fred Zinnemann should have been proud, and no doubt were. All the dance numbers were excellently done, thus great talent on the parts of the dancers was very clearly shown. This movie, the first for Shirley Jones (who played Laurey), even at this early stage launched her career. She was very appealing and heart-melting. It was also a signature movie for Gordon MacRae, who played the cowboy Curly. Eddie Albert was in the movie for decorative purposes, playing the Persian peddler Ali Hakam, and he did bring about a lot of laughs. It was also, undeniably, a change of pace for Gloria Graham: basically, she played the parts of very pretty ladies, but in this movie she was worse than ridiculous as Ado Annie Carnes, a ridiculous, naïve, and not-so-bright a girl. She was the love interest of Will Parker, a not-so-bright cowboy; Gene Nelson was adept as both an actor and a dancer. Charlotte Greenwood as the widowed elderly lady Aunt Eller who seemed to keep so many people together was perfect for her role. Rod Steiger was definitely not out of character, as Jud Fry, the mean ranch hand for Laurey, since he practically always played mean men. It was quite agreeably surprising to see Roy Barcroft in a straight role as the Marshal; it was definitely a change-of-pace for this man who so very often played a crook in so many B westerns.Some of the musical numbers are practically classics, such as "The Surrey with the Fringe on the Top", "O What a Beautiful Morning", and of course the title song "Oklahoma!" (A few years later that became the official state song for the Sooner State.) The dream sequence was one of the best dance numbers I have seen in any movie; Bambi Lynn and James Mitchell were excellent in it. In this western there was little violence: Curly and Jud Fry did get involved in an altercation toward the end.This movie is just right for people like me who like westerns and mind-sticking musicals. Truly, it can never be forgotten.
ironhorse_iv
Oh what a beautiful morning! Yes, what a wonderful day! You know, I've got a beautiful feeling! Everything's, everything's going my way! Yes, indeed, it's a great time to talk about this classic musical. Based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs, and turn into a Broadway musical in 1943 by a team of composers, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. In return, the stage play was turn into a 1955 movie musical, which itself was a box-office smash, not only with audiences, but with critics. The film won several Academy Awards that year. Set in 1906 Oklahoma, the movie tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain (Gordon MacRae) looking forward to asking his long-time, off and on, girlfriend, farm girl Laurey Williams (Shirley Jones) to the box social dance. Only to find out, that her creepy farm hand, Jud Fry (Rod Steiger) has ask her out, first. Laurey accept his hand, only to regret it, later, when he tries to committed unlawful advantages toward her. Now Curly must find a way to rescue his girl from this brute, before it's too late. Can Curly save Laurey or will Curly and Laurey end up getting burn? Watch the movie to find out! Without spoiling the movie, too much; I have to say, that this film was very disappointing to me. I thought, some of the songs were somewhat too generic peachy & All-American bland. A good example is the love ballad, 'People Will Say we're in Love'. I was really, hoping for a stronger, more risky love piece. Another thins that kinda upset me about the songs used in the film is the censorships. I don't like, how the song, "Kansas City' was rewritten to make it, more family-friendly, yet they have songs like 'Poor Jud is daid', being allowed. I found that song, in which the hero try to suggest the villain to commit suicide to be out of character, crude, and disturbing. I really don't get, how Curly can be, call a hero, after that!? I don't like, how the film omit, some songs like "It's a Scandal, It's an Outrage" and "Lonely Room". "Lonely Room" more, because that song gave Jud, so much, more depth that was really needed. Songs like "The Farmer and the Cowman" are just awful. First off, it does not further the plot, at all. Second off, the lyrics are repetitive, corny, annoying, and childish uninspiring. Last, I dislike how the song end, mid-through, because of a fight, only to continue after worth. It was a waste of time. Talking about waste of time, any of the songs that Will Parker (Gene Nelson) & Ado Annie (Gloria Grahame) had to sing, felt like filler. I really didn't care about their love subplot, at all, due to their horrible acting. I really didn't like, how Gloria Grahame plays Ado Annie at all. She seem more like a clueless naïve asexual bookworm, than a floozy. Also, she sings as if she's about pee her pants. I really don't get, why they hired a tone-deaf actress for this role!? Honestly, most of the characters seem, underdeveloped and unlikeable. I really can't like, Curly, because he's the one that kinda leaded Laurey into making stupid decision. Second off, I can't really, feel bad for Laurey, because her troubles began when she was trying to spite Curly. It's her damn fault! The few characters that I seem to like, was Jud. The reason, why is because Rod Steiger really play him, wonderful. Also as creepy as Jud is, it's hard not to feel at least a little sorry for him, with the way he's ostracized by the town and seems to be completely starved for affection. He had the most character development, and by far, had one of the better singing voices in the film. I just hate, the film ends him, very anticlimax. Another character that I love, is Aunt Eller (Charlotte Greenwood). She had some of the best funny one-liners in the film. The songs that I love are, 'Oklahoma', 'Oh, What a beautiful Morning', & 'The Surrey with the Fringe on Top". They're by far, the most entertaining parts of the film. It's also nice to hear that the song "Oklahoma" was made the state song in 1953. Another thing that I adore, is the surreal ballet dream sequence. While, I really found it to be, out of place. It's by far, the best thing in the film. Way better than those cheesy tap dance numbers. Not only that, you really get to see, the fever dream, that the writer was going through, when writing this sequence. Writer, Lorenz Hart was going through, his longstanding alcoholism, when ask to help out on Oklahoma by Hammerstein & Rodgers. You really get to see, his downward spiral, here in this part. Sadly, the alcoholism, was too much for him, as he had to exit the product, because writing anymore, and Rodgers & Hammerstein, went to find a new collaborator. Parts of his work, are still shown here. Surprising, the film 'Oklahoma!' follows, the original stage version extremely closely, more so than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein stage-to-film adaptation. It does help, that Rodgers & Hammerstein personally oversaw the film to prevent the studio from making much changes. While 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', for me, it wasn't that good. Overall: As a 'book musical'! It doesn't work. The songs and dances are not fully integrated into a well-made story with serious dramatic goals that are able to evoke genuine emotions other than laughter. While, upbeat, and colorful in 1950s. These days, the musical movie comes off, as very vanilla & plain. Way too sweet for a cowboy film. I do recommended watching, but it's has little to no re-watch ability for me.
mark.waltz
It took seemingly forever for the first Broadway musical teaming of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein to make it to the screen. The Broadway production lasted 7 years, and the touring production, which would later come back to Broadway, kept the anticipation for the movie version at a great height. New York has been revisited by the musical numerous times, through brief City Center revivals in the 1950's and 60's, a Lincoln Center production in 1969, a successful production in 1979 and as recently as 2002, a revival based upon a successful London revision which was filmed for BBC and PBS starring Hugh Jackmann. I saw that brilliant Broadway production which only increased my admiration for the film, one of the very first movie versions of a Broadway musical I saw in my youth.It is ironic that the play, "Green Grows the Lilacs", has pretty much disappeared other than as a script since the first production of the musical in 1943. A folksy reminder of home, family, friendship and the power of the land, it was the definitive Broadway show for the era of World War II. While the movie opened long after the war had ended, it was greeted with cheers and has remained a favorite among connoisseurs of Broadway musicals, praised for remaining faithful to the original book. The film has perfect casting with Gordon MacRae as the cowboy Curly, Shirley Jones as the sweet but feisty Laurie, Charlotte Greenwood as the leggy Aunt Eller, Gene Nelson as good ole' boy Will, Gloria Grahame as the flirty Ado Annie (as far from her film noir roles as you can get!) and Rod Steiger as the misunderstood Jud, a villain you empathize with.MacRae and Jones are as memorable a team as Jeanette and Nelson, Judy and Mickey, Kathryn and Howard, and of course, Gordon and Doris. It is sad that their teaming came towards the end of the big movie musical era with only one other pairing ("Carousel") and that Jones is more remembered as a mother on a TV sitcom than for her musical talents and dramatic abilities which won her an Oscar for the powerful "Elmer Gantry". MacRae is masculine without being macho, rugged without being a bully, and confidant without being egocentric. Greenwood utilizes her trademark kick in the big "Kansas City" production number, still able to do this 30 years after her success as a singing and dancing Broadway comic. Grahame manages to instill Ado Annie with heart as well as feistiness, and while maybe a tad too old for the part, is still convincing. As for the songs, it is one of the most sung Broadway scores in history, but some of these songs ("Many a New Day" and "All Er' Nuthin'" to name a few) have been lost in the success of the score. "Many a New Day", in particularly, has been beautifully filmed, and is one of my favorite moments in the film. Of the songs cut from the original score and not utilized in the film, their absence doesn't take anything away from the movie and has helped speed it up a bit as well. Director Fred Zinneman gives the film a perfect pacing, and the entire ensemble pitches in to make this a rousing classic that will remain legendary while other films will fade into obscurity.
