Oklahoma!

BBBBB

(out of 5)

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s first musical success arrives on the big screen with all its gorgeous beauty and lively songs intact. Shirley Jones couldn’t be cuter as Laurey Morgan, a young girl in turn-of-the-century Oklahoma (a territory on the verge of becoming a state at the time), who resists her feelings for Curley (Gordon MacRae) while being harassed by the menacing (and, well, insane) Jed (Rod Steiger).  On the side, Gene Nelson and Gloria Grahame have a little romance in dire straits because Ado Annie (Grahame) just “cain’t say no” to any men who “talks purty” to her. All the songs are memorable, climaxing with the Act I Finale ballet sequence, probably one of the best examples of dance on film (choreographed by Agnes deMille) and the best part of the film. The music is all scored richly and to perfection, with state-of-the-art sound adding much to the overall experience.

USA, 1955

Directed by Fred Zinnemann

Screenplay by Sonya Levien, William Ludwig, based on the musical play by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, from the play Green Grow The Rushes by Lynn Riggs

Cinematography by Robert Surtees

Produced by Arthur Hornblow Jr.

Music by Richard Rodgers

Production Design by Oliver Smith

Costume Design by Sophie Devine, Orry-Kelly

Film Editing by George Boemler

Cast Tags:  Bambi Linn, Barbara Lawrence, Charlotte Greenwood, Eddie Albert, Evelyn Taylor, Gene Nelson, Gloria Grahame, Gordon MacRae, James Mitchell, James Whitmore, Jane Fischer, Jay C. Flippen, Jennie Workman, Kelly Brown, Lizanne Truex, Marc Platt, Rod Steiger, Roy Barcroft, Shirley Jones, Virginia Bosler

Academy Awards
Best Music (Music Score of a Musical Picture) (Robert Russell Bennett, Jay Blackton, Adolph Deutsch)
Best Sound Recording (Todd-AO Sound Department, Fred Hynes, sound director)

Nominations
Best Cinematography (Colour) (Robert Surtees)
Best Film Editing (Gene Ruggiero, George Boemler)

Writers Guild Award Nomination
Best Written American Musical