MACTby Steven LaVigne
As anyone who’s read about or taken a class in the history of musical theater knows, Oklahoma! was an innovative musical whose original production changed the genre forever. Prior to 1943, musicals usually opened with a chorus of pretty girls singing and dancing in order to draw in the audience, especially the men into the evenings’ proceedings. Oklahoma! jettisoned the chorus girls and opened this musical version of Lynn Riggs’ play, Green Grow the Lilacs, simply, with a woman on a farmhouse porch as an offstage voice described “a bright golden haze on the meadow,” and on his entrance declared “Oh, what a beautiful morning.”
Throughout the show, the audience learned that the scene was Oklahoma territory in 1907, prior to the territory becoming a state. Farmer Laurey Williams lives with her Aunt Eller and can’t decide which man she prefers: Curly McLain, a cowboy or Jud Fry, her brutish farmhand. Meanwhile, her friend Ado Annie Carnes finds herself in a similar situation with cowboy Will Parker and traveling salesman Ali Hakim.
The musical opened midway through World War II and was an immediate hit that ran for 2,212 performances. It established Rodgers and Hammerstein’s style which dealt with controversial issues through music and dance that advanced the plot and sent audiences away humming the tunes and contemplating these issues. Themes including racism, sexism and political mindsets would be addressed against romantic backdrops in America as well as such faraway locales as the South Pacific and historic Siam.
Twentieth Century-Fox bought the screen rights for five of their musicals, but it took 12 years for Oklahoma! to reach the screen.
To many people, its qualities have been overshadowed by the ultimate success of The Sound of Music, one of the most successful movie musicals of all time. To be sure, director Robert Wise certainly captured the beauty of the Austrian Alps and Salzburg, but, frankly, Oklahoma! is a better movie. The original plan was to film on location, but because of all the oil rigs filming was moved to Arizona. The original Broadway cast, now too old for their roles, were replaced by Gordon MacRae as Curly, Shirley Jones (in her film debut) as Laurey, Rod Steiger as Jud, Charlotte Greenwood as Aunt Eller, Gloria Grahame as Ado Annie, Gene Nelson as Will Parker, James Whitmore as Andrew Carnes and Eddie Albert as Ali Hakim.
Rodgers and Hammerstein were so protective of how their first show together was presented that they produced it themselves. This is one reason the movie is so faithful to the stage version. Orry-Kelly and Ann Roth did the clothes, and the production was designed by Oliver Smith. Agnes de Mille was on hand to recreate her masterful choreography as well. Oklahoma! was a high quality production.
Wisely, the movie was placed in the sure hands of Fred Zinnemann (1907-1997), making his only musical. An immigrant from Germany, Zinnemann began his film career as an extra, then as a cinematographer. His films include High Noon (1952 Best Actor winner Gary Cooper); From Here to Eternity (1953 Best Picture with Best Supporting Actors, Frank Sinatra and Donna Reed); The Nun’s Story (1959) starring Audrey Hepburn; A Man for All Seasons (1966 Best Picture Oscar and Best Actor Paul Scofield) and Julia (1977 Best Supporting Actors Jason Robards and Vanessa Redgrave).
The movie was a challenge for everyone involved because it was made in the wide screen format Todd-AO, invented by entrepreneur Mike Todd (Elizabeth Taylor’s third husband). This meant Oklahoma! was the first movie seen in widescreen 70mm. Because by 1955 films were competing with television, such techniques as Vistavision, Panavision and Cinerama helped bring audiences into theaters for bigger entertainment experiences. Indeed, when the Twin Cities lost the Cooper Theater, which had been designed for the round screen experience of Cinerama, we lost an important part of cinema history. (Thankfully, we have the Heights Theater with its Wurlitzer organ, still enhances the cinema experience for audience).
There are very few changes from stage to screen. As we hear the opening strains of music, Robert Surtees’ camera takes us through a cornfield and then we see Curley riding his horse toward Laurey’s farm, where he talks to Aunt Eller and verbally spars with Laurey, telling her about his rig, “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top.” Aunt Eller goes to the train station at Claremore to pick up decorations for the box social that night. Will Parker tells everyone about his visit to “Kansas City,” and it’s here that we get our first glimpses of Agnes de Mille’s work. (Lyrics to the song were altered due to the production code.)
The niece of film director Cecil B. de Mille, she began her career creating movement and dance for some of his films, especially the 1934 Cleopatra starring Claudette Colbert. Moving to New York, she began work with the American Ballet Theater, but in 1943, following the success of her ballet, Rodeo, Rodgers and Hammerstein hired her to stage the dances for Oklahoma!which proved an innovation for the musical theater.“Many a New Day,” “Out of My Dreams” and the “Dream Ballet,” danced by Bambi Lynn and James Mitchell (the only members of the stage production to appear in the film). She was responsible for the choreography in such musicals of the period as Bloomer Girl, Carousel, Brigadoon, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Paint Your Wagon and 110 in the Shade. She both directed and choreographed Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Allegro.
No new songs were written, and in fact, due to its length, two songs from the stage version were left out. While most of the cast had no trouble singing and dancing (and gave us the opportunity of seeing Charlotte Greenwood demonstrate the performance technique that had made her a sensation in the 1920s). The only performer who was shaky was Gloria Grahame as Ado Annie. (Celeste Holm had created the role onstage). At the time of filming, Grahame was recovering from plastic surgery on her upper lip, which made speaking and singing difficult. Like Lucy’s in Mame, Grahame’s vocals had to be pieced together. During ensemble numbers, in fact, Grahame tries to hide instead of appearing on camera. Many also thought she was miscast. This makes her performance all the more interesting.
The actress who’d built a career appearing in film noir classics and won an Oscar for her performance in The Bad and the Beautiful. She was featured in It’s a Wonderful Life and did her own stunts in The Greatest Show on Earth. Grahame caused a scandal when she married Anthony Ray, her former stepson, whose father, film director Nicholas Ray, was Grahame’s second husband. Following her performance as Ado Annie, Grahame focused on stage and television work. Her last movie was Chilly Scenes of Winter (1971). She died from cancer in 1981.
One of the most respected actors of all time, Rod Steiger delivers a terrific performance as Jud Fry. Oklahoma! was only his fourth film and he’d previously received praise for his role as Marlon Brando’s brother in On the Waterfront. Steiger not only did his own singing in this film, but, because none of the dancers were as big and burly, played Jud in the “Dream Ballet.” Steiger’s other films include The Pawnbroker, Doctor Zhivago and his Oscar-winning performance for In the Heat of the Night.
Over the decades, the original print began fading, so in 2014, Oklahoma! was restored, and the print now available is pristine and every bit as beautiful as it was in 1955. It proves why this innovative musical continues to be produced so frequently. It’s just that good.