Oklahoma! (1955)
US 145m, Colour
Director: Fred Zinnemann; Cast: Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Rod Steiger, Charlotte Greenwood, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, James Whitmore and Eddie Albert.
Oklahoma! is an extravagant widescreen western musical based on the Rodgers and Hammerstein 1943 musical stage play of the same name. Thin on plot, a young woman named Laurie agrees to go to the social with a gruff farm hand named Jud, despite the fact that she is in love with Curley, a colourful singing cowboy. Standing in contrast to the lighthearted lyrics and the jaunty melodies, the film’s more dramatic moments are ridiculously dark and unexpectedly violent (Klaus Ming October 2016).
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5 comments on “Oklahoma! (1955)”
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The sequel Jud vs. Candyman
Jud may be the villain but Laurie is the most despicable character here. I felt truly sorry for Jud… until he started burning the place down.
Though her actions were terrible, I saw her largely oblivious to her situation. I felt sorry for Jud until his discussion with Curly, and I realized where his head was at. Overall, not a very likable movie, despite all of the the singing and dancing and corny humor.
Our community theater put on a production of Oklahoma! just last year. One advantage of the film version to any stage version is the wonderful photography of the waad open spaces!
No doubt, this was a beautifully filmed movie with some very pretty scenery! As for the songs, I find this style of musical hurts my head. I prefer something like this: https://klausming.wordpress.com/2009/05/26/hedwig-and-the-angry-inch-2001/