Oklahoma! (1955) | |
| Director(s) | Fred Zinnemann |
| Producer(s) | Arthur Hornblow Jr., Oscar Hammerstein II (executive uncredited), Richard Rodgers (executive uncredited) |
| Top Genres | Musical, Romance, Western |
| Top Topics | Based on Play, Ranchers, Romance (Musical) |
Featured Cast:
Oklahoma! Overview:
Oklahoma! (1955) was a Musical - Romance Film directed by Fred Zinnemann and produced by Arthur Hornblow Jr., Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers.
The film was based on the play Green Grow the Lilacs written by Samuel A. Taylor performed at the Guild Theatre, NY from Jan 26, 1931 - Mar 21, 1931.
SYNOPSIS
In this beloved Rodgers and Hammerstein musical (their first brought to the screen), an adorable 19-year-old Jones, in her screen debut, must choose a suitor to accompany her to a social: the righteous cowboy (MacRae) or the brooding farm hand (Steiger). From this simple scenario develops humor, fighting, dancing (including a breakthrough dream sequence choreographed by Agnes De Mille), and singing. The entire production was filmed twice, with one take for the new Todd A-O format and one for the regular CinemaScope aspect ratio. There is now laserdisc version of the Todd A-O takes, which some consider vastly superior. Includes the enduring songs "People will say were in love," "Oh, what a beautiful mornin'," and "Oklahoma!"
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.Oklahoma! was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2007.
Academy Awards 1955 --- Ceremony Number 28 (source: AMPAS)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Cinematography | Robert Surtees | Nominated |
| Best Film Editing | Gene Ruggiero, George Boemler | Nominated |
| Best Music - Scoring | Robert Russell Bennett, Jay Blackton, Adolph Deutsch | Won |
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Quotes from
Dancer: There's sometimes women ain't got no need for men.
Ado Annie Carnes: Yeah, but who wants to be dead?
Jud Fry: Look at me. I'm a hired hand. I got dirt on my hands. Pig slop. I ain't fit to touch you, am I - you're better. Oh, you're so much better, Miss Laurey Williams! Well we'll see how much better you are, and then you won't be so free and easy and hifalutin' with your airs! You such a FINE lady!
[first lines]
Curly: [singing] There's a bright golden haze on the meadow, There's a bright golden haze on the meadow. The corn is as high as a elephant's eye, And it looks like it's climbin' clear up to the sky. Oh, what a beautiful mornin', Oh, what a beautiful day! I got a beautiful feelin' Everything's goin' my way.
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Facts about
The musical that this film is based on was originally entitled "Away We Go!" The title was changed to "Oklahoma!" after the popularity of that song with the play's initial audiences. It was the first Broadway musical in which every single song had a direct relation to the plot, and in which there were none that were simply musical interludes. (Even "Show Boat", which actually is the first Broadway musical in which most of the songs have a direct relation to the plot, originally had one or two numbers which were simply thrown in so that something could be going on while the scenery was being changed, or even to suit certain cast members who perforned "specialties" in the original 1927 production. These specialties were deleted from later productions of "Show Boat".)
The original Broadway production of "Oklahoma!" opened at the St. James Theater in New York City on May 31, 1943 and ran for 2,212 performances, setting a record for a musical.
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