DVDs: First R&H; Hit Comes to the Screen
"Unwilling to trust our first child to anyone but ourselves, we have formed our own picture company. If anything is wrong with the picture, blame us. We take full responsibility."
So wrote Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II in the souvenir program that accompanied the 1955 release of the film version of Oklahoma! By the mid-'50s, the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein had written one musical directly for the screen, State Fair 1945. But Hollywood eagerly awaited the opportunity to preserve the Rodgers and Hammerstein catalogue of stage hits that already included Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, and The King and I. The first Rodgers and Hammerstein collaboration, Oklahoma!, would be the first one to make it to the screen.
Rodgers and Hammerstein had been turning down offers for the screen rights to their singular triumph Oklahoma! ever since the show opened in 1943. They realized that Oklahoma! was in for a long run, and would have an equally lengthy life on the road. As it turned out, the Broadway production closed in 1948 with a couple of returns soon thereafter, but the national touring company didn't conclude its journey until 1954. Only then would the team permit Oklahoma! to be made into a motion picture.
But there was another factor that made them decide that the time was finally right for a screen Oklahoma! They saw a demonstration of a new cinematic process called Todd-AO named after its conceiver, producer Mike Todd, in which a wraparound projection on a huge, curved screen was able to make audiences feel as if they were actually in the scene and not just watching it. Oklahoma! would be the first narrative film shot in the new technique.
The movie was produced for Magna Productions by Arthur Hornblow and distributed by 20th Century-Fox. But Rodgers and Hammerstein maintained full control over all aspects of the picture and were in charge of making all key decisions. Hired to direct was Fred Zinneman, guiding the first and last musical of his career. Expanded for the screen was the original Broadway choreography by Agnes de Mille, including the lengthy "Laurey Makes Up Her Mind" dream ballet. Sonya Levien and William Ludwig's screenplay opened up the action to include more exterior scenes, but for the most part remained faithful to Hammerstein's stage script.
Paul Newman and James Dean were considered for Curly, but the role went to popular singer Gordon MacRae. Joanne Woodward was considered for Laurey, but the part went to Shirley Jones, a young actress who had already been in the Broadway choruses of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific and Me and Juliet. Jones had no experience in films whatsoever, and hadn't even played a leading role on stage. But she proved a natural.
Eli Wallach and Richard Burton were mentioned for Jud, but Rod Steiger ultimately played the role persuasively. Perfect for the part of Aunt Eller was Charlotte Greenwood, who had been sought for the role in the '43 original. From the original Broadway cast but not in their original stage roles were dancers Bambi Linn and Marc Platt. Not only are all of the film principals who also included Gene Nelson and Gloria Grahame excellent, but they all did their own singing. Jud's operatic solo, "Lonely Room," is dropped, along with "It's a Scandal! It's a Outrage!" And "Out of My Dreams" was made into a solo.
The film was budgeted at $6,800,000, the costliest movie musical to date. Adding to the expense was the fact that Oklahoma! had to be shot twice, once in Todd-AO for the limited number of theatres equipped to show the process, and again in CinemaScope for general release. Much of the film was shot on the MGM lot in Culver City, California, but there was extensive location shooting, not in Oklahoma but instead in Arizona.
The film received mostly favorable reviews. In The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther felt that it "magnifies and strengthens all the charm that it had upon the stage...matches in vitality, eloquence and melody any musical this reviewer has ever seen."
The Oklahoma! film was a major box-office success, and is generally admired as a solid movie version of a classic musical. Somewhat harsher in his assessment of the picture was Rodgers, who wrote in his autobiography that "The wide-screen process was not always ideal for the more intimate scenes, and I don't think the casting was totally satisfactory." But viewed today, the Oklahoma! film holds up well, with Zinneman evincing considerable trust in the material by not tampering unduly with it. And the film is now particularly valuable for its preservation of at least some of the original de Mille choreography, notably the expressionistic, deliberately artificial-looking dream ballet.
The original, single DVD release of the Oklahoma! film gave us only the Todd-AO version. The newly released, fiftieth-anniversary double-DVD set includes both the Todd-AO and CinemaScope versions. There are three accompanying short subjects. The new one, "CinemaScope vs. Todd-AO," describes and compares the two processes. One wishes more time had been devoted to comparing the two versions of Oklahoma!; about all we get is a note on the difference in opening credits. "The Miracle of Todd-AO" was a featurette shown in theatres that exhibited the Todd-AO Oklahoma!, demonstrating the wonders of the process by taking us on a ride on a rollercoaster, down a highway, and skiing. Another period short, "The March of Todd-AO," demonstrates how the process could take one to important world events by showing us conflict in the Middle East, the Brussels' World's Fair, and the selection of a new pope in Rome.
As an additional bonus, there are two Oklahoma! songs as performed on the 1954 General Foods television salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein, sung by Florence Henderson, from the national tour, and MacRae, auditioning for a role he probably already had.
And each of the two Oklahoma! films comes complete with full-length audio commentary. The CinemaScope version offers a conversation between Ted Chapin, President of the R&H Organization, and Hammerstein biographer and record producer Hugh Fordin. They offer a persuasive annotation and appreciation of both the work itself and of the strengths of the film, with particular attention to the contributions of Zinneman and de Mille.
The Todd-AO version has Shirley Jones, questioned by Nick Redman. If the conversation peters out well before the film comes to an end, it has its moments. Jones recalls the unique contract with Rodgers and Hammerstein that led to her co-starring role in the film. Contrary to reports elsewhere, Jones says they didn't have to shoot everything twice for the two versions of the film, because sometimes both cameras were running simultaneously.
Jones says the film's Ado Annie, Gloria Grahame, was extremely competitive, and tried to give Jones food when Jones was trying hard to diet during shooting. Redman says that Grahame's vocals had to be stitched together note by note. Jones developed a crush on the film's Will Parker, Gene Nelson. She states that Steiger had no sense of humor, and that when she played Laurey in a European stage tour subsequent to the film, director Rouben Mamoulian who had staged the original production hired then fired Steiger. Jones recalls that de Mille was in frequent conflict with Zinneman and Rodgers, and believes that of the R&H team, it was Hammerstein who had the last word on decisions.
One major drawback to this new Oklahoma! DVD release must be noted. While the CinemaScope film looks dandy, the Todd-AO version looks somewhat cloudy and washed-out, and actually appeared sharper on the previous DVD release. So those who bought the first Oklahoma! DVD some years back will wish to hold on to that version.