Oklahoma! (1955)

Director:

Fred Zinnemann

Writers:

Sonya Levien (screen play) and
William Ludwig (screen play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

9 January 1956 (Brazil)

Genre:

Musical | Romance | Western

Tagline:

Now a motion picture as big as all outdoors! (first run Todd-AO version)

Plot:

In the Oklahoma territory at the turn of the twentieth century, two young cowboys vie with an evil ranch...

Plot Keywords:

Peddler | Oklahoma | Cowboy | Ranch Hand | Kansas City

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Gordon MacRae	...	Curly McLain
Gloria Grahame	...	Ado Annie Carnes
Gene Nelson	...	Will Parker
Charlotte Greenwood	...	Aunt Eller
Shirley Jones	...	Laurey Williams
Eddie Albert	...	Ali Hakim
James Whitmore	...	Mr. Carnes
Rod Steiger	...	Jud Fry
Barbara Lawrence	...	Gertie Cummings
Jay C. Flippen	...	Skidmore
Roy Barcroft	...	Marshal
James Mitchell	...	Dream Curly / Dancer
Bambi Linn	...	Dream Laurey / Dancer
Jennie Workman	...	Dancer
Virginia Bosler	...	Dancer
Kelly Brown	...	Dancer
Evelyn Taylor	...	Dancer
Lizanne Truex	...	Dancer
Jane Fischer	...	Dancer
Marc Platt	...	Dancer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jerry Dealey	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Al Ferguson	...	Cowboy at Auction (uncredited)
Ben Johnson	...	Wrangler (uncredited)
Donald Kerr	...	Farmer at Dance (uncredited)
Nancy Kilgas	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Rory Mallinson	...	Young Cowboy at Box Lunch Auction (uncredited)
Buddy Roosevelt	...	Cowboy at Auction (uncredited)
Russell Simpson	...	The Minister (uncredited)
Dolores Starr	...	Dancer (uncredited)

Directed by
Fred Zinnemann

Writing credits
Sonya Levien		(screen play) and
William Ludwig		(screen play)
Lynn Riggs		(based upon a dramatic play by)

Produced by
Arthur Hornblow Jr.	....	producer
Oscar Hammerstein II	....	executive producer (uncredited)
Richard Rodgers	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Robert Surtees		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Gene Ruggiero		(film editor)
George Boemler		(uncredited)

Casting by
Jack Friedkin		(uncredited)
William Maybery		(uncredited)
Ted Stanhope		(uncredited)

Production Design by
Oliver Smith

Art Direction by
Joseph C. Wright		(as Joseph Wright)

Set Decoration by
F. Keogh Gleason		(as Keogh Gleason)

Costume Design by
Sophie Devine		(costumes by) (as Motley)
Orry-Kelly		(costumes) (as Orry Kelly)
Charles Arrico		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Annabell	....	hair stylist
Ben Lane	....	makeup
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Donald W. Roberson	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Percy Ikerd	....	production manager (uncredited)
Samuel Lambert	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arthur S. Black Jr.	....	assistant director (as Arthur Black Jr)
Milton Carter	....	assistant director (uncredited)
James Curtis Havens	....	second unit director (uncredited)
Russ Haverick	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Howard Joslin	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Edward F. Mull	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Robert E. Relyea	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Jack Voglin	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Frank Wesselhoff	....	painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Fred Hynes	....	recording supervisor
Joe Edmondson	....	sound mixer (uncredited)
C.J. 'Mickey' Emerson	....	sound recordist (uncredited)
Joseph I. Kane	....	dubbing (uncredited)
Kendrick Kinney	....	sound editor (uncredited)
John Lipow	....	sound editor (uncredited)
John Logan	....	sound editor (uncredited)
Milo B. Lory	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Paul Morrell	....	optical effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Ben Johnson	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Shirley Lucas	....	stunt double: Shirley Jones (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Schuyler Crail	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Floyd Crosby	....	second unit photographer (uncredited)
Bob Gilbreath	....	helicopter pilot: aerial camera helicopter (uncredited)
Bobby Moreno	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Al St. Hilaire	....	still photographer: second unit (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Frank Beetson Jr.	....	wardrobe (as Frank Beetson)
Ann Peck	....	wardrobe
Joan Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Alvord Eiseman	....	color consultant: Technicolor, Eastman Color
Howard Epstein	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Don Tomlinson	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Robert Russell Bennett	....	musical arranger
Jay Blackton	....	conductor
Jay Blackton	....	music supervisor
Adolph Deutsch	....	adaptor: background music
Adolph Deutsch	....	conductor: background music
Oscar Hammerstein II	....	book and lyrics by
Robert Helfer	....	music co-ordinator
Ralph Avseev	....	music editor (uncredited)
Robert Russell Bennett	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Alexander Courage	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Ralph Ives	....	music editor (uncredited)
Richard Melfer	....	music coordinator (uncredited)
Albert Sendrey	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Barney Briskin	....	production executive
Agnes de Mille	....	dances stager
John Fearnley	....	production aide
Oscar Hammerstein II	....	presents (as Hammerstein)
Richard Rodgers	....	presents (as Rodgers)
Schuyler A. Sanford	....	technician: Todd-AO
Jus Addiss	....	dialogue coach (uncredited)
John Dutton	....	script supervisor (uncredited)
John Emerson	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Larry Glickman	....	title designer (uncredited)
Ralph M. Leo	....	location auditor (uncredited)
H. Thomas Wood	....	unit publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Magna Theatre Corporation
• Rodgers & Hammerstein Productions (as Rodgers & Hammerstein Pictures)

Distributors

• Magna Theatre Corporation (1955) (USA) (theatrical) (Todd-AO version) (as A Magda Release)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1955) (USA) (theatrical) (35mm CinemaScope version)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (35mm CinemaScope version)
• RKO Radio Films (1956) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Rank Film (1956) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1957) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1957) (France) (theatrical) (as RKO Radio Films)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1970) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere) (pan/scan)
• Samuel Goldwyn Company, The (19??) (USA) (TV) (pan/scan)
• Samuel Goldwyn Company, The (199?) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Park Circus (2006) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• CBS/Fox (1994) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/CBS Home Video (1981) (USA) (video) (CED VideoDisc)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• American Optical Company  developed by: Produced in Todd-AO (as The American Optical Company)
• Angel Records  soundtrack released by (1990's CD edition) (uncredited)
• Angel Records  soundtrack released by (2001 expanded CD edition) (uncredited)
• Capitol Records  soundtrack released by (1955 LP and first CD version) (uncredited)
• Pacific Title and Art Studio  title designer (uncredited)
• Theatre Guild  originally produced on the stage by (as The Theatre Guild)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

145 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Sound System) (CinemaScope version) (35 mm magnetic prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Mono (Western Electric Sound System) (35 mm optical prints)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | UK:U | USA:G (1982) | Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | West Germany:12 | Australia:G | New Zealand:G | USA:Approved Certificate #17398) | UK:U (video rating) (1986) (1992) | Netherlands:14 (original rating) (1956) | Sweden:15 | Sweden:Btl (re-rating) (1967)

Filming Locations:

Amado, Arizona, USA

Company:

Magna Theatre Corporation

Trivia:

Tone deaf, Gloria Grahame, who played Ado Annie, sang without dubbing, which required that her songs to be edited together from recordings made almost literally note by note.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Laurie walks into her house when the crowd arrives before going to the Skidmore party, she hears the two girls talking about Curley. One girl's hair is in a long ponytail. The camera pans around the room, and when it goes back to Laurie and the two girls, the girl's hair is no longer in a ponytail.

Quotes:

[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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "M*A*S*H: Bottle Fatigue (#8.16)" (1980)

Soundtrack:

People Will Say We're In Love

OH, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MOVIE...

After seeing OKLAHOMA! on the screen in Todd-AO for the first time 44 years ago, it immediately became my all-time favorite film. Today, it still holds that lofty ranking.

The beautiful Rodgers & Hammerstein score includes some of the greatest music ever written. The two collaborated on nine broadway musicals, many of which were adapted to the screen, notably CAROUSEL, SOUTH PACIFIC, THE KING AND I, and THE SOUND OF MUSIC, but OKLAHOMA! tops them all.

Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones are perfectly cast as the young couple experiencing the magic of first love, and their singing of some of the show's classic tunes, such as "Surry With the Fringe On Top" and "People Will Say We're In Love" is a pleasure to listen to.

Miss Jones, making her screen debut as Laurie Williams, instantly establishes her image of the "girl next door"--did I grow up in the wrong neighborhood? She is captivatingly charming as she tries to make Curly (MacRae) jealous by accepting a date to the box social with her Aunt Eller's hired farmhand, Jud Fry, played menacingly by Rod Steiger.

It is the supporting cast of characters that really bring this musical to life--particularly Aunt Eller, played by Charlotte Greenwood. Doesn't everyone have an Aunt Eller in their life? Then there's Ado Annie Carnes (Gloria Grahame) and her longsuffering boyfriend Will Parker (Gene Nelson), who lights up the screen with a great dance number. Throw in a travelling salesman, Ali Hakim (Eddie Albert); Gertie Cummings (Barbara Lawrence), who tries to steal Curly away from Laurie; and Mr. Carnes (James Whitmore), who insists on a shotgun wedding for his daughter, Ado Annie, rather than see her marry Will; and you have some unforgettable characters indeed.

The film's one dissenting note was the class distinction warfare between the handsome, clean-cut Curly, who everyone knows "Laurie has her cap set fer" and the rough and dirty, working-class Jud. Jud meets his untimely end, but, after all, he is the villain.

Not to fear, it's a happy ending for all. Curly gets Laurie, Will gets Ado Annie, and Ali Hakim gets....Gertie? When Ado Annie and Gertie get into a jealous fight which Will attempts to break up, explaining "I'm trying to keep Ado Annie from killing your wife", Ali Hakim responds, "Why don't you mind your own business?" In the end, the farmer and the cowman do learn to get along and become friends, the new schoolhouse gets built, and the Oklahoma territory is about to become a state.

OKLAHOMA! won two Oscars, for Best Sound Recording and Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. How could they go wrong with great orchestral direction by Robert Russell Bennett and the musical score by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II? The American theatre will never see their equal again.