One of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s first movie-musicals, Oklahoma! paints a love story over the backdrop of the Old West. There is luscious scenery and delightful songs, but it comes up a tad short as a total package. That isn’t to say that it’s not enjoyable.Laurey (Shirley Jones- aka Mrs. Partridge) and Curly (Gordon MacRae) are a stubborn pair who gradually realize they love each other. Both like the other’s attention initially and enjoy flirting and teasing each other and over time they realize that they mean more to each other than they had ever let themselves accept. The antagonist to all this is Jud (Rod Steiger), the surly farmhand who has had his eye on Laurey for some time, exhibiting stalker-like tendencies even.
Determined to have Laurey for his own, Jud takes advantage of Laurey and Curly’s flirty feuding and asks her to the box social. She agrees to spite Curly, but immediately regrets the decision because she has always been a little creeped out by Jud. At the box social there is a bidding war between Jud and Curly for Laurey’s picnic basket (really a feud over Laurey herself). Tension invariably gives way to a happy ending and a raucously good song.
Most of the acting is pretty good. The Ado Annie character, despite her admitted wild behavior, is actually quite bland and uninteresting. Because all the men are dressed up like cowboys and farmers, it is a little difficult to keep some of the supporting characters straight, but that’s all fairly amenable.
Good music and good songs abound in this classic film. The songs reflect the lifestyles and mindsets of a simpler time and the people struggling to make ends meet as farmers and ranchers. The music seems to flow right out of the grain, through the wind and into our ears. Rodgers & Hammerstein really have their songwriting polished at even their earliest stages of the movie-musical game.
The one thing I had trouble with was how long some of the songs and musical numbers went on because of randomly-placed dance pieces. I can understand that girls get excited while dressing up for the big social event of the year, but do we really need a couple minutes of ballet from the youngest of the farm girls? The dancing is good, but it slows down the pace of the film and I did get a little bored with it.
Another very bizarre segment is during a dream Laurey has about what it would be like to be married to Jud. It’s trippy and dark. I couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be some kind of stylistic artsy expressionism or just something weird enough to contrast against the light fluffy farm life. It involved lots of red lighting, a little burlesque dancing and some interesting set designs.
On the whole, Oklahoma! is a pretty good little film. It’s got a decent story and lots of fun music. The use of on location filming in addition to the soundstage work was a nice touch and really helped me feel like I was in a real world. It’s the first collaboration for Rodgers and Hammerstein and I think that shows through in places. The excessive amount of dance numbers and mishmash of styles here and there show a creative team in the early stages of refining their talents and searching for something new, exciting and entertaining. For the most part, they found it and it translates well onto the screen.
RATING: 3.25 out of 5
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