Venturing Into "Oklahoma!"

I have a love hate relationship with the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical films. On the one hand, I have great affection for some of their later work, which I was familiar with as a child, especially "Sound of Music" and "Cinderella." On the other hand, some of their older, more ambitious titles like "Carousel" and "South Pacific" have left me cold. I appreciate that they were very forward-looking for their time, often tackling themes of race relations and class tensions. Problematic as it was in some respects, I strongly respect and appreciate "Flower Drum Song," a groundbreaking film about the Asian-American experience. The trouble is that many of these stories have aged very badly, often relying on caricatures that are so outdated that they seem alien to the modern viewer. So I wasn't looking forward to "Oklahoma!" the first Rodgers and Hammerstein collaboration for stage that premiered in 1943, and was adapted to screen in 1955. The film was a huge success and it seems like everyone of my parents' generation can sing a few bars of "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin.'" But does it hold up in 2012?

For the first hour of "Oklahoma!" it didn't seem likely. A cowboy named Curly (Gordon McRae) courts pretty Laurey (Shirley Jones). Laurey and her Aunt Eller (Charlotte Greenwood) own a small farm and ranch, under the care of a hired man, Jud Fry (Rod Steiger). Curly and Laurey are clearly in love and meant to be together, but both are stubborn young hotheads, and a minor tiff prompts Laurey to agree to go to the local dance with Jud. This proves to be a grave mistake, as Jud is possessive of Laurey, jealous of Curly, and easily riled. Curly and Laurey's adolescent teasing and flouncing, coupled with a farcical subplot involving the love triangle of comic characters Will Parker (Gene Nelson), Ado Annie (Gloria Grahame), and Ali Hakim (Eddie Albert), make the opening of "Oklahoma!" a real slog. Most of the characters are so broad, and so simplistic, it's difficult to take them seriously. The stylized Midwest patter doesn't help matters, often more distracting than charming. A solo by the goofy Ado Annie is particularly hard to sit through. "Oklahoma!" is famous for having ushered in a new era of psychological complexity and dramatic heft in musicals, but precious little of that is evident until the end of the first act.

The turning point is a ballet dream sequence, where Laurey dreams of Curly and Jud fighting over her affections and the possible consequences. Suddenly the full scope of the orchestral score is unleashed, and the pioneering 70 mm format is used to its full potential as dancers fill the screen. "Oklahoma!" opens with beautiful scenic shots of Curly riding through a cornfield, but most of the action and the song numbers are fairly static and contained. Director Fred Zinneman is better known for stately Westerns and dramas, including "From Here to Eternity" and "High Noon," and his composition is fairly intimate. Aside from the ballet, the dance and crowd sequences are choreographed with realism and restraint, far more so than we would see in the later widescreen musicals. So it's only the rare frame that utilizes the widescreen format in a noticeable manner. However, this is appropriate for "Oklahoma!" which does manage to become a compelling drama in the second act as Laurey and Curly become more serious in their romantic intentions. The conflict is simple and straightforward, with a clear villain in Jud and only minor hints of social messages in the tensions between the cowboys and farmers. However, it's a satisfying and entertaining spectacle in a way that next few Rodgers and Hammerstein films were not.

I think the reason "Oklahoma!" works while the subsequent, more ambitious "Carousel" falls flat, is that there's a much better balance between the humorous and dramatic portions of the film. "Carousel" and "Oklahoma!" share the same leads, Gordon McRae and Shirley Jones. Bright-eyed and energetic, they're far more suited to playing the lighthearted roles of Curly and Laurey than the doomed couple in "Carousel." "Oklahoma!" has its share of intensity and the handsome young lovers reveal they do have some depth in the face of adversity, but the movie is never so serious that it gives up the farce completely. When Jud and Curly begin to clash in earnest, it becomes a relief to have a scene or two of Ado Annie and her hapless beaus at regular intervals. By the end of the film, I really warmed up to them. The songs are catchy and fun, primarily used to set the mood instead of moving the action along, so they rarely feel intrusive. It's not hard to imagine the film without the songs, but the tone of the film would be very different.

"Oklahoma!" has many of the elements that I dislike in the early Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, including maudlin nostalgia and a tendency to play up the quaintness of certain regional characteristics. However, in the larger picture these are minor complaints. "Oklahoma!" is a little self-important at times, but it is very much a crowd-pleasing feel-good picture. With its considerable length and the amount of time it takes for the plot to kick into gear, this is not a film I expect to revisit any time soon. However, "Oklahoma!" remains very watchable and well-made, and makes a decent introduction to the Rodgers and Hammerstein oeuvre.
---