Lumsdal
Good , But It Is Overrated By Some
Robert Joyner
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
Roman Sampson
One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
jwb001
My wife, a foreign national, is quite a fan of English-language musicals. As we watched "Oklahoma!" together, I occasionally saw her fidgeting in her seat and checking her watch. At the end, I asked, "How did you like it?" Straight out of her mouth came the words "I've seen better".The problem lies in its plot, precisely described elsewhere as "The story can be boiled down to a single sentence: a girl must decide between the two suitors who want to take her to a social." Too, too simplistic. Not much to challenge the viewer's intellect here.Moreover, production quality appears painfully low budget. Several "outdoor" shootings scream "sound stage", and I often felt like I was watching a theater version recorded to film.
fischelliot
Oklahoma! is the greatest musical ever filmed. You may have other personal favorites, but when R&H decided to produce the film version, they micromanaged their baby until it was perfect. They succeeded on all counts-acting, singing, timing, choreography, photography that blows you away. It also shows the darker side in what is seemingly a simple romantic story. Director Zinneman's choice to have threatening Rod Stieger as a counterpart to the sweet story, There is no argument that the songs are performed as the composers wanted, and McRae and Jones signing and performances are unequaled. The movie sets a high bar for any production to cross, and having seen many stage productions, none has the effect of the magnificent movie. I was fortunate enough to see the original release at the Egyptian in Hollywood, and the revival at the same theater 38 years later, both on the marvelous TODD-AO curved screen. Its more impressive on a big screen and I would gladly pay to see this on a large screen. The latest Blue-Ray version look and sounds absolutely beautiful, has impressive 7.1 DTS-HD sound and is a big improvement over the 2005 release which was pretty worn. Thank you 20th Century Fox for restoring this not only historic first Todd-AO film, but allow the firm to be shown as it was originally meant to be seen
helen-115
Referring to a member's review that the acting was a bit stiff.....this wonderful MUSICAL was made when they cast singers in the lead roles instead of big name stars who have to have their voices dubbed. Referring to another member's review that felt the dream sequence was too scary for children....not any scarier than Snow White or Bambi. Life has frightening moments in it; children shouldn't be sheltered from all of them. I saw this movie for the first time when I was seven or eight and yes, the dream sequence was a bit disturbing, as it was meant to be, but I was more aware of the sheer artistry of it. Rogers and Hammerstein didn't feel that because they were making a musical that it had to be sugar coated. All of their musicals have a serious side which makes them more complex and all the better for it. With their transcendent melodies and insightful lyrics and incredible choreography Rogers and Hammerstein raised the bar for musicals to come. Oh What a Beautiful Movie!
evening1
Oklahoma!" begins joyfully amid elephant-eye-high corn, big mountains, and giant skies with billowy clouds, and it never really stops pleasing from there.To some of the best music, singing, and dancing probably ever put in a musical, we're back in a time of box socials, surrey rides, and cowmen learning how to get along with farmers. There's talk of telephones, the waltz is yielding to the two-step, and promise is in the air as Oklahoma prepares for statehood.The movie is based on the first collaboration of Rodgers and Hammerstein, which, in 1943, helped to raise the spirits of Americans emerging from the Depression. The film is dated and old-fashioned. But most of the acting here kept my interest. I particularly enjoyed Charlotte Greenwood as Aunt Eller, a fun-loving, perceptive woman, who, by the end of the film, is sounding like a veritable cognitive psychologist as she advises Laurey to not even try forgetting a traumatic event: "You got to get used to having all kinds of things happening to you. You got to look at all the good on one side, and all the bad on the other side, and say well, all right then! To both of 'em!" Gordon MacCrae shines as a cowboy who gives up everything for love. And I liked Rod Steiger's saturnine misfit, notably in the odd scene in which he envisions his own funeral ("Poor Jud is dead; a candle lights his head.") He seemed modern in his portrayal of that timeless kind of psychopath who believes if he can't have a girl, then no one else will, either.I was less impressed with the younger female performers. Saccharine Shirley Jones was too good to be true, and Gloria Grahame's ditzy Annie seemed a tiresome time filler. (OK, she's rather dumb and so is her boyfriend -- we get it!) The cinematography rightly put nature in the forefront, expertly capturing the prairie's grandeur. ("...We know we belong to the land, and the land we belong to is grand!" ) The interlude near the end -- with stagecoaches, wagons, and random riders silhouetted against the sunset -- might well have inspired the iconic final scene in Bergman's "Seventh Seal."
