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Oklahoma! Overview:

Oklahoma! (1955) was a Musical - Romance Film directed by Fred Zinnemann and produced by Arthur Hornblow Jr., Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers.

The film was based on the play Green Grow the Lilacs written by Samuel A. Taylor performed at the Guild Theatre, NY from Jan 26, 1931 - Mar 21, 1931.

SYNOPSIS

In this beloved Rodgers and Hammerstein musical (their first brought to the screen), an adorable 19-year-old Jones, in her screen debut, must choose a suitor to accompany her to a social: the righteous cowboy (MacRae) or the brooding farm hand (Steiger). From this simple scenario develops humor, fighting, dancing (including a breakthrough dream sequence choreographed by Agnes De Mille), and singing. The entire production was filmed twice, with one take for the new Todd A-O format and one for the regular CinemaScope aspect ratio. There is now laserdisc version of the Todd A-O takes, which some consider vastly superior. Includes the enduring songs "People will say were in love," "Oh, what a beautiful mornin'," and "Oklahoma!"

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Oklahoma! was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2007.

Academy Awards 1955 --- Ceremony Number 28 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best CinematographyRobert SurteesNominated
Best Film EditingGene Ruggiero, George BoemlerNominated
Best Music - ScoringRobert Russell Bennett, Jay Blackton, Adolph DeutschWon
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Oklahoma! 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.
Curly: [to Jud] How did you get to be the way you air
[are]
Curly: anyhow? A-sittin' up here in this filthy hole
[referring to the smokehouse]
Curly: ? Why don't you do something healthy once in a while, instead of staying shut up here, a-crawlin' and a-festerin'?
Ali Hakim: It's a wonderful thing to be married. I got a brother in Persia got six wives.
Ado Annie Carnes: Six wives all at once?
Will Parker: Why, sure. That's the way they do in them countries.
Ali Hakim: Not always; I got a brother in Persia only got one wife. He's a bachelor.
Laurey: Curly! You're sittin' on the stove!
Curly: Yeouch!
[Jumps up, feels the stove]
Curly: Cold as a hunk of ice.
Laurey: Wish it would've burned a hole in your pants.
Laurey: Oh, I thought you were somebody.
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Oklahoma! Facts
Robert Stack, Piper Laurie, Lee Marvin, Vic Damone, Dale Robertson and Joan Evans were all screen tested for various roles.
The song "Lonely Room" (sung by Jud) was omitted from the film. In the song, Jud explains his bitter resentments and deep frustrations. Possibly this was considered too strong for 1955 film-goers.
Michael Todd had seen Shirley Jones in a touring performance of Oklahoma and suggested she be cast as Laurey for the film version.
The song "Kansas City" was edited for censors. Will sang it, "I could swear that she was padded from her shoulders to her heel. And then she started dancing and her dancing made me feel that every single thing she had was absolutely real." In the original play script it went, "I could swear that she was padded from her shoulders to her heels. And later in the second act when she began to peel. She proved that everything she had was absolutely real."
This was Fred Zinnemann's first musical, and it cost a then-astronomical $6.8 million.
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