Oklahoma

"Oklahoma!"

                                                      (plot)
Set in late 20th century Oklahoma, it follow's the story of a young, stubborn farm girl named Laurie (Shirley Jones) who's has two men fighting for her. Headstrong cowboy Curly (Gordon MacRae) and dirty, evil-minded farm hande Jud (Rod Steiger).

Shot on location in and around Sonoita, Arizona, because the real Oklahoma in 1955 was so heavily farmed and developed that few suitable areas could be found that resembled the highly-rural and undeveloped Oklahoma of the turn of the century when the musical is set.   

Although James Mitchell and Bambi Linn danced the parts of Curly and Laury in the Dream Ballet, Rod Steiger did his own dancing in that sequence because there was no one who looked enough like him from the back. Despite his initial uncertainties, and after considerable coaching from choreographer Agnes de Mille, Steiger actually did a credible job, later calling it one of the biggest challenges he ever had.   

Laurie greets the female dancers on the porch in one shot and in the next shot they are shown just getting out of their buggies and carriages.

Finding "corn as high as an elephant's eye" proved to be quite a challenge. Since filming was to take place out of season, no tall cornfields were to be found anywhere. The job was given to the people of the University of Arizona Agricultural Department, who planted each stalk in individual containers and held their breath. With rain and good luck, the corn grew to a height of 16 feet, causing Oscar Hammerstein to quip: "The corn is now as high as the eye of an elephant on top of another elephant."   

In the early scenes at Aunt Eller's, the corn disappears and reappears between shots.

Eli Wallach was at one point suggested for the role of Jud Fry, as was Marlon Brando.   

Betty Hutton turned down the role of Ado Annie, a role that could have revived her screen career.

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.   

Shirley Jones' film debut.   

The two teens infatuated with Will Parker were an invention of director Fred Zinnemann and choreographer Agnes de Mille. Lizanne Truex (blonde) and Jane Fischer (brunette) were originally slated to appear only in the "Kansas City" routine. Zinneman and de Mille liked the girls' work so much that they decided to add them - and their characters "The Goon Girls" - to the entire film.

Robert Stack, Piper Laurie, Lee Marvin, Vic Damone, Dale Robertson and Joan Evans were all screen tested for various roles.

James Whitmore played Gloria Grahame's father, despite being only two years older than her.   

Good points:

• fun songs
• fun dance numbers
• pretty costumes

Bad points:

• There are a few parts that you would probably have to go passed.

Over all it's a great musical!