Oklahoma! (film)
The 1943 musical play Oklahoma!, written by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II (see Rodgers and Hammerstein), was adapted into an Academy Award–winning musical film in 1955, starring Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones (in her film debut), Rod Steiger, Charlotte Greenwood, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, James Whitmore and Eddie Albert.
In
2007, Oklahoma! was selected for preservation in the United States National Film
Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or
aesthetically significant".
Tagline:
Cast
Gordon MacRae - Curly McLain
Gloria Grahame - Ado Annie Carnes
Gene Nelson
- Will Parker
Charlotte Greenwood - Aunt Eller Murphy
Shirley Jones
- Laurey Williams
Eddie Albert - Ali Hakim
James Whitmore - Andrew Carnes
Rod Steiger - Jud Fry
Barbara Lawrence - Gertie Cummings
Jay
C. Flippen - Ike Skidmore
Roy Barcroft - Marshal Cord Elam
James
Mitchell - Dream Curly
Bambi Linn - Dream Laurey
Jennie Workman - Dancer
Virginia Bosler - Dancer
Kelly Brown - Dancer
Evelyn Taylor - Dancer
Lizanne Truex - Dancer
Jane Fischer - Dancer
Marc Platt - Dancer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jerry Dealey - Dancer
Al Ferguson
- Cowboy at auction
Ben Johnson - Wrangler
Donald Kerr - Farmer at
dance
Nancy Kilgas - Dancer
Rory Mallinson - Young cowboy at box lunch
auction
Buddy Roosevelt - Cowboy at Auction
Russell Simpson - The minister
Oklahoma! is the
first musical play
Plot
Plot summary
Act I
Curly
McLain, a cowboy, is in love with Laurey Williams, a farm girl, but they both
are too proud and stubborn to show it. A rivalry between the local farmers and
cowboys over fences and water rights leads to tension, even in romance. As the
curtain rises, Curly looks forward to the beautiful day ahead as he wanders into
laurey's yard ("Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'"). He and Laurey tease
each other while Laurey's Aunt Eller looks on ("Surrey With The Fringe On
Top"). The sinister and dark-hearted outsider farm hand, Jud Fry, appears.
He also sets his sights on Laurey. He asks her to the box social, a dance that
includes an auction of lunch baskets prepared by the local girls (to raise funds
for a schoolhouse). She accepts to spite Curly, despite being afraid of Jud. Meanwhile,
cowboy Will Parker returns bedazzled and souvenir-laden from a trip to the relatively
modern Kansas City ("Kansas City"). But he is upset that his girlfriend,
Ado Annie, invites romancing ("I Cain't Say No") from other men-–especially
the peddler, Ali Hakim, who appreciates her passion but doesn't want to get married
("It's a Scandal! It's a Outrage!").
Curly discovers that Laurey is going to the box social with Jud and tries to convince her to go with him instead. Afraid to tell Jud she won't go with him, Laurey warns Curly off by telling him that "People Will Say We're in Love." Hurt by her refusal, Curly goes to the smokehouse where his rival lives, and the two indulge in idle banter about Jud's reputation ("Pore Jud Is Daid"). Their talk turns into ominous confrontation, punctuated by alarming but harmless gunplay. Once Curly departs, Jud's resolve to win Laurey becomes even stronger ("Lonely Room"). Confused and fraught by her feelings for Curly and her fear of Jud, Laurey muses ("Out of My Dreams"), then falls asleep, dreaming ("Dream Ballet") of what marriage to Curly would be like. Her dream takes a nightmarish turn when Jud replaces Curly, and she cannot escape him. She wakes from her nightmare and reluctantly leaves with Jud to go to the box social as the curtain falls.
Act
II
At the social, the farmers and ranchers make peace ("The Farmer and
the Cowman") in a teasing way, and due in no small part to Aunt Eller's diplomacy.
Curly must sell his prized possessions—saddle, horse, even gun—in order
to outbid Jud in the auction for Laurey's basket, which, as is apparent to all
watching, has really turned into a battle for Laurey herself. Later that night,
Will and Ado Annie work out their differences ("All Or Nothin'"). Jud
confronts Laurey about his feelings for her. When she admits that she doesn't
return them, he threatens her. She then fires him as her farm hand, screaming
at him to get off of her property. Furious, Jud threatens Laurey before he daparts.
Laurey bursts into tears and calls for Curly, who comes to her rescue, and she
bravely recounts her final encounter with Jud. Curly is so relieved at this development
that he suddenly finds himself proposing to her. She accepts ("People Will
Say We're In Love", reprise).
Three weeks later, a drunken Jud reappears the morning after Curly and Laurey's wedding. He attacks Curly and in the ensuing confrontation accidentally falls on his own knife, killing himself. At Eller's urging the wedding guests hold a makeshift trial for Curly. The judge, Ado Annie's father, declares the verdict "not guilty!", and everyone rejoices ("Oklahoma!") in celebration of the territory's impending statehood. After more rejoicing, Curly and Laurey depart on their honeymoon.
Musical numbers
Act
I
Overture - Orchestra
Oh What a Beautiful Mornin' - Curly
Laurey's
Entrance - Laurey & Curly
The Surrey With the Fringe On Top - Curly, Laurey,
& Aunt Eller
Kansas City - Will, Aunt Eller, Male Ensemble
I Cain't
Say No - Ado Annie
Entrance of Ensemble (Oh What a Beautiful Mornin' and I
Cain't Say No) - Will, Ado Annie, Curley, Aunt Eller, Ensemble
Many a New
Day - Laurey and Girl ensemble
It's a Scandal! It's a Outrage! - Ali Hakim
and Ensemble
People Will Say We're In Love - Curly and Laurey
Pore Jud
is Daid - Curly and Jud Fry
Lonely Room - Jud
Out of My Dreams/Dream Ballet
- Laurey and Dream Figures
Act II
Entr'acte - Orchestra
The Farmer
and the Cowman - Andrew Carnes, Aunt Eller, Curly, Gertie Cummins, Will Parker,
Ado Annie Carnes, Laurey, Ike Skidmore and Ensemble
All Er Nuthin' - Will
and Ado Annie
People Will Say We're In Love (Reprise) - Curly and Laurey
Oklahoma
- Curly, Laurey, Aunt Eller and Ensemble
Finale Ultimo (Oh What a Beautiful
Mornin' and People Will Say We're in Love) - Company
The 1959 musical
Little Mary Sunshine, which lampoons older operettas and musicals, has two songs
that poke fun at songs from Oklahoma! "Once in a Blue Moon" parodies
"All Er Nuthin", and "Mata Hari" parodies "I Cain't Say
No."
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