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These technical shortcomings and detractors seem unimportant to audiences who love Oklahoma!, but Ludwig and Zinnemann
couldn’t help wondering if the film could have been
better given more freedom with the camera. Fred
Zinnemann was a competent director born in Austria.
He came to Hollywood in 1929, played an extra in All
Quiet On The Western Front (1930), directed a
collection of critical and public hits including High
Noon (1952) and won an Academy Award for From
Here To Eternity (1953). A few years later he came
to Australia to direct The Sundowners (1958)
starring Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum. With
such a formidable curriculum vitae under his belt it is
not difficult to understand Zinnemann's obvious
resentment of the interference he experienced as
director of Oklahoma!.

Breaking with Convention
Rodgers and Hammerstein tapped into the art of
theatre literature, music and film with a highly
individual and daring approach to the material at
hand. Their musicals are outstanding because they reflect a willingness to experiment with new ideas like eliminating the need
for a chorus line up of lovely females to open the show. Meeting the challenge of presenting darker subject matter such as;
psychotic behaviour - Oklahoma!, taboo issues like spouse abuse - Carousel, interracial relationships King and I and South
Pacific, Nazi dominance - The Sound of Music, through combining fantasy and reality in dream sequences. Developing plot
character, mood and setting with unforgettable music and songs which heighten the narrative (story) and make it more absorbing
and entertaining.
Oklahoma! was a sure-fire formula for success, it combined the musical with the western, two genres reflecting the cultural
identity of America.
Alan Lovell, a scholar of American history, comments on the significance of the western movie in American society.
"The western had its beginnings in the dime novels and Wild West shows of the nineteenth century. But it
took its firmest grip on the cinema at the beginning of the twentieth century because it became an
expression of American national consciousness at the time - a period when the great waves of foreign
immigration into the United States had imposed on it a need to establish its own identity."
Movies and Methods 1976
Oklahoma! is the tale of the rural west at the turn of the century. A retrospective look at events that occurred before Oklahoma!
joined the unions and became a state. And as Lovell points out "A most convenient way to discover one's identity is by
discovering one's history." Of course the plot of Oklahoma is fictional and can be traced back to popular literature of the
nineteenth century where the virginal heroine is menaced by the wicked villain and rescued by the virtuous hero. Lynn Rigg had
structured her play around this scenario, Rodgers and Hammerstein adapted the basic structure and created a musical legend.

Creative Decisions Completing the Picture and Presenting the Show
Oklahoma! is a film of many firsts. It would debut the Todd AO system, launch the 70mm roadshow format and was the first
major collaborative effort by Rodgers and Hammerstein and every scene in the film would have to be shot twice, first in 70mm
and then in Cinemascope. Director of Cinematography, Robert Surtees A.S.C. explains:
"As Mike Todd's big screen process was relatively new and 70mm projection equipment was restricted to a
small select number of movie houses we shot Oklahoma! firstly in Todd AO then in Cinemascope to
ensure sufficient release prints reached suburban cinemas.
The Todd AO prints in 70mm and stereophonic sound were used for the premiere and subsequent
roadshow engagements on the other hand the cinemascope version of the musical reached audiences
unable to attend big city theatres."
American Cinematographer Vol 65 September 1978
The roadshow prints were complete and uncut with OVERTURE, INTERMISSION, ENTRACTE and EXIT music. This technique of
presentation was also adapted for grand scale epic films, and reflected the enthusiasm and showmanship spirit of the times.
Oklahoma! had its world premiere in 1955 and went on to break box office records, earning an initial engagement gross of $1.7
million, and won an Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Sound Recording. Bosley Crowther's
review in the New York Times echoed the sentiments and opinions of critics everywhere, "The Todd AO system is an eye-
popping audience embracing experience that should not be missed. This is the best musical I have ever seen, it is soaring with
melodies and joyous songs, performances that are full bodied and filled with vitality, a brilliant memorable visual treat for the
eyes and ears in a loving celebration of the American spirit."
With over ten musical numbers including The Surrey with the Fringe on Top and People Will Say We're in Love, the original
soundtrack album and compact disc became as popular as the movie itself.
"Now everyone can see it at popular prices" claimed the general release and re-issue posters of Oklahoma!. In the summer of
1983 the Samuel Goldwyn Company (who own the rights to the movie), put the film into national release with brand new 70mm
prints struck from the master negative. Again it received rave reviews at the USA Film Festival in Dallas and where ever it was
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