Movie Review: Oklahoma!

Again I am a woman of my word and this is one I’ve wanted to do for a long time. One of the greatest musicals of all time, not just on Broadway but on film in 1955, Oklahoma proved to be another hit for Rogers & Hammerstein and the beginning of a wonderful musical career for one shining star. Oklahoma also won two Academy Awards for the score and sound. Spoilers ahead as usual. I DO NOT OWN THE PICTURE.

It would seem everyone in Oklahoma is getting ready from a big party in town that night. Curly (Gordon MacRae) wants to ask the woman he loves, Laurey Williams (Shirley Jones in her first film) to the party and while Laurey clearly feels the same way, she is upset he asked her the day of the party instead of a few weeks earlier. To make Curly jealous she agrees to go with Jud (Rod Steiger), the hired hand for her Aunt Eller (Charlotte Greenwood) despite being terrified of him. Curly and Laurey play back and forth for a while before eventually giving in to their feelings, but Jud is not going to go away that easily. Meanwhile a friend of Laurey’s, Ado Annie (Gloria Grahame) has been spending time with a traveling salesman Ali Hakim (Eddie Albert) but when the man she loves Will Parker (Gene Nelson) returns intending to keep his promise to marry her, once he has $50 to pay her father (because I guess that’s how it worked back then I don’t know) Annie becomes torn between the two men, though Ali does not want to marry her at all. Once all of them at the party that is when the fun really begins.

It took me a long time to find this musical; it doesn’t air on TV that much but thankfully someone uploaded it on YouTube. I had heard great things about it and it lived up to the hype; this isn’t something you can read about on Wikipedia and get the idea you have to watch it to feel the emotions. Watching Carousel before I already knew how good MacRae and Jones were together, and I definitely liked their chemistry more in this film than Carousel. I also loved the side story with Annie and the two men she must choose from. I of course cannot forget the amazing soundtrack. Every song is great, but three stand out for me. The opening song by MacRae “Oh What A Beautiful Mornin'” is a classic, “People Will Say We’re In Love” is a romantic duet between Jones and MacRae, admittedly I did not like this as much as “If I Loved You” and last but not least “Oklahoma” at the end of the film is the best known song from the show and movie. If you can find Oklahoma I encourage you to watch it.

Movie Review: Carousel

One of my favorite movie or TV genres are musicals; while I do enjoy the action, drama, comedy and occasional sci-fi flick there is nothing like singing and dancing. I will go into more musicals I love over time, but today I want to do the latest movie I watched: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel. I DO NOT OWN THE PICTURE.

Based on the popular Broadway show, Carousel follows carousel barker Billy Bigelow (Gordon MacRae) and mill worker Julie Jordan (Shirley Jones) as they fall in love and lose their jobs all in one night. Short time later after they are married Billy cannot find work and in frustration strikes Julie (while not shown on film it is talked about and is shown during the Broadway productions.) Upon discovering Julie is pregnant, Billy feels forced into committing a robbery with his frequent jailbird friend. Unfortunately it ends badly for Billy. 15 years later Billy is allowed to go back to make amends with Julie and his daughter Louise after the town has turned against them.

This was the second time MacRae and Jones stared in a musical together, that one will be at a later date, and their chemistry remained intact. If I did have to make a comparison I thought their chemistry in the prior film was better. While the film does kinda gloss over the fact Billy was hitting Julie, at least once, they both admitted they loved each other (yes I know everyone says that, doesn’t mean I agree with it.) Of course their voices are magic together; MacRae has a very deep voice that causes everyone to turn their heads to the screen while Jones’s sweet and melodious singing can make anyone feel so good.

The songs in the film are terrific; some sticking out more than others. The first to really hit with the audience is the duet between Billy and Julie “If I Loved You.” While they were not saying what they were feeling it was obvious of the attraction growing. The big dance sequence was “June is Bustin Out All Over” showing how the town was celebrating the summer. Everyone’s voices were blended perfectly and the dance sequence was a joy to watch. Gordon MacRae’s soliloquy solo number showed what the character was going through after finding out about Julie’s pregnancy and coming to terms with what he has to do. A final stand out was Louise’s dance number on the beach as Billy and the audience find out just what the girl had been going through since her father’s death.

The film is on Netflix, but only until October 1. Other than that it will occasionally air on TV. It is also coming back to Broadway in the 2018 season which will star Tony nominee Joshua Henry (The Scottsboro Boys and Velvet), Tony winner Jessie Mueller (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and was nominated for her role in Waitress) and Grammy winner Renee Fleming. I hope you will enjoy the musical, the film or coming to New York whichever one you prefer.