Foray into Classic Musicals

OKLAHOMA (1955)

I really wanted to like this one, but there was one major obstacle: Laurey.

The problem stands as thus: Curly (Gordon McRae) really likes Laurey (Shirley Jones). Laurey really likes Curly. He comes over to ask her to the social and sings her a song about a beautiful carriage ("Surrey With a Fringe on Top"), but because he doesn't really have one (so he says), and because he's just a little too sure of himself, she says no and promptly turns around and accepts an invitation from the ranch-hand, Jud (Rod Steiger). One brief glance at Jud and it is immediately apparent that he is a blackguard, bad news, and a possible rapist. Laurey spends the entire day regretting her decision, but at every opportunity to change her mind (and after more than a few entreaties from Curly, including a total love song between the two), she obstinately insists she must go with Jud. (She even has a bad dream/vision in which her and Curly are in love and get married and Jud comes along, takes her away, ruins everything, and then kills Curly. Laurey's reaction to this dream: to go to the social with Jud anyway.) Surprise, surprise, he gets fresh on the carriage ride over, and later tries to kill Laurey and Curly. And it was all obvious from the very first second he appears on screen. But Laurey has to be stubborn, flighty, play hard-to-get, and just make bad decisions, destroying almost all my attempts to like her.

Other than the characterization of Laurey (who is unfortunately the main character) I found the rest of the film quite enjoyable. It obviously had high production value as it is filmed outside in good location, lighting, sets and realistic sense of setting (Oklahoma). The songs by Rodgers and Hammerstein are of course great, although there were few standouts for me. I did appreciate "Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'", "People Will Say We're In Love", and "Oklahoma" and I can't hear "Surrey With the Fringe on Top" without a fond smile remembering Meg Ryan singing it off key in When Harry Met Sally... The dancing sequences are mostly good and I really enjoy the staging of the "Farmer and Cowmen" scene, but the ballet moments peppered throughout "Many a New Day" really dragged on and I disliked the majority of Laurey's extended dream ballet.

As for the acting, although I dislike Laurey, Shirley Jones has strong presence and is quite a beauty. Gloria Grahme (whom I remember mainly as Violet Bick in It's A Wonderful Life) is the other female lead as the indecisive and frisky Ado Annie. She has a funny song, "I Cain't Say No" and her subplot - choosing between beaus - was amusing and handled well. My favorite character was probably Charlottle Greenwood as Aunt Eller; she's energetic, feisty and has a great dose of genial common sense. I kept wishing Laurey would take her advice. Gordon McRae is a comforting presence as Curly, and Eddie Albert and Gene Nelson have a lot of fun as the two men (sort of) fighting for the affection of Ado Annie. Overall, despite my problems with the character of Laurey, I enjoyed the film and wouldn't mind watching it again. I suspect it's something that would grow on me in time (although I can't imagine a day when I won't fast-forward through that stupendously long dream ballet!)



SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (1954)

This one worked a lot better for me, despite having the more artificial sets. Directed by Stanley Donan, Seven Brides follows the marital plans of the Brothers Pontipee, a family that lives in rural Oregon (yay!) in the rustic 1800's. When eldest brother Adam (Howard Keel) comes to town for supplies, he also spends the afternoon looking for a wife to help around the house. He's lucky to run into Milly (Jane Powell), a hardy, attractive woman with plenty of cooking, cleaning and farming skills, who just happens to fall in love with him at first sight. He effortlessly convinces her to marry him, but when they finally arrive at his home, she is surprised to learn he has 6 younger brothers she is also expected to look after. The remainder of the film is spent as she befriends the boys and tries to help them win brides of their own, all the while teaching them, and most importantly Adam, lessons about gentility, kindness, cleanliness and respect.

I really enjoyed the musical numbers and arrangements throughout this film, although the classical style of the voices of both Howard Keel and Jane Powell was often disconcerting. (They both have lovely voices, but they are either extremely low or extremely high and sound very stylized. That was the tradition of the time and it's probably only weird because musicals today feature voices that sound more organic and flawed, and less classically sound.) I never felt like a song overstayed it's welcome, and most moved the plot along a comfortable pace. "Bless Yore Beautiful Hide" was a wonderful introduction to the film and to the character of Adam; it contained well-designed movement, cheeky suggestions, and a genial tone. That is important as Adam is essentially the antagonistic character throughout the film - this song makes us like him right off the bat, a feeling we'll need to remember later on. Jane Powell gets to sing the "dream come true" fairytale song "Wonderful, Wonderful Day" just moments before she (but not we, the audience) learn the truth of her situation, lending it some dramatic irony. And the staging of the "Going Co'tin'" song is energetic and well-blocked.

The film also contains several dance/movement sequences that were stunning in their athleticism. The first is an extended dance-off between the Pontipee Brothers and the Local Townsboys at a barn raising; they continue to hand off the girls back and forth, and each of the individual actors has a moment to shine and display his particular dancing talent, whether it be ballet or acrobatics. This sequence extends into the Barn Raising number where the work, violence and fighting is choreographed into a inventive rhythm of movement. Finally, the "Lonesome Polecat" song, sung by the Brothers during winter as they are missing their sweethearts, is a wonderful marriage of music, rhythm and creativity. The song is slow, but the actions are timed to the music and random chores are turned into choreography. Each of these scenes felt organic to the plot, changed up the movement into exciting shots, and never felt too long. I feel like I am unfair to criticize Oklahoma for many of it's overlong dance sequences, but they didn't hold my attention the way the numbers in Seven Brides did; the ballet never got interesting and the energy in the dream sequence lacked energy, at least for me, whereas the Brothers Pontipee are endlessly amusing and vibrant.

The plot has a lot of fun with the Brothers innocent naivete, and the character-arc of Adam becoming a good husband to Milly was more interesting than a black and white villain. The film has a lot of genuinely funny moments, and witty dialogue within the script. (The brothers are named after characters in the Bible, and in alphabetical order: Adam, Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephraim, Frankincense (Frank), and Gideon.) The only problem I had was with Milly's pregnancy: I know she and Adam were married and slept in the same bed, but from what we see on film up to that point, I will not believe they had slept together, therefore Milly should not have been pregnant. It provided some drama and laughs, but I just couldn't buy that this couple had been intimate when they are not even truly married until the end of the film. I believe I uttered a confused, "What?" when she announced her pregnancy - didn't buy it!


Here's a link to Entertainment Weekly's List of the 25 Greatest Musicals of All Time! Can't say I totally agree (there's no way the recent Hairspray or Chicago are better than Beauty and the Beast), but it's not bad, and definitely a good place to start!