OKLAHOMA! (1955)

The corn really is as high as an elephant’s eye—if it were standing on another elephant—in this adaptation of the hit musical that launched the career of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. A year before director Fred Zinnemann started filming in Arizona (because Oklahoma was too modern to play itself), crew members planted the large field of corn that eventually grew to 16 feet in height. That provided the setting for “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” sung by Gordon MacRae as he sets out to court farmgirl Shirley Jones. Rodgers and Hammerstein had resisted offers to film their show until it had closed. They were finally convinced with the debut of Todd-AO, a 70mm process. They also kept tight control over the production, insisting on casting their personal discovery, Jones, in her film debut and keeping on Agnes de Mille to recreate her trend-setting choreography. Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, and Rod Steiger co-star.

d. Fred Zinnemann, 147m, DCP

DCP courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films.

Conversation with Shaun Cassidy will be post-screening.