2h 25min | Comedy, Drama, Musical | 11 October 1955 | Color, WS
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Stars: Gordon MacRae, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, Charlotte Greenwood, Shirley Jones, Eddie Albert, Rod Steiger.
Agnes de Mille ... dances staged by
Bella Lewitzky ... choreographer's assistant (uncredited)
In the Tap! Appendix for Gene Nelson. He dances in ch's 7 & 27 on the Cinerama version (disc1), and ch's 9 & 27 on the Todd-AO version (disc2). Next time watch the Todd-AO version of the film. I doubt that my home video setup gives any different impression of the film, but just in case. (The 2 discs have different commentary tracks and different extra features.)
I've never liked this, and it's the show as much as this production.
I'm not a fan of GM, and RS is so scary that it's hard to believe that SJ would ever consider going to the party with him; I can't believe the dream ballet is the first time she views him negatively.
The dialect that the Oklahomans speak is offensive to me. Were rural OK'ans from that time really so uneducated that they use poor grammar and altered words (meader instead of meadow)? On the other hand, the accents probably aren't thick enough.
I understand the importance of this stage musical as finally pushing future musicals toward plot/character integration with song/dance. But I have lots of complaints about the dancing. GN, one of my very favorite dancers, is constrained by his character to dance less broadly than I prefer. He's excellent at conveying his character in his dancing, but I don't want to admire that, I want to be dazzled with his athleticism. On top of that, he only dances twice, and the second time is during the party, when dozens of other dancers are also featured. Marc Platt is there too, and you also wouldn't know how great he is from this film.
GN's big number at the train station includes a nice ensemble tap number with GN in the lead, but it's filmed from the hips up. TAP is about the feet! Not exclusively, but to cut them off entirely is just wrong. Per SJ on the Todd-AO commentary track, GN did his own stunt jumping from the train to the horse.
The dream ballet is an excellent device for conveying SJ's thoughts and fears. But here's James Mitchell again being a graceful teamster, moving the ballerina from stage left to stage right. I wonder what more he could have done.
CG dances, but doesn't do her signature high kicks. Everything in this show is in service of the story and the characters, which is valuable, but deprives me of some of the pleasures I could have had.
The Cinerama commentary track is sparsely informative, but pointed out this is not a studio production. This is R&H bringing their treasure to the screen, and making it cinematic. They did so very well, and preserved their show while they were at it. Interesting and smart that they used Zinnemann to direct; this is the only musical he directed.
Both c.tracks point out this was filmed not in OK, but in AZ, hence seeing mountains in the distance.
So I give this a 7 because I appreciate the importance/quality of the show and the film, but I don't ever crave watching this. And one of the reasons I watched so few musicals this week is that I didn't want to face GN's last dance appearance, especially knowing it's not what I want to see from him.
Magna Theatre Corp., Rodgers & Hammerstein Prod., distr, RKO, dir. Zinnemann; 7-
