The story follows various characters in the Oklahoma territory at the turn of the century. Much of the drama concerns who's taking who to the big dance: Laurey Williams (Shirley Jones) wants to go with Curly McLain (Gordon MacRae), but ends up being asked by the creepy Jud Fry (Rod Steiger). Cowboy Will Parker (Gene Nelson) pines for Ado Annie (Gloria Grahame), but she's with traveling salesman Ali Hakim (Eddie Albert).

Charlotte Greenwood, with whom I am most familiar in her early talking picture days, shows up in several of these Fox musicals in supporting roles and adds punch to any part she takes.

This movie is notable for a few reasons. It was the first movie made in the Todd-AO 70mm format, a process so new that, just in case things went wrong, the movie was simultaneously shot in CinemaScope. Most theatergoers saw the CinemaScope version which was distributed by first RKO and then Fox, while the Todd-AO version was taken out by the Magna Theater Corporation as the first of the "roadshow" musicals that began to dominate the genre for the next 20 years.

Director Fred Zinnemann does a terrific job of utilizing the widescreen format, filling the screen with activity and beautiful scenery. The songs, many of which have become standards, are infectious if occasionally overlong, much like the movie itself. The performances are all BIG, too, from Steiger's method intensity to MacRae's wholesome hero. Lovely Shirley Jones makes her film debut and acquits herself well enough. Gene Nelson gets some of the best dance numbers, naturally. It may be blasphemous, but I could have done without the lengthy vocal-less dancing dream sequence. The movie earned Oscar nominations for Best Color Cinematography (Robert Surtees) and Best Editing (Gene Ruggiero, George Boemler), and it won for Best Score (Robert Russell Bennett, Jay Blackton, Adolph Deutsch) and Best Sound.

I love the music. The story is great. The tension between the farmers and the cowboys is presented well. Poor Judd is about as threatening as can be. Everything about the play is excellent; it's why it has stood the test of time. Nevertheless, I wish it were about a half hour shorter. There are some things that are endless (especially the famous dream sequence). These could have been choreographed with more concision and kept the viewer involved. There are also times when it get so dark that it falls away form the comedic nature that really carries things. I'm not so sure why Rogers and Hammerstein made Judd so vicious. Maybe he has to be. His presence is almost terroristic. It may have been better to make him a possible rival. He's bona fide psychotic, so he is like a snake or some other poisonous creature. Also, the ending always leaves me cold. It's so abrupt and anticlimactic. That aside, there are incredible songs, wonderful dance sequences, and very good acting. Don't miss this if you've never seen it.