OKLAHOMA! (1955) ** Prairie oper', n' ballet (pronounced "ballot"). I know this sort of thing was once considered romantic, and modern, and sensual, and provocative...n' all....n' I'm in favor of that n' all, I guess, for the most part...but it's just really painful to watch. They sing relentlessly, and they sing some dumb songs, too. Not the dumbest, but there's nothing you'd want to remember, and some of 'em are designed to catch in your head anyway. It's like watching some time capsule from an entirely different, but remotely humanoid, species comprised exclusively of cretins. Oh, and the dances are almost worse to watch than cruelty to animals. Is there truly any pain more formidable than the aesthetic?! Well, yes, but you're willing to forget that when you watch this. And it goes on like that. But after 90 minutes or so they calm down a little bit, stop sangin' n' dancin' so much, and set about character development. Not that there are any characters worth developin', but it's at least a much needed change, and the sense of relief is unusual in its powerfulness. Yes, powerfulness. I'm not saying that I enjoyed the last...nearly another whole hour, I think...but it felt less alien. I managed to half heartedly vote for the good guys, instead of whole heartedly for the finale. Charlotte Greenwood's was the only performance that did much of anything for me, though it was also remarkable how little Shirley Jones sounded like she was from Oklahoma when she sang. Aw, hell, it wudn' even filmed in Oklahoma, anyways, it was shot near Nogales. That's how you make Oklahoma more racy an' interesting, you put it in Arizona! Oklahoma, AZ! Dancing cowboys...
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