Oklahoma!
Published October 1, 2024
Film info
- Title Oklahoma!
- Directors Chris Hunt, Trevor Nunn
- Year 1999
- Run time 3hrs 14m
- Genres Romance, Western, Music
- Tagline London stage reproduction of the classic Broadway musical
A dark-themed and redesigned West End production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s seminal Broadway musical tells the story of farm girl Laurey and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly and the sinister and frightening farmhand Jud.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 0:26 | That’s definitely more London than Oklahoma. Still, quite a nice way to pass the overture. |
| 3:46 | First time I ever saw Hugh Jackman was in this, before anyone and I really knew who he was. |
| 7:04 | “Couldn’t stop a pig in the road.” Bowlegged is a good thing in this context, is it? |
| 12:51 | They are super cute together, even Aunt Ella knows it. |
| 21:13 | Love rhyming Friday and Idea. Fridee, Idee. |
| 25:41 | He legit had to know all those rope lassooing tricks. |
| 32:21 | Ado Annie, way ahead of her time. |
| 51:29 | Literal shotgun wedding coming up. |
| 58:32 | “She says she’s only eighteen… I betya she’s nineteen.” |
| 1:07:17 | People didn’t believe women back then either, I guess. |
| 1:18:41 | Maybe don’t antagonise the scary guy with the gun, Curly. |
| 1:20:57 | “Just a pair of fools, swapping noises.” |
| 1:31:09 | Oh no, dream sequence. |
| 1:45:19 | Bloody hell, fifteen minute dream sequence and what have we learned? Curly is good, Jud is bad. Duh. |
| 1:51:22 | “I don’t say I’m no better than anybody else, but I’ll be damned if I ain’t just as good.” |
| 2:03:56 | It’s not a very fair auction when the auctioneer has favourites in the game. |
| 2:15:28 | I do so love Ado Annie. “There’s no use waiting up for me!” |
| 2:32:17 | Have literally just realised that’s Adam Klaus. |
| 2:47:50 | “Don’t let your mind run on it.” Aunt Ella so wise. |
Thoughts
I don’t know when I first saw this but I definitely had it on DVD and had it as one of those things you watch in the background while cleaning or cooking. Lovely Hugh Jackman before he was properly famous, showing off the skills that he later puts to good use as the Greatest Showman. Oklahoma is a bit of a mixed bag though, it’s very long and the dream sequence is diabolical, and I’m not sure the songs really live up to the hype. But I do enjoy the chemistry between the leads and People Will Say We’re in Love is really done well. Plus adorable scatter-brained Ado Annie steals every scene she’s in.
Rating: 3 / 5
