Newly Restored Oklahoma! to open TCM Classic Film Festival |
Read more at in70mm.com The 70mm Newsletter |
| Written by: TCM Classic Film Festival, Feb. 13, 2014 | Date: 10.03.2014 |
 Black
and white 70mm frame from the set of "Oklahoma!", July 27, 1954. Director Fred Zinnemann
(back to Todd-AO camera) is seen talking to Gloria Grahame. Click to see
enlargement. Image from Walter Siegmund's collection2014 TCM Classic Film Festival to Open with Gala Screening of Newly Restored Oklahoma! (1955), with Live Appearance by Star Shirley Jones. Fifth Annual Festival Set for April 10 - 13 in Hollywood, Coinciding with TCM's 20th Anniversary Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will open the 2014 edition of the TCM Classic Film Festival with the world premiere of a brand new restoration of the beloved Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! (1955). TCM's own Robert Osborne, who serves as official host for the festival, will introduce Oklahoma!, with the film's star, Academy Award ® - winner Shirley Jones, in attendance. Oklahoma! (1955) 4K restoration presented in collaboration with Twentieth Century Fox Few actresses get to make their big - screen debuts in a film as eagerly awaited as Oklahoma!, but that's just what happened to Shirley Jones when Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein chose her over Joanne Woodward to star in the film version of their first big hit. The songwriters held up making the film until they could get just the right picture. With the arrival of Todd-AO, Mike Todd's patented wide-screen process, they finally knew they could reveal the majesty of the frontier in all its glory, including corn as high as an elephant's eye (16 feet tall, to be exact). |
More in 70mm reading: in70mm.com Presents: You are in the Show with Todd-AO Walter Siegmund about Todd-AO How Todd-AO Began Oklahoma! in Todd-AO: Showmen’s Trade Review, October 15, 1955 Todd-AO Projection and Sound: Showmen’s Trade Review, October 15, 1955 New York Times 1955 review Hollywood Reporter 1955 review 1982 re-release |
 Who
says things were not better in the old days? Here's "Oklahoma!"s Danish
premiere in full blown 70MM Todd-AO in 1963 at the 3 Falke Bio in
Copenhagen. Image from August A Andersen's collection 1982.But despite the production's mammoth size, the focus remained simple, detailing the romance of farm girl Jones and cowboy Gordon MacRae. Agnes de Mille re-created much of her stage choreography, which had introduced modern dance to the stage musical, while director Fred Zinnemann brought a surprisingly realistic approach to the production. This unique 4k presentation, painstakingly restored from 65mm Todd-AO elements by Twentieth Century Fox and Fotokem, will be screened at 30 frames per second — the same frame rate as when the film was originally released in 1955. The original 6 - track soundtrack has been also restored and re - mastered at Twentieth Century Fox, in collaboration with End Point Audio and Chase Audio by Deluxe. |
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