HOME ENTERTAINMENT : Beautiful Morning for ‘Oklahoma!’ Laser

Oh, what a beautiful laser disc!

Fox Video/Image’s new Todd-AO edition ($60) of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s classic musical “Oklahoma!” is an eye-opener. The difference between this latest release and the 1990 laser release is the difference between the two versions of the film that director Fred Zinnemann shot for the 1955 release--one in Todd-AO and one in Cinemascope.

Even the credits aren’t the same, and the dramatic differences don’t stop there. When Gordon MacRae as Curly rides through that rich green meadow in Todd-AO, the corn really is as high as an elephant’s eye and it looks like the blue, blue sky is coming right down to meet it. In Cinemascope, the corn seems a little thinner and shorter, maybe reaching only as high as Curly’s horse’s lower eyelash, and the sky looks a lot paler.

Zinnemann doesn’t seem to know he is directing a Great Broadway Musical. The result is a well-staged drama that just happens to have great songs in it. Since he shot the Todd-AO version and then pretty much went through the motions with the more familiar Cinemascope edition (he apparently wasn’t too happy that he was being asked to shoot two films for the price of one), it is this new version that has the snap and crackle of good cinema.

The historic ballet within the film, choreographed by Agnes de Mille, is beautifully done and has never been so alluring, frightening, foreboding or achingly tender. Shirley Jones, in her motion picture debut, never looked as fresh-faced as she does in the Todd-AO version. MacRae was still in good voice and physical condition and seems perfectly natural as a civilized cowpoke.

Every performance--from Gloria Grahame’s sly Ado Annie to Gene Nelson’s stalwart Will Parker and Rod Steiger’s evil Jud Fry to Eddie Albert’s conniving peddler--sparkles. And all of the sound is fully captured in the THX laser sound. The laser was mastered directly from the 65mm film negative, and it shows.

Fox/Image also gives Joshua Logan’s production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “South Pacific” its due in Todd-AO and THX ($60), but the 1958 film lacks the zest and joy of the Zinnemann-directed “Oklahoma!”

There can be no complaint about the transfer--it’s crisp and rich with full-bodied sound. But for reasons only known to them, Logan and cinematographer Leon Shamroy decided to wash every song in filters trying to capture in color the mood of each one. It’s a disaster. The telegraphing of the emotion becomes cloying, overdone and unnecessary, even in the exotic “Bali Hai.”

Hard as stars Mitzi Gaynor and Rossano Brazzi try, they are not Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza meeting on “Some Enchanted Evening.” The best efforts of Ray Walston, Juanita Hall, France Nuyen and John Kerr and the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein songs can’t save Logan’s folly.

For Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers fans, one of the most awaited laser packages in years is Image’s “The Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers Collection” ($125). Four of everyone’s favorite dancing team’s memorable efforts have been newly remastered for this boxed set: “Top Hat,” “The Gay Divorcee,” “Follow the Fleet” and “Shall We Dance.” Unfortunately, there are still enough blips spotted throughout the eight sides to be distracting, and the flaws can be readily spotted in almost any freeze-frame.

It’s great fun to be able to freeze-frame every step the incomparable Rogers and Astaire take as they romp through enough numbers to remind you why you are sitting through some of the dumbest plots and character acting in film history.

Among the highlights, all noted in chapter indexes: From Irving Berlin’s 1935 “Top Hat”: the title number, “Isn’t This a Lovely Day (to Be Caught in the Rain)?” and “Cheek to Cheek.” From 1934’s “The Gay Divorcee”: “The Continental” and Cole Porter’s “Night and Day.” From 1936’s “Follow the Fleet,” Berlin’s “Let’s Face the Music and Dance,” “Let Yourself Go” and “I’m Putting All My Eggs in One Basket.” “Shall We Dance,” Astaire & Rogers’ first film collaboration with the Gershwins, has none less than “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” “They All Laughed,” “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” and the terrific title tune.