Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is a review of only the Todd-AO version of the movie included in the recent 50th anniversary edition of Oklahoma. The main Cinemascope version on Disc One is outstanding and deserves 5 stars and more. However the accompanying Todd-AO version on Disc Two looks abysmal in comparison. For those who are unaware, the producers filmed two versions of Oklahoma simultaneously, the one commonly seen which is the Cinemascope version and the other, the Todd-AO version which is the one that Rodgers and Hammerstein preferred. It is seldom seen because theaters did not possess the special equipment to project these Todd-AO movies (extremely widescreen with curved edges to give an enveloping effect). The 2 movies are not the same. They did not just use different cameras or lenses to film the same scene. The films are different in that every scene is restaged specifically for either Cinemascope or Todd-AO. This is obvious in a side by side comparison - the individual scenes are subtly different. Some scenes are shot at slightly different angles, some scenes are shot at different times of the day, some scenes include cast members seen in one version but not the other while all scenes show subtle variations in performances between one version and the next. But the most obvious difference is that only the Todd-AO version includes the Oklahoma Overture as well as the Intermission, En'tracte and Finale (Exit Music) which Richard Rodgers wrote for Oklahoma but never included in the Cinemascope version. The end result is that the Todd-AO version runs for 147mins while the Cinemascope version runs for just 139mins, a fact that Fox fudges by giving the runtime of the movie as 145mins. The Todd-AO version presented here is virtually unrestored. It is so dark you can barely read the opening credits. It is grimy. Todd-AO is shot on 70mm film (Cinemascope is on 35mm), so it should reveal exquisite detail. Instead the transfer is so soft and blurry, it is like watching a second-generation VHS tape. And although Todd-AO is shot at 30fps, as opposed to 24fps in standard film, for the express purpose of reducing film flicker, there is more flicker on the Todd-AO transfer than on the main Cinemascope version. This is a very sorry presentation of what should have been the definitive edition. If you are buying this solely for the Cinemascope version, you won't be disappointed. It is indeed a sight to behold. If you are thinking of buying this for the Todd-AO version which few audiences today would have had the chance to see, I'd recommend waiting till Fox reissues a properly restored edition of it. In fact the Todd-AO version looks better on the old laserdisc from more than 10 years ago. A sidenote to Fox: Please do not harangue your customers with those extremely loud, obnoxiously noisy anti-piracy messages placed at the front of all your DVDs. People who buy these DVDs are not the ones pirating your movies. I inserted this DVD into the player expecting to be greeted by the lovely music of Oklahoma only to be assailed by the abrasively loud banging, thumping and thudding of your aggravatingly annoying anti-piracy message. Do not punish your legitimate customers or you'll find us all going to the side of the pirates.