The appearance of a restored version of the original Todd AO 30-frame-per-second roadshow version of Fred Zinneman’s Oklahoma! (’55) is easily the most exciting news about the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival (April 10th through 13th). I’ve never much liked this film, but I love the first 35 to 45 minutes of the original Todd AO version because of the amazingly clean and blur-free visuals. I’ve always gotten a perfunctory kick from the overture, of course, but that long, leisurely tracking shot with Gordon MacRae riding alongside the cornfield and singing “Oh, What A Beautiful Morning”…fantastic! Visually staid and perhaps a bit lazy, but it’s Todd AO!
Official TCM release on Oklahoma! restoration: “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.”