Cinema: The New Pictures, Oct. 24, 1955

Oklahoma! (Magna Theater Corp.) shows how far a man can go with one word of Choctaw. The Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein musical opened on Broadway on March 31, 1943, and enjoyed the longest run (2,248 consecutive performances) of any musical in world history. Counting the road companies (four) and the foreign productions (six), Oklahoma! was seen by more than 10 million and made more than $30 million. But that, as Rodgers & Hammerstein were well aware, was only the beginning. If Oklahoma! could make $30 million from 10 million theatergoers, what Mississippis...

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