The Rodgers & Hammerstein collection
(DVD)

Released by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation.

Special features include: movietone news trailers; original theatrical trailers, featurettes, commentaries, alternate versions, and stage performances, and SINGALONG Karaoke Subtitles.

Music, Richard Rodgers ; lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein ; directed by Henry King (Carousel), Walter Lang (The king and I, State fair: 1945), Fred Zinnemann (Oklahoma!), Robert Wise (The sound of music), Joshua Logan (South Pacific), Jose Ferrer (State fair: 1962).

Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones (Carousel) ; Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr (The king and I) ; Gordon MacRae, Gloria Grahame, Shirley Jones (Oklahoma!) ; Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer (The sound of music) ; Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr (South Pacific) ; Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes (State fair: 1945) ; Pat Boone, Bobby Darin, Ann-Margret (State Fair: 1962).

The Rodgers & Hammerstein Collection contains film versions of the five major works by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, who helped define the American musical landscape and rewrite the direction of musical theater. After enjoying extremely successful careers working with others, Rodgers and Hammerstein first teamed up in 1943 for the prairie tale Oklahoma!, with songs including "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "People Will Say We're in Love." The subsequent 1955 film starred Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, who teamed up again for 1956's Carousel. While that film's dark nature made it less popular than its predecessor, the score ("If I Loved You," "You'll Never Walk Alone") was Rodgers's favorite. The King and I (also 1956) featured stage star Yul Brynner as the King of Siam and Deborah Kerr as schoolteacher Anna Leonowens, who must learn Asian customs even as she tries to instill some of her Western ones. The somewhat bloated version of South Pacific (1958) follows two couples during World War II and features standards such as "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair" and "Some Enchanted Evening" from stars Mitzi Gaynor and Rossano Brazzi. The last film, The Sound of Music (1965), proved to be the most popular, with Julie Andrews winning the hearts of seven children and their father with her blissful songs. And if the perhaps saccharine music and plot may test the patience of some, there's no doubt that songs such as "My Favorite Things" and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" have charmed audiences around the world for decades. Accompanying the Big 5 in this set is the relatively minor State Fair from 1945 (though it does have "It Might as Well Be Spring" and "It's a Grand Night for Singing"). Some may expect and prefer other entries in the R & H canon such as Flower Drum Song or the television production Cinderella, but those were produced by different studios.,amazon.com.

Carousel: On the coast of Maine, a smooth-talking carny barker falls in love with a millworker.

The king and I: Based on the true story of Anna Leonowens, an English widow who travels to Bangkok in the 1860s to serve the king of Siam as governess to his children.

Oklahoma!: Set in Oklahoma territory of the early 1900's, this is the story of Curly and Laurey, who are in love with each other, and Jud, the hired man who also has feelings for Laurey.

The sound of music: A young woman named Maria is uncertain about her decision to enter a religious order. While deciding what to do, she becomes the governess of the seven Von Trapp children who live with their widowed father, a former captain of the Austrian navy.

South Pacific: An American navy nurse falls in love with a French plantation owner in the South Seas during World War II.

State fair: Musical about the Frake family and their adventures at the Iowa State Fair.

MPAA rating: not rated (Carousel, South Pacific, State fair) ; rated G (The king and I, Oklahoma!, The sound of music).

DVD; region 1; Dolby surround, stereo., and mono.

Open-captioned in English; soundtracks in English (all), Spanish (Carousel, King and I, Sound of music, South Pacific) and French (King and I, Sound of music, South Pacific) with optional subtitles in English (all) and Spanish (all).