Classic Movie Musicals: 9 Unbelievable Secrets Hiding Behind These ’50s Flicks

Frank Sinatra was furious that Marlon Brando had been cast in the lead role despite not being a professionally trained singer. The tension between the two led Brando to purposely flub take after take of their characters' on-screen meeting, knowing that Sinatra, who hated cheesecake, would have to eat slice after slice of the rich dessert.

Only 19 years old at the time, Debbie Reynolds still lived with her parents and had to commute to the studio by waking up at 4 a.m. and traveling via three different bus routes. Occasionally, she would sleep on set rather than endure the early morning again.

According to reports from the set, it was Marilyn Monroe herself who suggested the line, "I can be smart when it's important, but most men don't like it."

Also, her co-star Jane Russell's fall after the "Ain't There Anyone Here for Love?" sequence was a complete accident! Director Howard Hawks saw it in the dailies and decided to keep it in the final film.

When Judy Garland's character has a breakdown in the dressing room, Garland herself was actually being driven to the brink by director George Cukor's grueling demand that she perform take after take of the emotional scene.

Even before they started filming, she was so tense that she threw up in anticipation of her first attempt.

Both the original Broadway play and film are based on the memoirs of the real Anna Leonowens, who worked as a governess to the children of the King of Siam (now Thailand).

However, many of the details Leonowens attempted to pass as truth were highly embellished, resulting in the real royal family banning the film from their country.

Despite being one of Elvis Presley's biggest films, the rock and roller refused to ever watch it after the loss of his co-star, Judy Tyler, in an automobile accident a few days after they wrapped filming.

You can spy Audrey Hepburn's real pup, Mr. Famous, making a cameo as the terrier in a basket during the "Anna Karenina" sequence.

Hepburn and her co-star Fred Astaire were also each convinced to take their roles by the production staff saying the other had already accepted, knowing neither of the greats would pass up being able to work together.

Contrary to the title, filming never took place in the state of Oklahoma. It wasn't even done on a soundstage in Los Angeles, which we're used to. Instead the cast and crew made their way to Arizona, where the scenery more accurately matched the turn-of-the-century plot.

The University of Arizona was tasked with growing "corn as high as an elephant's eye," but the result was so successful that composer Oscar Hammerstein joked, "The corn is now as high as the eye of an elephant on top of another elephant."

MGM studio heads didn't have high expectations for the film, assuming two other musicals that year, Rose Marie and Brigadoon, would each be much more successful.

They ended up eating their words, though, when both of those films combined couldn't match the box office and critical response to this!

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