MacRae was in a military school musical, "About Face" (1952) with Eddie Bracken, then he and Day did a sequel to "On Moonlight Bay", "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" (1953). That same year, he starred opposite Kathryn Grayson in the third film version of "The Desert Song" and teamed with Jane Powell in "Three Sailors and a Girl" (1953). MacRae's best known film role was Curly in the big screen adaptation of "Oklahoma!" (1955) alongside Shirley Jones. He and Jones were used on another Rodgers and Hammerstein adaptation, "Carousel" (1956), at 20th Century Fox. MacRae played Buddy De Sylva in "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (1956) for 20th Century-Fox.