In an attempt to lure adults from their television sets, Hollywood began to stage lavish musicals in a widescreen format. Many of these were formerly Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway productions. While Oklahoma! (1955) and The King and I (1956) were great successes, there was one adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein that was an expensive failure: Carousel.
On the surface at least, the film had much in common with Oklahoma!, released the previous year. Besides the widescreen, technicolor format and the Rodgers and Hammerstein songs, both films starred rugged bass singer Gordon MacRae and smiling, angelic young Shirley Jones. Both had period Americana costumes and elaborate choreography.
But Carousel was a much darker film. The male lead, who sees the majority of the screen time, is a troubled loser. He's a surly bum who won't look for work, who hits his girl, and who hangs out with a hardened, cynical criminal. He also begins the film already dead, passing time polishing plastic stars in a drab purgatory corner of heaven.
It's a strange setup for a 1950s musical, and it must have alienated contemporary audiences. From a commercial point of view, the problem was in the adaptation. The King and I had ruthlessly stripped away all the negative vibes from Anna and the King of Siam in its transition from drama to musical. But Carousel had remained relatively faithful to the original play.
The story of Carousel began as the play "Liliom", from turn of the century Hungarian author Ferenc Molnar. A silent version from Hungary was directed by future legend Michael Curtiz in 1919. An early talkie was made in 1930. The most famous version was Liliom (1934), starring Charles Boyer and directed by Fritz Lang. This Hollywood film was adapted into a Broadway musical in 1945, with the familiar Rodgers and Hammerstein songs. Some of the songs were removed or truncated for Carousel, but the negative aspects of Billy's character, companion and actions were left intact.
Billy (Gordon MacRae) is an barker for a carousel at the fair. He meets Julie (Shirley Jones), a woman who is so sweet that she can only see the good in him. But Billy loses his job, and is unable to support his girl. Billy is not very bright either, and makes the mistake of listening to Jigger (Cameron Mitchell), a ruthless con artist.
From there, matters only get worse. Now in the afterlife, Billy is given a chance at partial redemption by his heavenly wardens (Gene Lockhart, William Le Massena). He can change the life of Louise (Susan Luckey), who suffers from the same low self image that he once had.
The fate of Billy and Julie is contrasted with that of Julie's spirited friend, Carrie (Barbara Ruick). She prospers by marrying conservative, foppish Mr. Snow (Robert Rounseville).
Frank Sinatra was originally cast for the role of Billy. It would have been an interesting, more sympathetic casting. Sinatra backed out of the project, perhaps due to the widescreen format. With 'CinemaScope 55', every scene had to be filmed twice.
While Carousel is a strange musical for the 1950s, perhaps that also explains why it is so good. Everyone has a fine voice, and the songs (especially "You'll Never Walk Alone") are good if overripe. Billy is a much deeper character than you'll find in most non-musicals, while Jigger is a classic villain. Julie should be a dull supporting character, all sugar and sunshine, but the trials brought to her by Billy forces her inner strength to the surface. (80/100)
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