Carousel (film)

Carousel
File:Carousel film 1956.jpg
Directed by	Henry King
Written by	Phoebe Ephron & Henry Ephron
Produced by	Henry Ephron
Starring	Gordon MacRae Shirley Jones Cameron Mitchell Barbara Ruick Claramae Turner Robert Rounseville Gene Lockhart Susan Luckey Jacques d'Amboise William LeMassena
Cinematography	Charles G. Clarke
Edited by	William H. Reynolds
Music by	Richard Rodgers
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	16 February 1956
Running time	128m
Country	USA
Language	English

Carousel is a 1956 film adaptation of the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical of the same name which was based on Ferenc Molnar's Liliom. The movie stars Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, and was directed by Henry King. some of the most beautiful songs

Film size

The film was made in Cinemascope 55, and in color by DeLuxe. It was, however, ultimately shown in regular 35mm Cinemascope rather than the 55mm version of the process, although the original premiere did feature a 6-track magnetic stereo soundtrack specially devised for Cinemascope 55. It was played on a separate machine synchronized with the picture. Most of the other prints of the film used the standard 4-track stereo soundtrack featured on regular Cinemascope films ca. 1953-1957.

Plot

The story revolves around Billy Bigelow, a rough-talking, macho, handsome carousel barker, and Julie Jordan, a young, innocent mill worker. They fall in love, but both are fired from their jobs for different reasons - Billy because he paid too much attention to Julie, and Julie because she stayed out past her curfew. The two marry and go to live at the seaside spa of her cousin Nettie, but Billy becomes bitter because he is unable to find work, and in his frustration, strikes Julie. Mrs. Mullin, the jealous carousel owner who is infatuated with him, goes to Nettie's and offers Billy his old job back, but will not re-hire him unless he leaves his wife. When Julie becomes pregnant, Billy is overjoyed, but, worried about not being able to provide for his child, secretly agrees to join his no-good pal Jigger Craigin in a robbery. During a clambake that night, the two men sneak away. The robbery is unsuccessful and Jigger escapes, but Billy is accidentally killed. Fifteen years later, in the other world (apparently the back door of Heaven), he is told that he can return to Earth for one day to make amends. Billy returns to find his daughter Louise emotionally scarred because she is constantly taunted over the fact that her father tried to commit a robbery. Billy, not telling her who he is, makes himself visible, tries to cheer her up, and gives her a star that he stole from Heaven. Louise refuses it, frightened, and Billy, in desperation, slaps her hand. As he becomes invisible, Louise informs Julie of what happened, saying that she did not feel a slap, but a kiss. Julie, however, has seen him for just a split second, and senses that Billy has come back for a reason. Billy asks his Heavenly Guide for permission to go to Louise's high school graduation, and there he silently gives both her and Julie the confidence they need and the knowledge that, in spite of everything, he loved Julie.

The film followed the stage version faithfully, except for four major changes:

• In the film, Billy dies by accident, rather than by suicide as in the show — when he falls on his own knife while trying to escape arrest.
• The "recitative" singing in the "bench scene", leading directly into the song If I Loved You, is turned into spoken dialogue.
• The "recitative" singing that leads directly into the song June Is Bustin' Out All Over is eliminated.
• The film begins in 1888 with Billy having been dead for fifteen years, and the story of his life on Earth is made into a flashback that takes up three-quarters of the film. Billy tells his own story to the Starkeeper in order to receive permission to return to Earth for one day.

This last change was made to safeguard against the movie audience's being surprised at the death of Billy, and to prevent their leaving directly after it happens lest they think the story ended at that point.

A smaller, less important change was the switching of the song "When The Children Are Asleep" to a later moment in order to take full advantage of the Maine locale. In the film, it is sung in a new scene by Carrie and Mr. Snow in their boat as the couple, together with Julie and Billy, sail to the island for the clambake. (This would logically place the song between Acts I and II of the stage version.) In the stage version, the song is unheard by any of the other characters, but the film places it so that Julie and Billy are there to listen to the song.

Response to the film

The world premiere of the film, in New York City, was attended by Washington diplomats as well as film stars. Among those in the audience were Averell Harriman and Edmund Muskie. Muskie was at that time the governor of Maine, where a large part of the movie was filmed. (Locations such as Boothbay Harbor and Camden were used.) The film was largely critically acclaimed, but was a box office flop. Its soundtrack album, however, sold well, and the film's exposure on television, VHS, and DVD, has won a larger audience for it. It was the only Rodgers and Hammerstein film not nominated for any Academy Awards (the 1962 remake of State Fair received no nominations either). However, some of the technical staff of Carousel also worked on the film version of The King and I (also released that year), for which they did receive Academy Awards.

Soundtrack album

The film's soundtrack album was issued on LP in 1956 by Capitol Records, but only in mono. However, because the soundtrack had been recorded in then state-of-the-art stereo, it was possible for Capitol to release a stereo LP of the album in 1958. That version was made somewhat shorter than the mono by lopping off half of the complete Carousel Waltz (an instrumental piece) as heard on the album. (This was necessary because of a difference that existed then between mono and stereo grooves.)

Three editions of the soundtrack album were issued on compact disc, all in stereo. The first, issued in 1986 by Capitol, was an exact duplicate of the 1958 stereo LP. The rights then were obtained by Angel Records, which issued a second edition of the album, this time featuring the complete Carousel Waltz in stereo for the first time, along with all of the other songs included on the previous CD and LP incarnations. This album was superseded in 2001 by Angel's "expanded edition" of the soundtrack, which, for the first time, featured practically all of the songs and music recorded for the film, including the dance music, resulting in a playing time of 70 minutes, as opposed to the original 45 minute stereo LP and CD.

Deleted and cut songs

Two songs recorded for the film, You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan (sung by Barbara Ruick and Shirley Jones) and Blow High, Blow Low (sung by Cameron Mitchell and a male chorus) were eventually left out of the movie because the producers wanted to keep the length at 128 minutes. They have, however, been included in all editions of the soundtrack album. The Highest Judge of All, a song which precedes Billy's meeting with the starkeeper in the show, in which he asks to meet God, was eliminated from the film score and does not appear on the soundtrack album, presumably because the flashback scenes precluded it. Mr. Snow's sentimental song, Geraniums in the Winder, which serves as an introduction to Stonecutters Cut it On Stone, was also eliminated, as was a reprise of Mister Snow. As with The Highest Judge, neither Geraniums nor the reprise of Mister Snow were ever recorded for the film, and have not appeared on any editions of the film's soundtrack. One verse of Stonecutters Cut It on Stone which appears on the album was omitted from the film, perhaps because it contains a veiled reference to sex and the movie censors of the day might have objected.

The soundtrack album also featured (as noted above) the complete version of the Carousel Waltz which is heard at the beginning of the original show. Because of its nearly eight-minute length, only an abridged version of the waltz was actually heard in the film, and many stage productions of Carousel tend to shorten the piece as well, because of time considerations. In addition, the soundtrack album version of the song When the Children Are Asleep includes the long introductory section to the song sung by Mr. Snow as it is in the show; the film does not use this. The soundtrack album also includes a section of If I Loved You not in the film. The lyric of this section, which is supposed to be sung by Billy Bigelow, is as follows:

Kind of scrawny and pale
Pickin' at my food
And lovesick like any other guy.
I'd throw away my sweater
And dress up like a dude
In a dickey and collar and a tie,
If I loved you.

This section leads to Billy reprising the refrain of the song. In the film the refrain is still there, but the lines quoted above are omitted. Billy simply says "I wonder what it'd be like", upon which Julie responds knowingly, "If you loved me? But you don't". Billy, in turn, answers, "No I don't", and goes on to sing the refrain of the song beginning with the lines
But somehow I can see
Just exactly how I'd be.

1967 Television Production

Carousel was made into a videotaped television special and broadcast on May 7, 1967 on ABC-TV. The special starred Robert Goulet as Billy, Mary Grover as Julie, Marlyn Mason as Carrie and Pernell Roberts as Jigger. Edward Villella was the choreographer. The television version did not use a flashback framework, and retained Billy's suicide, rather than having him accidentally killed.

2008 Remake

Fox 2000 has the rights to produce another Carousel movie starring Hugh Jackman as Billy Bigelow.

External links

• Carousel 1956 film at IMDb
• Carousel 1967 television movie at IMDb
• Carousel info page on StageAgent.com - Carousel plot summary & character descriptions
• Flyrope.com page
• R&H Theatricals