Carousel (1956)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Henry King

Writers:

Phoebe Ephron (screenplay)
Henry Ephron (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

16 February 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Romance

Tagline:

20th-Century Fox proudly presents [Rodgers and Hammerstein's CAROUSEL]

Plot:

Billy Bigelow asks for permission to be sent down "from above" for one day to try and make amends for mistakes he made in life...

Plot Keywords:

Carousel | Barker | Carnival | Impatience | Afterlife

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Gordon MacRae	...	Billy Bigelow
Shirley Jones	...	Julie Jordan
Cameron Mitchell	...	Jigger Craigin
Barbara Ruick	...	Carrie Pipperidge
Claramae Turner	...	Cousin Nettie
Robert Rounseville	...	Mr. Enoch Snow
Gene Lockhart	...	Starkeeper / Dr. Selden
Audrey Christie	...	Mrs. Mullin
Susan Luckey	...	Louise Bigelow
William LeMassena	...	Heavenly Friend
John Dehner	...	Mr. Bascombe
Jacques d'Amboise	...	Louise's 'Starlight Carnival' Dancing Partner
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Banas	...	Ruffian in Louise's ballet (uncredited)
Harry Carter	...	Third Policeman (uncredited)
Richard Deacon	...	First Policeman (uncredited)
Marion Dempsey	...	Sword Swallower (uncredited)
Robert Foulk	...	Second Policeman (uncredited)
Lili Gentle	...	Young Girl #1 (uncredited)
Marie Greene	...	Louise Bigelow (singing voice) (uncredited)
Cheryl Holdridge	...	Young Girl #2 (uncredited)
Harry Johnson	...	Juggler (uncredited)
Tor Johnson	...	Strong Man (uncredited)
Edward Mundy	...	Fire Eater (uncredited)
Mary Orozco	...	Fat Woman (uncredited)
Dee Pollock	...	Enoch Snow, Jr. (uncredited)
Angelo Rossitto	...	Midget (uncredited)
Sylvia Stanton	...	Contortionist (uncredited)
Frank Tweddell	...	Capt. Watson (uncredited)

Directed by
Henry King

Writing credits
Phoebe Ephron		(screenplay)
Henry Ephron		(screenplay)
Oscar Hammerstein II		(book of stage musical)
Ferenc Molnár		(play "Liliom")
Benjamin Glazer		(English translation and adaptation of Liliom) (as Benjamin F. Glazer)

Produced by
Henry Ephron	....	producer

Cinematography by
Charles G. Clarke

Film Editing by
William Reynolds

Art Direction by
Jack Martin Smith
Lyle R. Wheeler

Set Decoration by
Chester L. Bayhi		(as Chester Bayhi)
Walter M. Scott

Costume Design by
Mary Wills

Makeup Department
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist
Helen Turpin	....	hair stylist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stanley Hough	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Bernard Freericks	....	sound
Harry M. Leonard	....	sound

Special Effects by
Ray Kellogg	....	special photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Bob Rose	....	additional grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Charles Le Maire	....	wardrobe (as Charle Le Maire)
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Leonard Doss	....	color consultant

Music Department
Ken Darby	....	vocal supervisor
Earle Hagen	....	orchestrator
Gus Levene	....	orchestrator
Bernard Mayers	....	orchestrator
Alfred Newman	....	conductor
Alfred Newman	....	music supervisor
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestrator
Nelson Riddle	....	orchestrator
Herbert W. Spencer	....	orchestrator (as Herbert Spencer)

Other crew
Rod Alexander	....	choreographer
Agnes de Mille	....	choreographer: original Louise's Ballet

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1956) (USA) (theatrical)
• Centfox (1956) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1966) (USA) (TV) (pan/scan) (edited)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Fox Video (????) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Angel Records  soundtrack released by (1990's CD edition) (uncredited)
• Angel Records  soundtrack released by (2001 expanded CD edition) (uncredited)
• Bausch & Lomb  CinemaScope lenses by
• Capitol Records  soundtrack released by (1956 LP and first CD edition) (uncredited)
• Theatre Guild  stage production

Also Known As:

Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) | 6-Track Stereo (premiere only) | 4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | USA:Approved (PCA #17724) | Australia:G (original rating) | Australia:PG (cable rating) | Canada:G | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:15 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Augusta, Maine, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

While appearing in a nightclub act with his wife at Lake Tahoe, Gordon MacRae received an emergency phone call to replace Frank Sinatra as Billy Bigelow in the film version of Richard Rodgers's and Oscar Hammerstein II's stage hit Carousel (1956), after Sinatra walked out on the filming when he discovered that every scene was to be filmed twice - once for regular Cinemascope and once for Cinemascope 55. Within three days MacRae, who was already familiar with the Broadway show and had wanted to play the role, reported to the set within three days. Ironically, the producers then discovered a way to shoot in Cinemascope 55 and then convert it to regular Cinemascope without filming the movie twice.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: As everyone leaves for the clambake in sailboats, we can see, for a full fifteen seconds or so, several men in one of the boats wearing very modern-looking caps and sunglasses.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Heavenly Friend: Bigelow...
Billy Bigelow: [impatiently] Well, what'd I do now?
Heavenly Friend: Nothing. I just thought you'd wanna know - there's trouble.
Billy Bigelow: Huh! Thought you said I didn't do nothin'.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Beatniks (#5.15)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

Soliloquy

It's a Wonderful Death

In recent years it has become commonplace to site Frank Kapra's `It's a Wonderful Life' as one of the greatest films ever. It has become a Christmas tradition. I feel that film is overrated. The problem I have with it is that it stacks the deck in trying to convince us of the value of human life. George Bailey is a successful banker- not exactly rich but successful enough that he contributed a lot of material things to people's lives, including a housing development named after him. He also saved his brother's life so his brother could save the men on that ship, etc. etc. The message is that you are of value if you have done the sort of things they build statues of people to honor. On top of that, without George, everybody in this town is nothing. They are all drunks or crooks or prostitutes. They have no capabilities of their own. They are all dependent on George Bailey.

I much prefer Carousel, whose hero is a bum. If you were to ask nearly everybody in town- a town that has done just fine without him, as a matter of fact, what Billy Bigelow contributed to their lives, they would say nothing- if they remembered him at all. The only people who would have anything good to say about him are those that he loved and who loved him. And that is the bottom line. If a person can be redeemed by his ability to love and to inspire love in others, we all have a chance. If you have to have a bank and town named after you, the bar is too high for most of us.

As a musical, this is as good as it gets. `If I loved you' is rivaled only by `Some Enchanted Evening' as a love song and it means more as it's revealing of the character of this crude man who can't express what's in his soul and this shy girl who wants only to love and be loved. `Soliloquy' is the dramatic highlight in the history of the musical as Billy works out all his hopes and dreams in his mind and vows to do anything he can to make his daughter's life special. By over reaching his bounds, he does the opposite. `What's the Use of Wondering' expresses the doubts anyone entering a relationship has and is doubly moving as it's sung by Julie, for whom we know the song will have special relevance. `When You Walk Through a Storm' offers hope to us all. Those old guys at graduations are really worth listening to.