| Photos (see all 12 | slideshow) | Videos (see all 3 NEW) |
| Harry Belafonte | ... | Joe | |
| Dorothy Dandridge | ... | Carmen Jones | |
| Pearl Bailey | ... | Frankie | |
| Olga James | ... | Cindy Lou | |
| Joe Adams | ... | Husky Miller | |
| Brock Peters | ... | Sergeant Brown (as Broc Peters) | |
| Roy Glenn | ... | Rum Daniels | |
| Nick Stewart | ... | Dink Franklin | |
| Diahann Carroll | ... | Myrt | |
| LeVern Hutcherson | ... | Joe (voice) (as Le Vern Hutcherson) | |
| Marilyn Horne | ... | Carmen Jones (voice) (as Marilynn Horne) | |
| Marvin Hayes | ... | Husky Miller (voice) | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Alvin Ailey | ... | Dance Soloist (uncredited) | |
| DeForest Covan | ... | Trainer (uncredited) | |
| Joseph E. Crawford | ... | Dink Franklin (singing voice) (uncredited) | |
| Carmen De Lavallade | ... | Dance Soloist (uncredited) | |
| Bernie Hamilton | ... | Reporter (uncredited) | |
| Margaret Lancaster | ... | Singing Voice (uncredited) | |
| Mauri Lynn | ... | Sally (uncredited) | |
| Sam McDaniel | ... | Waiter (uncredited) | |
| Bernice Peterson | ... | Myrt (singing voice) (uncredited) | |
| Max Roach | ... | Max (uncredited) | |
| Carmencita Romero | ... | Dancer (uncredited) | |
| Archie Savage | ... | Dance Soloist (uncredited) | |
| Madame Sul-Te-Wan | ... | Hagar - Carmen's Grandmother (uncredited) | |
| Rubin Wilson | ... | Kid Pancho (uncredited) | |
Directed by | |||
| Otto Preminger | |||
Writing credits | ||
| Oscar Hammerstein II | (book) (as Oscar Hammerstein 2nd) | |
| Harry Kleiner | (screenplay) | |
| Prosper Mérimée | novel (uncredited) | |
Produced by | |||
| Otto Preminger | .... | producer | |
Cinematography by | |||
| Sam Leavitt | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| Louis R. Loeffler | |||
Art Direction by | |||
| Edward L. Ilou | |||
| John DeCuir | (co-art director) (uncredited) | ||
Set Decoration by | |||
| Claude E. Carpenter | |||
Costume Design by | |||
| Mary Ann Nyberg | |||
Production Management | |||
| Herman E. Webber | .... | production manager | |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| David Silver | .... | assistant director | |
Sound Department | |||
| Roger Heman Sr. | .... | sound (as Roger Heman) | |
| Arthur von Kirbach | .... | sound (as Arthur L. Kirbach) | |
Camera and Electrical Department | |||
| Albert Myers | .... | camera operator | |
| Robert Willoughby | .... | special still photographer (uncredited) | |
Casting Department | |||
| Lina Abarbanell | .... | casting consultant | |
Costume and Wardrobe Department | |||
| Sam Benson | .... | wardrobe (uncredited) | |
Music Department | |||
| Leon Birnbaum | .... | music editor | |
| Georges Bizet | .... | composer: opera "Carmen" | |
| George Brand | .... | music editor | |
| Ted Dale | .... | associate musical director | |
| Herschel Burke Gilbert | .... | musical director | |
| Billy Rose | .... | producer: Broadway musical play "Carmen Jones" | |
| Murray Spivack | .... | music recordist | |
| Vinton Vernon | .... | music recordist | |
| Jester Hairston | .... | choral director (uncredited) | |
| Jester Hairston | .... | vocal coach (uncredited) | |
| Dimitri Tiomkin | .... | co-musical director (uncredited) | |
Other crew | |||
| Saul Bass | .... | title designer | |
| John Indrisano | .... | fight stager | |
| Otto Preminger | .... | presenter | |
| Max Slater | .... | production assistant (as Maximilian Slater) | |
| Herbert Ross | .... | choreographer (uncredited) | |
|
|
|
|
|
| From Here to Eternity | Big Fish | Major Dundee | Basic Instinct | The Bodyguard |
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Musical section | IMDb USA section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |
This film shows just how much talent existed and was mostly unused because of the small number of pictures made with African-American casts during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
It's a remake of Bizet's "Carmen", and was originally performed on Broadway in the 1940's. Otto Preminger filmed the play during the 1950's. The songs all retain Bizet's original music, but the lyrics have been updated to English. If you've never seen the opera, and are intimidated by opera in general, this film would actually be a good introduction to the topic.
The plot is moved from a Spanish village during the late 1800's to the American South during WWII. The cigarette factory is now a parachute factory, and the bullfighter is now a prize fighter. Generally, I thought the update was done well, just as some Shakespearean updates work well. The only part which doesn't work for me is that some of the dialogue and lyrics are in what I think of as "Porgy and Bess Ebonics", e.g. "dees", "dem", "dat", etc.
Carmen is played by Dorothy Dandridge, who is known as the African-American Marilyn Monroe. The two women's lives sadly parallel each other, although Dandridge could find even fewer scripts to show off her acting talents. Harry Belafonte plays the seduced male lead. Both are stunning beautiful, and at their prime.
All of the singing voices are dubbed by first rank operatic voices; the songs for Carmen Jones are dubbed by Marilyn Horne, for example.
The tragedy is realizing how many great actors and actresses could have had brilliant careers except for their skin color. It was interesting and sad to watch the Movietone Newsreel coverage of the premiere, which came attached to the copy of the tape I had. It features all of the white movie stars attending the premiere, the white studio heads -- and just happens to have a second or two of Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge at the end.