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:

Judy Garland, who was fresh from A Star Is Born (1954), was considered for the role of Julie Jordan, although that never materialized.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Mockingbird calls are heard in a scene between Billy and Louise near the end. At the time the film is set (between the early 1870s and the late 1880s), the mockingbird range was entirely in the American South. There were no mockingbirds in Maine - not even in the year the film was made (by which time the mockingbird's range had extended to New York and New Jersey).

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 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Soundtrack:

You'll Never Walk Alone

The very finest of Rodgers and Hammerstein!

The film of this classic musical is a joy to watch and listen to.

The music is undoubtedly the finest Rodgers and Hammerstein

score.

Of the many fine moments in the film two astounding highlights

must be Billy's Soliloquy and the Shirley Jones' and Gordon

MacRae's lover's duet "If I loved you".

To this is added two great ballet sequences "June is Bustin' out all

Over" and Louise's ballet.

The film is Rogers and Hammerstein at their most dark and

introspective, which may account for the film's relatively lacklustre

reception at the time of its initial release but the at the same time

explains the ongoing appeal of this truly timeless classic film.

It is a fine memorial to both composer and lyricist and to the

artistry of Gordon MacRae whose performance of the soliloquy is

the benchmark against which all performances are judged.

The film was produced in Cinemascope 55 a large film fomat

which overcame many of the problems that were inherent in early

Cinemascope films (even though the film was actually released

only in standard 35mm form ..a bit like a 35mm print of a 70mm

film this still results in a far better image) and gives the film its

immaculate look.

The Fox DVD is crisp and the sound, though very clearly a 1950s

recording is clean and well balanced.

I just wish I could see this film in a cinema on the biggest of

screens... it would be an even more special experience!