Carousel (film)
Encyclopedia
Carousel is a 1956 film adaptation of the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein
musical of the same name
which, in turn, was based on Ferenc Molnár
's non-musical play Liliom
. The 1956 Carousel film stars Gordon MacRae
and Shirley Jones
, and was directed by Henry King
. Like the original stage production, the film contains what many critics consider some of Rodgers and Hammerstein's most beautiful songs, as well as what may be, along with the plots of Allegro
and South Pacific
, the most serious storyline found in their musicals.
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 the curfew
imposed by the understanding but stern mill owner, Mr. Bascombe. 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 (this moment is not shown at all in the film). Mrs. Mullin, the jealous carousel owner who is infatuated with him, hears of this and goes to Nettie's to offer Billy his old job back, but will not re-hire him unless he leaves his wife. Billy seems to be considering the idea when Julie asks to talk privately. Julie, fearing he will be enraged, timidly tells him she is pregnant. But Billy is overjoyed and now firmly refuses Mrs. Mullin's offer. However, newly worried about not having enough money to provide for his child, Billy secretly agrees to join his pal Jigger Craigin in robbing the wealthy Bascombe.
During the clambake
, held on a nearby island, Billy and Jigger sneak to the mainland to commit the robbery, but Bascombe, who is usually unarmed, carries a gun and the robbery is foiled. While Bascombe is momentarily distracted, Jigger flees and leaves Billy at the mercy of the police. Cornered, but trying to escape, Billy climbs atop a pile of crates, whereupon the pile collapses and Billy falls on his own knife. The others return from the clambake, and Julie sees the mortally wounded Billy. She rushes over to him and he dies after saying his last words to her. Julie is devastated because she truly loved him, even though she never had the courage to say it out loud.
Fifteen years later, in the other world (apparently the back door of Heaven
), Billy 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. She rushes inside the house and informs Julie of what happened, saying that she did not feel a slap, but a kiss. Billy tries to make himself invisible before Julie can see him, but she has glimpsed him for just a split second, and senses that he 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.
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, and to lend a sharp contrast to the happiness that Mr. Snow feels in comparison to Billy's obvious uneasiness about the robbery that he and Jigger are soon to commit.
. Muskie was at that time the governor of Maine
, where the story is set and where a large part of the movie was filmed. Locations such as Boothbay Harbor, Camden
, and New Harbor
were used. Many of the harbor scenes were filmed at what is now Shaw's, a local eatery, in New Harbor.
The film received mostly good reviews, but sources differ as to its financial success. Musical theatre scholar Thomas Hischak stated that the film "was a box office success across the country and 20th Century-Fox earned a considerable profit on the picture". However, the review at allmovie.com states: "The film's often downbeat tone ... did not resonate with 1950s audiences, making Carousel a surprising box-office flop." Another analysis states that "The American release of Carousel actually lost money for Twentieth Century Fox, but Kine Weekly claimed that it was generally successful at the British box office."
The soundtrack album sold well, and the film's exposure on television, VHS and DVD has won a larger audience for it. It was one of only three Rodgers and Hammerstein films (out of nine) that were not nominated for any Academy Awards
. (The 1962 State Fair
, an unsuccessful remake of R&H's hit musical written especially for film
, and an also unsuccessful animated remake of "The King and I"
received no nominations either, but, unlike Carousel, they were almost universally reviled by critics.) However, some of the technical staff of Carousel also worked on the film version of The King and I
(also released in 1956), and they did receive Academy Awards for that film, so they did not go home empty-handed on Oscar Night 1957.
Carousel was named #41 on Channel 4's (London) list of 100 Greatest Musicals.
was first 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. The later release was shortened by about five minutes, by abridging the opening instrumental "Carousel Waltz" due to technical limitations imposed by the then-new format. The mono release, as originally issued, played for about fifty minutes, while the stereo one played for forty-five.
A large team of orchestrators lent their expertise to the complex musical arrangements recorded for the soundtrack: Nelson Riddle
, Herbert W. Spencer
, Earle Hagen
, Edward B. Powell (responsible for "If I Loved You"), Bernard Mayer and Gus Levene.
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.
Under the vocal direction of Ken Darby
, the songs and performers on the expanded edition of the album are:
The soundtrack album also featured (as noted above) the complete version of "Carousel Waltz" which is first heard at the beginning of the original show and early in the film. Because of its nearly eight-minute length, only an abridged version of the waltz was actually heard in the movie, 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:
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
was originally cast to play Billy Bigelow. He even pre-recorded the songs he was to sing in the film. But when he arrived on the set, Sinatra discovered that he had to shoot the scenes two times: one for regular Cinemascope and the other for CinemaScope 55. Sinatra, who never liked to do two takes of a scene, walked away from the set and said: "You’re not getting two Sinatras for the price of one". Ironically, just after he left, the producers found a way to film the scene once on 55mm, then transfer it onto 35mm; thus, the film did not have to be shot twice. But on February 14, 1958, Shirley Jones
guested on the Frank Sinatra Show and was able to perform "If I Loved You" with him. This performance gives a taste of what could have been if Sinatra had not quit the film, and can be seen on the DVD Sinatra – The Classic Duets. The songs that Sinatra recorded for the original soundtrack were never released to the general public due to contractual issues. "Soliloquy", the song that the character Billy Bigelow sings when he learns that his wife is expecting a child, was one of Sinatra's favorites. He recorded it in the forties for Columbia
, tried it at Capitol
in the fifties and recorded it again in the sixties for Reprise
.
, on the evening of March 13, 1966, pan and scan
ned in a slightly edited version which ran between 9:00 and 11:30 P.M, E.S.T. It was repeated only three months later, on the evening of June 26, 1966. After these two network telecasts, the film was sold to local stations.
as Billy, Mary Grover as Julie, Marlyn Mason
as Carrie and Pernell Roberts
as Jigger, with Charlie Ruggles as the Starkeeper. 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.
One change that the 1967 TV special made in the story was in making it obvious that the heavenly Starkeeper and Dr. Seldon, the graduation speaker in the final scene, are one and the same. This is not apparent in the original show.
, and in color by DeLuxe
. It was, however, ultimately shown in regular 35 mm CinemaScope rather than the 55 mm 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. All of the other prints of the film were composite prints, and used the standard 4-track stereo soundtrack featured on regular CinemaScope films circa 1953–1957.
, who would star as Billy Bigelow, has been in pre-production for several years. Like the original, this remake would be distributed by 20th Century Fox
. As of May 2009, the script was reportedly finished. Jackman mentioned that he would like to see Anne Hathaway
considered for Julie Jordan. No news has been announced about the proposed film since mid-2009.
IMDB currently predicts this film's release in 2013, but the spare nature of the page provides little in the way of proof.
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
musical of the same name
Carousel (musical)
Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline...
which, in turn, was based on Ferenc Molnár
Ferenc Molnár
LanguageFerenc Molnár was a Hungarian dramatist and novelist. His Americanized name was Franz Molnar...
's non-musical play Liliom
Liliom
Liliom is a 1909 play by the Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnár. It was very famous in its own right during the early to mid-20th century, but is best known today as the basis for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.- Plot :...
. The 1956 Carousel film stars Gordon MacRae
Gordon MacRae
Gordon MacRae was an American actor and singer, best known for his appearances in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma! and Carousel and films with Doris Day like Starlift.-Early life:Born Albert Gordon MacRae in East Orange, New Jersey, MacRae graduated from...
and Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. In her six decades of television, she starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , and The Music Man...
, and was directed by Henry King
Henry King (director)
Henry King was an American film director.Before coming to film, King worked as an actor in various repertoire theatres, and first started to take small film roles in 1912. He directed for the first time in 1915, and grew to become one of the most commercially successful Hollywood directors of the...
. Like the original stage production, the film contains what many critics consider some of Rodgers and Hammerstein's most beautiful songs, as well as what may be, along with the plots of Allegro
Allegro (musical)
Allegro is a musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II , their third collaboration for the stage. Opening on Broadway on October 10, 1947, the musical centers on the life of Joseph Taylor, Jr.—Joe follows in the footsteps of his father as a doctor, but is tempted by fortune and fame at...
and South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
, the most serious storyline found in their musicals.
Plot
The story revolves around Billy Bigelow, a rough-talking, macho, handsome carouselCarousel
A carousel , or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders...
barker
Barker (occupation)
A barker is a person who attempts to attract patrons to entertainment events, such as a circus or funfair, by exhorting passing public, describing attractions of show and emphasizing variety, novelty, beauty, or some other feature believed to incite listeners to attend entertainment...
, 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 the curfew
Curfew
A curfew is an order specifying a time after which certain regulations apply. Examples:# An order by a government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time...
imposed by the understanding but stern mill owner, Mr. Bascombe. The two marry and go to live at the seaside spa
Spa
The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...
of her cousin Nettie, but Billy becomes bitter because he is unable to find work, and in his frustration, strikes Julie (this moment is not shown at all in the film). Mrs. Mullin, the jealous carousel owner who is infatuated with him, hears of this and goes to Nettie's to offer Billy his old job back, but will not re-hire him unless he leaves his wife. Billy seems to be considering the idea when Julie asks to talk privately. Julie, fearing he will be enraged, timidly tells him she is pregnant. But Billy is overjoyed and now firmly refuses Mrs. Mullin's offer. However, newly worried about not having enough money to provide for his child, Billy secretly agrees to join his pal Jigger Craigin in robbing the wealthy Bascombe.
During the clambake
Clambake
Clambake is a 1967 musical film starring Elvis Presley, and co-starring Shelley Fabares and Bill Bixby—the last of his four films for United Artists. The movie reached No. 15 on the national weekly box office charts.-Plot:...
, held on a nearby island, Billy and Jigger sneak to the mainland to commit the robbery, but Bascombe, who is usually unarmed, carries a gun and the robbery is foiled. While Bascombe is momentarily distracted, Jigger flees and leaves Billy at the mercy of the police. Cornered, but trying to escape, Billy climbs atop a pile of crates, whereupon the pile collapses and Billy falls on his own knife. The others return from the clambake, and Julie sees the mortally wounded Billy. She rushes over to him and he dies after saying his last words to her. Julie is devastated because she truly loved him, even though she never had the courage to say it out loud.
Fifteen years later, in the other world (apparently the back door of Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
), Billy 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. She rushes inside the house and informs Julie of what happened, saying that she did not feel a slap, but a kiss. Billy tries to make himself invisible before Julie can see him, but she has glimpsed him for just a split second, and senses that he 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.
Differences from musical
The film followed the stage musical faithfully, except for five 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 "recitativeRecitativeRecitative , also known by its Italian name "recitativo" , is a style of delivery in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms of ordinary speech...
" singing in the "bench scene", leading directly into the song "If I Loved YouIf I Loved You"If I Loved You" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.The song was introduced by John Raitt as "Billy Bigelow" and Jan Clayton as "Julie"...
", 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.
- In the film, there is no specific mention of the fact that Billy must return to Earth for one day and perform a good deed in order to win entry into Heaven, as there is in the play. In the film's opening scene (a pre-credits sequenceCold openA cold open in a television program or movie is the technique of jumping directly into a story at the beginning or opening of the show, before the title sequence or opening credits are shown...
), a Heavenly Friend advises Billy that "there's trouble...down on Earth", in case he should like to return there. Billy takes the friend up on the offer, but the film gives the impression that he is not doing it specifically to be admitted into Heaven.
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, and to lend a sharp contrast to the happiness that Mr. Snow feels in comparison to Billy's obvious uneasiness about the robbery that he and Jigger are soon to commit.
Response to the film
The world premiere of the film, held in New York, was attended by Washington diplomats as well as film stars. Among those in the audience were Averell Harriman and Edmund MuskieEdmund Muskie
Edmund Sixtus "Ed" Muskie was an American politician from Rumford, Maine. He served as Governor of Maine from 1955 to 1959, as a member of the United States Senate from 1959 to 1980, and as Secretary of State under Jimmy Carter from 1980 to 1981...
. Muskie was at that time the governor of Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, where the story is set and where a large part of the movie was filmed. Locations such as Boothbay Harbor, Camden
Camden, Maine
Camden is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,254 at the 2000 census. The population of the town more than triples during the summer months, due to tourists and summer residents. Camden is a famous summer colony in the Mid-Coast region of Maine...
, and New Harbor
New Harbor, Maine
New Harbor is a small coastal village in the town of Bristol, in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. It is the home of Pemaquid Lighthouse and Fort William Henry....
were used. Many of the harbor scenes were filmed at what is now Shaw's, a local eatery, in New Harbor.
The film received mostly good reviews, but sources differ as to its financial success. Musical theatre scholar Thomas Hischak stated that the film "was a box office success across the country and 20th Century-Fox earned a considerable profit on the picture". However, the review at allmovie.com states: "The film's often downbeat tone ... did not resonate with 1950s audiences, making Carousel a surprising box-office flop." Another analysis states that "The American release of Carousel actually lost money for Twentieth Century Fox, but Kine Weekly claimed that it was generally successful at the British box office."
The soundtrack album sold well, and the film's exposure on television, VHS and DVD has won a larger audience for it. It was one of only three Rodgers and Hammerstein films (out of nine) that were not nominated for any Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
. (The 1962 State Fair
State Fair (1962 film)
State Fair is a 1962 film directed by José Ferrer. The film is a remake of the 1933 and 1945 films of the same name.It was considered to be a financially and critically unsuccessful film. It starred Pat Boone, Bobby Darin, Ann-Margret, Tom Ewell, Pamela Tiffin and Alice Faye.Richard Rodgers wrote...
, an unsuccessful remake of R&H's hit musical written especially for film
State Fair (1945 film)
State Fair is a 1945 film directed by Walter Lang. The film a musical adaptation of the 1933 film of the same name, with original music by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The film starred Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine, Fay Bainter and Charles Winninger...
, and an also unsuccessful animated remake of "The King and I"
The King and I (1999 film)
The King and I is a 1999 animated film adaptation of the stage musical The King and I, which in turn is adapted from the Anna Leonowens story. The film was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and Morgan Creek Productions, and released theatrically by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment on March 19, 1999...
received no nominations either, but, unlike Carousel, they were almost universally reviled by critics.) However, some of the technical staff of Carousel also worked on the film version of The King and I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
(also released in 1956), and they did receive Academy Awards for that film, so they did not go home empty-handed on Oscar Night 1957.
Carousel was named #41 on Channel 4's (London) list of 100 Greatest Musicals.
Soundtrack album
The film's soundtrack albumSoundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
was first issued on LP in 1956 by Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, but only in mono. However, because the soundtrack had been recorded in then state-of-the-art stereo
STEREO
STEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...
, it was possible for Capitol to release a stereo LP of the album in 1958. The later release was shortened by about five minutes, by abridging the opening instrumental "Carousel Waltz" due to technical limitations imposed by the then-new format. The mono release, as originally issued, played for about fifty minutes, while the stereo one played for forty-five.
A large team of orchestrators lent their expertise to the complex musical arrangements recorded for the soundtrack: Nelson Riddle
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
, Herbert W. Spencer
Herbert W. Spencer
Herbert Winfield Spencer was a film and television composer and orchestrator.Spencer gained industry fame when he teamed up with fellow 20th Century Fox orchestrator Earle Hagen in 1953 to create the Spencer-Hagen Orchestra...
, Earle Hagen
Earle Hagen
Earle Harry Hagen was an American composer who created music for movies and television. He is remembered for co-writing and whistling "The Fishin' Hole", the melody of the main theme to The Andy Griffith Show, the instrumental classic "Harlem Nocturne" used as the theme to television's Mickey...
, Edward B. Powell (responsible for "If I Loved You"), Bernard Mayer and Gus Levene.
Three editions of the soundtrack album were issued on compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, 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
Angel Records
Angel Records is a record label belonging to EMI. It was formed in 1953 and specialised in classical music, but included an occasional operetta or Broadway score...
, 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.
Under the vocal direction of Ken Darby
Ken Darby
Kenneth Lorin Darby was an American composer, vocal arranger, lyricist, and conductor. His film scores were recognized with three Academy Awards and one Grammy Award.- Personal life :...
, the songs and performers on the expanded edition of the album are:
- Introduction – Gordon MacRae/William Le Massena (this is the opening pre-credits sequence, consisting of spoken dialogue)
- Main Title: The Carousel Waltz – 20th Century-Fox Orchestra/Alfred Newman (About five minutes after the Main Title ends, a slightly longer version of the Carousel Waltz is heard, this time during the scene showing Julie and Billy's first meeting in the amusement park, but possibly to avoid repetition, this second playing of the waltz was not included in the soundtrack album. However, "Carousel Waltz" is heard again in the track "Louise's Ballet".)
- You're A Queer One, Julie Jordan – Barbara Ruick/Shirley Jones
- (When I Marry) Mr. Snow – Barbara Ruick
- If I Loved You – Shirley Jones/Gordon MacRae
- June Is Bustin' Out All Over – Claramae Turner/Barbara Ruick and Chorus (leads without a pause into)
- June Is Bustin' Out All Over Ballet – 20th Century-Fox Orchestra/Alfred Newman
- Soliloquy – Gordon MacRae
- Blow High, Blow Low – Cameron Mitchell and Men's Chorus
- When The Children Are Asleep – Robert Rounseville/Barbara Ruick
- A Real Nice Clambake – Barbara Ruick/Claramae Turner/Robert Rounseville/Cameron Mitchell and Chorus
- Stonecutters Cut In On Stone – Cameron Mitchell and Chorus
- What's The Use Of Wond'rin – Shirley Jones and Women's Chorus
- You'll Never Walk AloneYou'll Never Walk Alone (song)"You'll Never Walk Alone" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.In the musical, in the second act, Nettie Fowler, the cousin of the female protagonist Julie Jordan, sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" to comfort and encourage Julie when her husband, Billy Bigelow, the...
– Shirley Jones/Claramae Turner - Louise's Ballet – 20th Century-Fox Orchestra/Alfred Newman
- If I Loved You (reprise) – Gordon MacRae
- You'll Never Walk Alone (Finale) – Shirley Jones and Chorus
- Carousel Waltz (LP Version) – 20th Century-Fox Orchestra/Alfred Newman (an additional track that contains the full eight-minute "Carousel Waltz").
Chart positions
| Chart (1956) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
1 |
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 "Carousel Waltz" which is first heard at the beginning of the original show and early in the film. Because of its nearly eight-minute length, only an abridged version of the waltz was actually heard in the movie, 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.
The Frank Sinatra Controversy
Frank SinatraFrank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
was originally cast to play Billy Bigelow. He even pre-recorded the songs he was to sing in the film. But when he arrived on the set, Sinatra discovered that he had to shoot the scenes two times: one for regular Cinemascope and the other for CinemaScope 55. Sinatra, who never liked to do two takes of a scene, walked away from the set and said: "You’re not getting two Sinatras for the price of one". Ironically, just after he left, the producers found a way to film the scene once on 55mm, then transfer it onto 35mm; thus, the film did not have to be shot twice. But on February 14, 1958, Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. In her six decades of television, she starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , and The Music Man...
guested on the Frank Sinatra Show and was able to perform "If I Loved You" with him. This performance gives a taste of what could have been if Sinatra had not quit the film, and can be seen on the DVD Sinatra – The Classic Duets. The songs that Sinatra recorded for the original soundtrack were never released to the general public due to contractual issues. "Soliloquy", the song that the character Billy Bigelow sings when he learns that his wife is expecting a child, was one of Sinatra's favorites. He recorded it in the forties for Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, tried it at Capitol
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
in the fifties and recorded it again in the sixties for Reprise
Reprise
Reprise is a fundamental device in the history of art. In literature, a reprise consists of the rewriting of another work; in music, a reprise is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the...
.
First telecast
The film was first telecast on The ABC Sunday Night MovieThe ABC Sunday Night Movie
The ABC Sunday Night Movie is a television program that aired on Sunday nights, first for a brief time in 1962 under the title Hollywood Special . It then began airing regularly under its more commonly known title from 1964 to 1998, on ABC...
, on the evening of March 13, 1966, pan and scan
Pan and scan
Pan and scan is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown within the proportions of a standard definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focus on the composition's most important aspects...
ned in a slightly edited version which ran between 9:00 and 11:30 P.M, E.S.T. It was repeated only three months later, on the evening of June 26, 1966. After these two network telecasts, the film was sold to local stations.
1967 TV special
Carousel was also adapted as a videotaped television special and broadcast in color on May 7, 1967, on ABC-TV. The special starred Robert GouletRobert Goulet
Robert Gerard Goulet was a Canadian American entertainer as a singer and actor. He played the role of Lancelot in the Broadway musical Camelot of 1960.-Early life:...
as Billy, Mary Grover as Julie, Marlyn Mason
Marlyn Mason
Marlyn Mason is an American actress.Her acting credits include roles in My Three Sons, Burke's Law, Kentucky Jones, Bonanza, Ben Casey, Dr...
as Carrie and Pernell Roberts
Pernell Roberts
Pernell Elvin Roberts, Jr. was an American stage, movie and television actor, as well as a singer. In addition to guest starring in over 60 television series, he was widely known for his roles as Ben Cartwright's eldest son, Adam Cartwright, on the western series Bonanza, a role he played from...
as Jigger, with Charlie Ruggles as the Starkeeper. Edward Villella
Edward Villella
Edward Villella is an American ballet dancer and choreographer, frequently cited as America's most celebrated male dancer at the time....
was the choreographer. The television version did not use a flashback framework, and retained Billy's suicide, rather than having him accidentally killed.
One change that the 1967 TV special made in the story was in making it obvious that the heavenly Starkeeper and Dr. Seldon, the graduation speaker in the final scene, are one and the same. This is not apparent in the original show.
Film size
The film was made in CinemaScope 55CinemaScope 55
CinemaScope 55 was a large-format version of CinemaScope introduced by Twentieth Century Fox in 1955, which used a film width of 55.625 mm ....
, and in color by DeLuxe
Deluxe
Deluxe can mean:* de luxe, "of luxury" in French. The term in English has taken on "exquisite in quality and design", and is often used to label special edition products.-Corporations:* Deluxe Corporation, check printers...
. It was, however, ultimately shown in regular 35 mm CinemaScope rather than the 55 mm 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. All of the other prints of the film were composite prints, and used the standard 4-track stereo soundtrack featured on regular CinemaScope films circa 1953–1957.
Proposed film re-make
Another Carousel film, produced by Hugh JackmanHugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters...
, who would star as Billy Bigelow, has been in pre-production for several years. Like the original, this remake would be distributed by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
. As of May 2009, the script was reportedly finished. Jackman mentioned that he would like to see Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway (actress)
Anne Jacqueline Hathaway is an American actress. After several stage roles, she appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries...
considered for Julie Jordan. No news has been announced about the proposed film since mid-2009.
IMDB currently predicts this film's release in 2013, but the spare nature of the page provides little in the way of proof.