Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Too much of everything

Excellent, smart action film.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Before I get into the crustaceans and potatoes of this motion picture I want to reminisce about the play Carousel which my older sister appeared. No, it wasn't on Broadway. Actually my sister was acting at the ripe old age of 13 on stage at Camp Ma-Ho-Ge in Bethel,New York. The cast of the production consisted of the group labeled the"Subbies " were to perform the play Carousel on stage for the rest of the campers. My sister Donna's name was proudly displayed in the program playing the supporting role of Cousin Nettie Fowler. The play focuses on the struggling Carnival barker Billy Bigelow and his love interest Julie Jordan. I figured my Sister would be insignificant and probably had a few lines here and there being a supporting actor. My Sister was in the background most of the play. When it was her turn to shine she barged through and ran with it singing "June Is Bustin Out All Over" and then took the background cast by the hand and lead them off stage through the crowd creating a makeshift conga line continuing the song as the crowd stood in deafening rousing applause. I was so proud of her. Unfortunately my Parents weren't present and that's the penalty for sending your kids off to sleep away camp.Most musicals up until that time, the mid 1950's had the narratives on the lighter side of life. Nothing drastic like Romeo and Juliet but on the lighter side. Lovers quarrels or a young actor or actress trying to break into show business was the theme with bountiful choreography and singing. Carousel the film has all those qualifications and then some. The story takes place in a coastal Maine fishing village coined Boothbay Harbor which also has a Carnival in it's town. Our star is the colorful, handsome, quick talking Billy Bigelow played by Gordon MacRae. Billy has a girlfriend Julie Jordan (Shirley Jones) who works at the local mill. They both get fired for different reasons. Billy gets fired by his boss a jealous Mrs. Mullins, (Audrey Christie) for spending more time with Julie. Julie gets dismissed from the mill for staying out past the required curfew. I assume they get married (not shown in the film), and move in with Cousin Nettie (Claramae Turner). Still infatuated with Billy, Mrs. Mullins offers Billy his job back at the carnival provided he leaves his wife for her. To complicate matters, Julie gets pregnant and Billy has trouble finding other work to provide for the expectant child. Desperation leads to tragedy. Just a great story layered with beautiful cinema-scope. The June Is Busting Out All Over scenes and the Clambake are brilliantly photographed. The duets with MacRae and Jones match each other perfectly and are pleasant to the ear. Just a fine mix of serious subject matter in a bustling New England Town. There are special effects used in the later scenes which will bring a tear to your eye but every time this musical is aired on Television I'm transformed back to that wonderful summer night off the Silver lake shore during the Mid-1960's and the show stopping act my sister Donna pulled off to the electrifying crowds at our camp.

Copyright 1956 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 16 February 1956. U.S. release: February 1956. U.K. release: 21 May 1956. Australian release: 4 June 1956. Sydney opening at the Regent. 11,561 feet. 128 minutes.SYNOPSIS: The daughter of a carousel barker is ostracized by other children in a New England town at the turn of the century. NOTES: Second to "The King and I" as Fox's top-grossing domestic release of 1955-56. Fox's top box-office money-maker in Australia in 1956. Originally it was planned to shoot Fox's 49th CinemaScope movie in both 55mm CinemaScope and standard 35mm CinemaScope. Frank Sinatra, who had been signed for the part of Billy Bigelow (over the strenuous objections of Rodgers and Hammerstein), balked at making a print of every scene twice ("Everyone knows I've only got one good take in me!") and walked out. After MacRae had been signed, it was decided to shoot each scene on 55mm stock only and optically reduce to 35mm in the laboratory. The studio had intended to make 55mm projection prints available for roadshow engagements, but no cinema was prepared to pay the expense of re-equipping. So the movie was shown in 35mm CinemaScope everywhere. COMMENT: The lovely Shirley Jones is absolutely perfect as the vulnerable Julie, while critics with considerable justification predicted a big future for Barbara Ruick. (In fact she had no future in movies at all. This was her fifth and last film). Robert Rounseville, who had made his picture debut in Tales of Hoffmann (1951) was also deservedly praised, but he made no more pictures either. This was the only movie Claramae Turner ever made, but audiences were lucky enough to glimpse the entrancing Susan Luckey again in The Music Man (1962). The superlative dancing of Jacques D'Amboise was first seen in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. After this spectacular follow-up, Producer Henry Ephron signed him for The Best Things In Life Are Free, a somewhat disillusioning experience which soured D'Amboise from Hollywood forever — except for the 1967 A Midsummer Night's Dream.Yes, everyone else is so great — Audrey Christie as the jealous Mrs. Mullin whose relationship with Billy is so cleverly conveyed by her gestures as well as her reactive words; Gene Lockhart in one of his last roles as the philosophical doctor/starkeeper; Cameron Mitchell, judiciously cast for once as the truly repulsive Jigger; John Dehner as a patronizing local moneybags; Richard Deacon as an obsequious policeman — it's a shame MacRae is so lackluster. Mind you, as said, King's sluggish, very loosely-framed direction does little to assist. Nor does Ephron's unnecessarily verbose script.Despite its shortcomings, "Carousel" is still a wonderfully uplifting musical experience. Rodgers' music is at its most haunting, most tuneful, most electric. Hammerstein's lyrics are perhaps at times a little too smart-alecky. The most impressively unforgettable numbers are the two dance set-pieces: "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "Louise's Ballet". Really zestful choreography, really expressive dancing make these numbers truly outstanding cinema pleasures.

Carousel (1956): Dir: Henry King / Cast: Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Cameron Mitchell, Barbara Ruick, Robert Rounseville: A carousel spins around in circles much like life's events and emotions. Gordon MacRae plays Billy Bigelow who is deceased in the film's opening but is given the opportunity to tell his story and return to earth for one day. He was a skilled carousel operator whose womanizing ways land him in trouble. Shirley Jones plays Julie Jordan who catches his eye and eventually becomes his wife. She becomes frustrated when he fails to change his ways with abusive behavior. Cameron Mitchell plays a sleazy criminal friend of Bigelow who makes an attempt to break up a relationship as well as con Bigelow into a crime. Barbara Ruick plays Julie's best friend who is getting married to Enoch Snow, played by Robert Rounseville. He is wealthy but unimpressed when his fiancé is being poached upon by Mitchell. Ruick is reduced to tears upon meeting Bigelow and his aggressive nature. Structure is rundown by too many pointless and meaningless musical numbers that never stand out. Another issue is the unpleasant disposition of the central character. We know how it ends and despite its corny delivery the production values work with director Henry King helming the wheel and preventing this musical charade from totally spinning out of control. Score: 7 / 10

"Carousel" is the musical version of the old film "Liliom"--a story that was filmed many times since 1919. While I've not seen either silent version, I have seen the Frank Borzage version (1930) and the French language version by Fritz Lang (1934). I wasn't impressed by either of these films--mostly because the leading character was pretty despicable. He's a very selfish character who horribly mistreats his poor wife--and I wonder how they can make this a romance with such a horrible guy, as it severely undermines the story. So, "Carousel" begins with a major handicap, as hating the leading character makes it hard to fall in love with the film.The film begins in New England. A very impressionable young lady (Shirley Jones) sees a handsome rogue (Gordon MacRae) at the carnival and the two inexplicably fall in love and decide to marry. I say inexplicably because he is a real womanizer and NOT the type to ever settle down. As for the marriage, it is a disaster--mostly because he is a ne'er-do'-well who is afraid to work or commit himself to his lovely wife. At times, such as when he learns he's about to become a father, he commits to changing but invariably he ends up returning to his old ways. Now I was a bit uncomfortable about this, as he apparently slapped his bride around--but they made LOTS of excuses for it, such as saying 'he's under a lot of pressure' or 'I only hit her once'! So much for a film that will empower the women in the audience! I just couldn't get past the fact he was a jerk who died while trying to rob someone! This story is apparently all part of some flashback. You see, MacRae's character is dead and he's telling this to the head honcho up in Heaven because he wants permission to return for one and only one brief period. Now considering most of the flashback consists of him acting like a clod, you wonder how this is all going to convince the powers that be to grant his request! As for the music, it's decent but the film clearly lacks the crowd-pleasing tunes of many of Rogers and Hammerstein's other works. "South Pacific", "Oklahoma" and the rest had more memorable songs--and didn't have to work so hard to compensate for an unlikable lead. Here, it's an uphill battle. Pretty, well made...but still a film that I had a hard time liking. Overall, it looks good but fails. Watchable but among the least in the Rogers and Hammerstein canon.