Carousel Overview:

Carousel (1956) was a Musical - Drama Film directed by Henry King and produced by Henry Ephron.

SYNOPSIS

Time (and a spectacular new Broadway staging) has been kind to the memory of this widescreen, deluxe Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. MacRae brings a blustery energy to the role of Billy Bigelow, an ill-fated carny barker. The troubled soul finally settles down with a good woman (Jones), and then gets killed during a robbery. But the angels are merciful and Bigelow returns to Earth to make good with his wife and daughter. The Broadway musical was based on a Molnar play, Liliom. In 1930, Frank Borzage produced a screen version starring Charles Farrell. Fritz Lang filmed a French version in 1935 (his first film after fleeing Nazi Germany), which starred Charles Boyer.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

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BlogHub Articles:

Musical Monday: Carousel (1956)

on Aug 18, 2025 From Comet Over Hollywood

It?s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals. This week?s musical:Carousel (1956) ? Musical #87 ... Read full article


Carousel (1956)

on May 21, 2014 From Journeys in Classic Film

Either Oklahoma! set the bar so high I’m unable to watch the other Rodgers and Hammerstein movies in their proper context, or there’s just several?subpar shows which were adapted to film. ?The King and I, for all the problems I had with it, held my interest in the areas of set design and... Read full article


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Quotes from

Billy Bigelow: [to the Heavenly Friend] Well, now ain't that just dandy! Here you take the trouble to tell me there's trouble down there but you don't even know what kind of trouble it is!


Billy: [singing] Longing to tell you, but afraid and shy / I let my golden chances pass me by. / Now, I've lost you / Soon I will go in the mist of day / And you never will know / How I loved you / How I loved you.


Billy Bigelow: I just couldn't get the hang of being married.
Starkeeper: Was that Julie's fault?
Billy Bigelow: No, but maybe it wasn't my fault either.


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Facts about

There is a mistaken belief held by some that "Carousel" was filmed in separate versions - 55mm and 35mm. This is not true. The 55mm print was converted to 35mm, unlike Oklahoma!, which was literally filmed twice, once in 70mm and once in 35mm.
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, 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. Ironically, the producers then discovered a way to shoot in CinemaScope 55 and then convert it to regular CinemaScope without filming the movie twice.
At the time that this film was released, it was not successful at the box office, but the film's soundtrack album did become a national best seller.
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