Carousel (1956)

Carousel
Directed by Henry King
Written by Phoebe and Henry Ephron based on the musical play by Oscar Hammerstein III and the play “Liliom” by Ferenc Molnar
1956/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Repeat viewing/Netflix Instant

[box] Nettie: [singing] When you walk through a storm / Hold your head up high / And don’t be afraid of the dark.[/box]

The story is a somewhat irritating downer and there’s too much extraneous dancing.  I love the music so much that I enjoy it anyway.

As the film begins, we meet Billy Bigelow (Gordon MacRae) whose current employment is polishing stars on a way station to heaven, a la Here Comes Mr. Jordan.  He is told his folks are having trouble down below.  Ordinarily he would have the right to 24-hours back on earth to help them out but he waived that right after he died 15 years ago.  He is given the opportunity to convince the Starkeeper (Gene Lockhart) to reinstate his privileges.  He starts to tell his story and we segue into flashback.

Billy was the barker on a carousel in New England, a blowhard, and a ladies man.  Young Julie Jordan (Shirley Jones) goes to the carnival with her friend and is entranced by Billy. She catches his eye as well and before we know it she has been fired from her job at the mill for staying out late and the carousel owner fires him out of jealousy.  They run off together and get married.

Billy is not cut out for marriage.  He can’t find a job and hits Julie.  She has the patience of a saint.  When she announces she is pregnant, he is tempted to participate in an armed robbery with tragic consequences. Return back to the present.  The couple’s daughter Louise is now fifteen and very unhappy because she is constantly reminded that her father was a thief.  With Cameron Mitchell as Billy’s partner in crime.

OK, this movie has a dream ballet plus a couple of other dance number that interrupt the flow of the story.  Domestic violence seems to get a free pass in a most annoying way.  But the music may be the most glorious that Rogers and Hammerstein ever composed.  My favorites are The Carousel Waltz, “If I Loved You” (below), and Billy’s Soliloquy.  This is also where “You’ll Never Walk Alone” comes from.  Shirley Jones is still batting 1000 with me.

Clip – McCrea and Jones sing “If I Loved You”