Carmen Jones (1954): Starring Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte, Joe Adams, Olga James, Pearl Bailey, Nick Stewart, Roy Glenn, Diahann Carroll, Brock Peters, Madame Sul-Te-Wan, Sandy Lewis. With the singing voices of Marilyn Horne, LeVerne Hutcherson, Marvin Hayes, Bernice Peterson, Margaret Lancaster....Director Otto Preminger, Lyrics By Oscar Hammerstein II, Screenplay Harry Kleiner.
From 1954, director Otto Preminger and Broadway musical composer Oscar Hammerstein teamed up for "Carmen Jones", a musical version of the well-known and popular opera Carmen by Georges Bizet. For its time, this film was revolutionary and innovative. Musicals were primarily a vehicle for well-known Caucausian singing-actors: Judy Garland, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, Ethel Merman, Julie Andrews, Mary Martin and others. The cast for this film is all-black, and the principal roles are portrayed by well-known African-American actors of their day- Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte. Although an all-black Broadway musical was not new at this time (George Gerswhin's "Porgy and Bess" had already appeared on Broadway and in the 40's all-black musical films like "The Green Pastures" and "Cabin In The Sky" preceded this film), Carmen Jones was still very unique and an important film for the black community, for it meant that better roles were finally given to black actors. The movie was made in colorful Cinemascope, which was quite new at the time, filmed (thank God) outdoors and not in a studio, giving the film a realistic quality rather than a "painted backdrop" feeling which you would otherwise get in a musical or opera for that matter. Although the Bizet opera version is not what you see here, much of the original plot, themes and characters from the opera remain intact. There's a Carmen, Don Jose and Micaela, except with different, more realistic names and attitudes. The setting has been changed from the typically romanticized 19th century Spain composed of free-spirited gypsies, bullfighters, passionate romance and soldiers to America sometime after World War II (possibly the Korean War period)definitely the 50's. Carmen's opening number "Habanera", in which a red-clad Carmen sings a seductive song about herself, is still as powerful and evocative as every Carmen production I've ever seen. Dorothy Dandrige had made several important films and her roles were like black Marilyn Monroe roles- sexy, smart and liberated. She was a sort of pre-feminist movement icon. Her love of freedom, sensuality and devil-may-care attitude serves her well for the part of Carmen, who lives to love men, leave them and move on to a better catch, living a life that is her own and doing exactly as she pleases. American Mezzo-soprano diva Marilyn Horne provides the singing voice for Carmen Jones. This was early in her opera career and it was a smart move, for many still remember her for her fine Carmen performances. Harry Belafonte as Joe, the soldier Carmen loves and later jilts delivers a man driven to torment and passion, a man transformed from a good, innocent, engaged man (he's engaged to Cindy Lou played by Olga James) to an obscessed and ultimately tragic figure. He is very realistic, in fact probably more so than other "Don Joses" who make him out to be some kind of psychotic soldier or overgrown boy. We feel for Joe's plight. We feel for Cindy Lou's plight. But Dorothy Dandridge is not complex enough for us to sympathize with her character. The film is probably at its best when there is no singing and we see the drama unfolding through dialog. But the words by Oscar Hammerstein are memorable, catchy and perfectly in-synch with the original music written for the Bizet opera, although it appears that Hammerstein composed variations and new music that seems to fit the Carmen music. This is a great film, despite the melodrama and the flat characters. Fans of Dorothy Dandridge, who lived a short life in the movies and who was, in her day, a serious black actress prior to the Civil Rights movement, will enjoy this film. This role is possibly her most famous and the one that earned her a great deal of fame.
From 1954, director Otto Preminger and Broadway musical composer Oscar Hammerstein teamed up for "Carmen Jones", a musical version of the well-known and popular opera Carmen by Georges Bizet. For its time, this film was revolutionary and innovative. Musicals were primarily a vehicle for well-known Caucausian singing-actors: Judy Garland, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, Ethel Merman, Julie Andrews, Mary Martin and others. The cast for this film is all-black, and the principal roles are portrayed by well-known African-American actors of their day- Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte. Although an all-black Broadway musical was not new at this time (George Gerswhin's "Porgy and Bess" had already appeared on Broadway and in the 40's all-black musical films like "The Green Pastures" and "Cabin In The Sky" preceded this film), Carmen Jones was still very unique and an important film for the black community, for it meant that better roles were finally given to black actors. The movie was made in colorful Cinemascope, which was quite new at the time, filmed (thank God) outdoors and not in a studio, giving the film a realistic quality rather than a "painted backdrop" feeling which you would otherwise get in a musical or opera for that matter. Although the Bizet opera version is not what you see here, much of the original plot, themes and characters from the opera remain intact. There's a Carmen, Don Jose and Micaela, except with different, more realistic names and attitudes. The setting has been changed from the typically romanticized 19th century Spain composed of free-spirited gypsies, bullfighters, passionate romance and soldiers to America sometime after World War II (possibly the Korean War period)definitely the 50's. Carmen's opening number "Habanera", in which a red-clad Carmen sings a seductive song about herself, is still as powerful and evocative as every Carmen production I've ever seen. Dorothy Dandrige had made several important films and her roles were like black Marilyn Monroe roles- sexy, smart and liberated. She was a sort of pre-feminist movement icon. Her love of freedom, sensuality and devil-may-care attitude serves her well for the part of Carmen, who lives to love men, leave them and move on to a better catch, living a life that is her own and doing exactly as she pleases. American Mezzo-soprano diva Marilyn Horne provides the singing voice for Carmen Jones. This was early in her opera career and it was a smart move, for many still remember her for her fine Carmen performances. Harry Belafonte as Joe, the soldier Carmen loves and later jilts delivers a man driven to torment and passion, a man transformed from a good, innocent, engaged man (he's engaged to Cindy Lou played by Olga James) to an obscessed and ultimately tragic figure. He is very realistic, in fact probably more so than other "Don Joses" who make him out to be some kind of psychotic soldier or overgrown boy. We feel for Joe's plight. We feel for Cindy Lou's plight. But Dorothy Dandridge is not complex enough for us to sympathize with her character. The film is probably at its best when there is no singing and we see the drama unfolding through dialog. But the words by Oscar Hammerstein are memorable, catchy and perfectly in-synch with the original music written for the Bizet opera, although it appears that Hammerstein composed variations and new music that seems to fit the Carmen music. This is a great film, despite the melodrama and the flat characters. Fans of Dorothy Dandridge, who lived a short life in the movies and who was, in her day, a serious black actress prior to the Civil Rights movement, will enjoy this film. This role is possibly her most famous and the one that earned her a great deal of fame.