comment #1

Joshua Mooney says ...

I love how Billy, when he beckons, is situated on the bluffs of Santa Monica's Palisades Park, which is so close to the "carousel" made famous in "The Sting" some years later. Coincidence? I guess. When I was surrounded by a couple hundred thousand maniacs singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" at the end of Led Zeppelin's Knebworth show in '79, I instantly assumed it was a Shirley Jones tribute until I remembered Pink Floyd's "Fearless." Those were hazy days, the '70s. Shirley Jones is from Pittsburgh, you know.

comment #2

nemo says ...

Compare that first shot of Billy Bigelow as he leans in with Jeffrey Wells's picture in the upper right corner. The hair, the side burns, the whole look -- they've been separated at birth.

comment #3

Mgmax says ...

Once again, the best reason to buy the disc of Carousel is for Fritz Lang's 1933 version of Liliom (the original play), a bonus on disc 2 (or side 2, I forget).

Yet another version (a 1930 one with Charles Farrell) will reportedly be in the Murnau/Borzage box set coming at Christmas.

comment #4

Legowombat says ...

Unfortunately, this ending ignores the fact that the townspeople will still judge Julie by her father's failings, no matter how strong she thinks she can be.

Still, it's a minor sin in a film full of creepy ideas, such as physical violence is a way of men displaying their love for women, and you shouldn't trouble your pretty little heads about it. Or that you should just believe someone loves you no matter what, even if they can't be bothered getting a job to support you, which would prove they were thinking of someone other than themselves.

'Carousel' is a bizarre film, straddling the line between fluffy light entertainment and greek tragedy about spousal abuse and failure and being neither. It's too dark to be fun, but far too lightly handled to be taken seriously either. It's a hugely flawed film, but it's psychologically fascinating for how it tries to brush off the darker subjects it brings up, like 'they don't matter'.

The groundbreaking aspects of the play here are absent in the film version, including:

- the removal of the 7 minute pantomine set to 'the Carousel Waltz';

- telegraphing Billy's death at the beginning of the movie;

- the 12 minute 'If I Loved You' dialogue / music duel being simplified greatly.

They filmmakers happily remove 4 songs that further the plot, including the one that introduces Julie's character, but keep fluffy generic setpieces like 'June Is Busting Out All Over' and 'That Was A Real Nice Clambake', both of which are so irrelevant to the plot that they could be dropped into 'Oklahoma!' without anyone noticing, (the latter having been originally written for it, as a 'real nice hayride'.

It's an offensive relic of a byegone age, and I honestly can't see the Hugh Jackman remake going over with modern audiences if they use it as it stands. I'd expect outraged protests from Women's Groups.

comment #5

Edward says ...

While I don't really care for how the scene is directed, it still gave me chills (in a good way).

comment #6

dangovich says ...

I still maintain that Billy doesn't earn the satisfied smile he displays at the end of the movie.

As much as I like Carousel, there is a lot of story in it. They should move Billy's death up and make the movie more about how he comes to understand the error of his ways and actually help his daughter in some tangible way.

If they really wanted to do something interesting, they would set it in present-day Compton and update the songs. But then, Hugh Jackman might stand out a little.

comment #7

quitstaringatme says ...

Boy those are some high waisted pants.

comment #8

moviemaniac2002 says ...

True story: Frank Sinatra was set to do
Billy Bigelow (he was a huge fan of the
score) . Then he found out they were going
to shoot it like "Oklahoma"...with every shot
done twice for two different widescreen
systems. ...(this, after he'd already recorded
the songs). Notoriously impatient, (I think he
actually demanded to be paid for two films),
Sinatra walked away. His casting might not have
worked...but it's fascinating to imagine it.

comment #9

Mgmax says ...

Sinatra was apparently only good for 2 or 3 takes and he knew it. This was a big problem on Guys and Dolls, since Brando tended to just be warming up on take 15. Mankiewicz had to let Brando shoot and shoot with a stand-in, then bring Sinatra in just as Brando hit his peak and capture them both at just the right moment.

comment #10

Joshua Mooney says ...

JACK WOLTZ: You don't understand. Johnny Fontane never gets that movie. That part is perfect for him, it'll make him a big star, and I'm gonna run him out of the business - and let me tell you why: Johnny Fontane ruined one of Woltz International's most valuable proteges. For three years we had her under contract - singing lessons, dancing lessons, acting lessons. I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. I was gonna make her a big star. And let me be even more frank, just to show you that I'm not a hard-hearted man, and that it's not all dollars and cents: She was beautiful; she was innocent. She was the greatest piece of ass I've ever had, and I've had it all over the world. And then Johnny Fontane comes along with his olive oil voice and guinea charm, and she runs off. She threw it all away just to make me look ridiculous! And a man in my position can't afford to be made to look ridiculous!