Carmen Jones (film)

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This article is about the 1954 film, for the musical the film was based on, see Carmen Jones
Carmen Jones
Image:Carmen jones.jpeg
Original film poster
Directed by Otto Preminger
Produced by Otto Preminger
Written by Oscar Hammerstein II (book)
Harry Kleiner
Starring Harry Belafonte
Dorothy Dandridge
Pearl Bailey
Olga James
Joe Adams
Music by Georges Bizet
Oscar Hammerstein II
Herschel Burke Gilbert
Cinematography Sam Leavitt
Editing by Louis R. Loeffler
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) October 5, 1954
Running time 105 min.
Language English
Budget $750,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

Carmen Jones is a 1954 musical film produced and directed by Otto Preminger for Carlyle Productions, released on October 5, 1954 by 20th Century Fox. An adaptation of the 1943 Broadway musical of the same name, Carmen Jones is a retelling of Georges Bizet's opera Carmen set during World War II with an all African-American cast. The film stars Harry Belafonte, Dorothy Dandridge, Pearl Bailey, Olga James, and Joe Adams, also featuring Brock Peters (his film debut), Roy Glenn, Nick Stewart, and Diahann Carroll (her film debut). Despite Miss Dandridge's singing career, she is not the Operatic Mezzo-Soprano the music calls for, and her voice was dubbed by the very young Marilyn Horne in her first high-profile job. Belefonte and Adams were also dubbed, by Leverne Hutchinson and Mervin Heyes respectivally.

Photographed in CinemaScope, the film was a critical and commercial success, and proved to be a major star-making vehicle for Dorothy Dandridge, who portrayed the title character. Carmen Jones won the 1955 Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, and was nominated for two Academy Awards. Dandridge, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, was the first African-American so honored.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (September 2007)

Parachute maker Carmen Jones (Dorothy Dandridge) makes a play for a soldier named Joe (Harry Belafonte), who is in love with sweet Cindy Lou (Olga James). After meeting boxer Husky Miller (Joe Adams), she is asked along with her friends Frankie (Pearl Bailey) and Mert (Diahann Carroll), to go to a boxing match with them. She declines. She eventually gets bored with Joe and leaves. Later, Carmen abandons Joe to pursue Husky Miller. She accepts his invitation to go to his boxing match. Joe then abandons Cindy to pursue Carmen; when she rejects him, he kills her.

[edit] History

The film version of Carmen Jones was adapted by Harry Kleiner from Oscar Hammerstein II's book and lyrics for the Broadway musical. Hammerstein's stage musical used the original musical score from Bizet's opera, and adapted its Meilhac and Halévy libretto (based upon the original novel by Prosper Mérimée) into a contemporary setting. The film was shot primarily at the RKO studio, save for location work at local dynamite factory and in rural California.

In 1955, Carmen Jones received the third Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. Dorothy Dandridge was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, the first African-American so honored. Herschel Burke Gilbert, who arranged the film's score, was nominated for the Oscar for Best Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture). Halle Berry, who played Dandridge in the 1999 TV biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, which included a re-enactment of one of the film's famed scenes, was the first African-American actress to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film Monster's Ball. In 1992, The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Songs

  1. "Send Them Along" - Chorus
  2. "Lift 'Em Up an' Put 'Em Down" - Children's Chorus
  3. "Dat's Love (Habanera)" - Carmen Jones
  4. "You Talk Jus' Like My Maw" - Joe and Cindy Lou
  5. "Carmen Jones is Going to Jail" - Chorus
  6. "Dere's a Cafe on de Corner (Séguedille)" - Carmen
  7. "Dis Flower (Flower Song)" - Joe
  8. "Beat Out Dat Rhythm on a Drum (Gypsy Song)" - Frankie
  9. "Stan' Up an' Fight (Toreador Song)" - Husky Miller
  10. "Whizzin' Away Along de Track (Quintet)" - Carmen, Frankie, Mert, Dink, and Rum
  11. "There's a Man I'm Crazy For" - Carmen, Frankie, Mert, Rum, and Dink
  12. "Card Song" - Carmen, Frankie, and Chorus
  13. "My Joe (Micaëla's Prayer)" - Cindy Lou
  14. "He Got His Self Another Woman" - Cindy Lou
  15. "Final Duet" - Carmen and Joe
  16. "String Me High on a Tree" - Joe

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Otto Preminger

Die große Liebe • Under Your Spell • Danger, Love at Work • Kidnapped • Clare Booth Luce's Margin for Error • In the Meantime, Darling • Laura • A Royal Scandal • Fallen • Centennial Summer • Forever Amber • Daisy Kenyon • That Lady in Ermine • The Fan • Whirlpool • Where the Sidewalk Ends • The 13th Letter • Angel Face • The Moon Is Blue • Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach • River of No Return • Carmen Jones • The Man with the Golden Arm • The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell • Saint Joan • Bonjour Tristesse • Porgy and Bess • Anatomy of a Murder • Exodus • Advise and Consent • The Cardinal • In Harm's Way • Bunny Lake Is Missing • Hurry Sundown • Skidoo • Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon • Such Good Friends • Rosebud • The Human Factor

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