Carousel (1956) on Netflix
Billy Bigelow, a carousel barker in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, and Julie Jordan, a mill worker, both lose their jobs and marry. Billy cannot find work, and Julie is pregnant.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.5/107,351 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes71%
Trailer
Plot summary
Billy Bigelow barks at a carousel in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, and Julie Jordan works at the mill. When he pays her too much attention, the carousel's owner, Mrs. Mullin, fires him, and Julie's employer, Mr. Bascombe, dismisses her for breaking curfew. They marry and move into the seaside spa and restaurant that her cousin Nettie Jordan runs. Billy has no work and grows bitter, and Julie admits that he has started hitting her. Mrs. Mullin offers him his old job back if he leaves his wife. Julie then tells him she is pregnant; pleased, he turns the offer down and talks of taking her to San Francisco.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Carousel (1956)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Frank Sinatra was originally cast as Billy Bigelow and recorded his songs, but quit; besides the reported objection to filming each scene twice for two CinemaScope formats, Shirley Jones' 2014 autobiography says he quit because his wife Ava Gardner threatened infidelity if he did not join her on the set of The Barefoot Contessa.
- Gordon MacRae, who replaced Frank Sinatra, was reported to have prepared for the part in advance, suspecting Sinatra might withdraw: he did not cut his hair after finishing Oklahoma! and in July starred in a State Fair of Texas production of Carousel.
- Carousel was the only one of the seven Rodgers and Hammerstein theatrical films that received no Academy Award nominations at all.
- The film was shot in CinemaScope 55 but projected in ordinary 35mm CinemaScope; only the premiere used a six-track magnetic stereo soundtrack made for CinemaScope 55, played on a separate machine synchronized with the film.
