Carmen Jones

Carmen (1954)

First of all, this is a gorgeous movie. The WWII-era sets, the fluid photography with a lot of long takes, the lighting and costumes and overall feel are elegant and un-compromised, first frame to last.

Second, the idea is fabulous, an all-Black cast and an African-American adaptation of the classic Carmen opera (by the French composure Bizet). The vernacular and the stereotypes might seem worn, or even insulting if you take them wrong (or just take them out of context) but in fact it's in line with that even better, earlier opera, Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. The stereotypes are ones that made sanitized sense equally to White and Black America just as other musicals made sanitized sense to the same audiences. If I sound like an apologist, I'm only responding to attacks on the film ("farcical" "gruesome" or "dreadful"), as being untrue or insensitive to Blacks, by saying that nearly all musicals are incredibly stylized and false, and nearly all movies of this era played with safe, simplified versions of life.

No, to be fair to this really interesting movie you need to treat it like you would your own favorite movies from the 1950s, accepting the limitations just as the movie makers did. It's got its own syntax and style, it's own inner set of rules.

And within those the performance of the character Carmen by Dorothy Dandridge is incredible. She's on fire, introspective, nuanced, and outrageous. The cast around her is excellent but inevitably uneven, and she stands easily above them in pure performance energy, even over the other big star, Harry Belafonte.

All of this said, the beautiful, finely made, early widescreen movie here, "Carmen Jones," is lacking some kind of necessary intensity to work. I can't pin down why. From little strains of Bizet that perk it up (like a boxing worker whistling the most famous theme as he works) to the truly perfect photography and editing (maybe too perfect?), the movie has a steady, compelling flow. It's based on a Broadway musical from 1943 (the year the movie is set, as well), and it has the bones of a great drama, if a familiar one (it's still Bizet).

What might be the biggest problem is the understandable decision to film it in a realistic way, with song (and minimal dance) numbers inserted relatively seamlessly along the way. This is the standard musical approach from from the early Astaire-Rogers films to the relatively contemporaneous Arthur Freed productions of the early 1950s like "Singin' in the Rain." But Carmen, the opera and stage musical, is not a lighthearted romantic comedy. It isn't just escapist entertainment. And the gravitas and drama in it, at the end in particular, doesn't quite work the way it does on the opera stage. You watch Belafonte and Dandridge acting their hearts out, but it has that perfect 1950s movie-making production to remind us that it's a movie, and we are detached in a far different way than watching a stage version, with real people and false settings.

But never mind all that--you'll see for yourself how absorbed you get and why not more so.

A couple last things. First, the singing voices of the two leads are dubbed (yes!), surprising in Belafonte's case in particular because he was (and is) an accomplished singer. Second, Dandridge and director Preminger were having a longterm affair during the filming and after, and she pulls off what might be the best performance of her life here. Third, the movie was shown to the head of the NAACP before release to check on any problems that might be seen from an African-American point of view (this is 1954, remember) and no objections were raised. By this point, Preminger had been working with an all Black cast and was in close quarters with the leading lady so he must have had some sense that what he was after was on target for the time.

Watch it if you have interest in any of these things--WWII civilian life, Dandridge or Belafonte, opera adaptations into movies, early big budget African-American movies, Preminger movies, or terrific early Cinemascope photography. That should cover a lot of viewers, but not all. For me, I liked it a lot, and liked parts of it enormously (like the short clip of Max Roach drumming away on a barroom stage). But I felt slightly restless too often to get totally absorbed. One last suggestion--see it on the biggest screen you can, so it will be immersive.

This memorable melodrama is an interesting adaptation of the classic "Carmen" story and music with a new setting and new song lyrics. Most of it works quite well, but it is remembered most of all for Dorothy Dandridge's impressive performance as "Carmen Jones".

The basic Carmen story itself is a perceptive and tragic look at the elemental passions and emotions that drive so much of what happens in human relationships. For the story to work most effectively, it takes a Carmen who not only has plenty of energy, but who also can be convincing in dominating all of the other characters. Dandridge excels at both, and she makes it easy to believe that she could get practically anything that she wanted from anyone.

Except for Pearl Bailey, who makes her character lively and entertaining in her own right, most of the rest of the cast is solid but is clearly - as is no doubt meant to be the case - overshadowed by Dandridge and Carmen. One exception, though, is Olga James as Cindy Lou. Although her character is very meek, and has no chance against Carmen, James does a fine job of making her sympathetic without becoming overly weepy or maudlin, and her performance adds some additional depth to the drama of relationships.

Most of the musical numbers work well, and there is good variety in them, as there is also in the settings and the material. The climactic sequence in the arena is nicely crafted, with the prizefight taking place in full view while, hidden from sight, the characters' passions are reaching the boiling point. It caps off an effective and interesting movie.

Even after the success of Oklahoma, the partnership of Rodgers&Hammerstein was not cast in stone yet. After Oklahoma debuted, Oscar Hammerstein, II went to work on his next Broadway show with a dead collaborator. He wrote new lyrics for the music of Georges Bizet's opera Carmen and wrote a new book for an all black cast to perform it, in the tradition of Porgy and Bess.

That show was Carmen Jones and it ran for 502 performances on Broadway from 1943 to 1945. Hammerstein discovered what the team of Robert Wright and Chet Forrest had previously found out in adapting Edvard Grieg's melodies into their hit, Strange Music. That there's nothing like writing with a collaborator who can't complain and who's melodies are already a hit.

In fact while the show was originally on Broadway, Rise Stevens had sung in Going My Way the song that eventually became Dat's Love. And Nelson Eddy and sung The Toreador Song in his film Balalaika. Hammerstein brilliantly capitalized on some free publicity for his own show.

Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge give great acting performances though it's kind of strange to hear other voices coming from the mouths of two good singers. Their voices weren't operatic though, yet the singers dubbing them matched well with the personalities of both the leads. And Dandridge had Marilyn Horne, you can't do much better than that.

The whole thing originates from the French novelist's Prosper Merimee's story of the ill effects of passionate love. Harry Belefonte's on his way to being a Tuskegee airman and he runs afoul of Carmen Jones. Belefonte's got himself a gal, but Dandridge puts on her Delilah routine and Belefonte's dead meat.

In addition to Samson and Delilah the Belefonte character is remarkably similar to George Hurstwood in Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie. Another man who threw it all away for passion. I wouldn't be surprised if Dreiser refined Merimee's theme.

But Dandridge's performance is the best. As the hedonistic Carmen Jones, she's a wonder on screen. Seeing her realize that part on the screen, we can well understand why Belefonte threw it all away for love. Dandridge became the first black woman nominated in the Best Actress category, but she lost the Oscar sweepstakes to Grace Kelly for The Country Girl.

For those who like the opera Carmen, I think they'll be well pleased with Oscar Hammerstein, II did with Bizet's music and Merimee's story.

to see this amazing film. I thought Halle Berry did a great job in the Dandridge biopic, but after seeing Carmen Jones I don't know if she could do Dorothy justice. This woman was amazing in this film. she RADIATED sex appeal and I could see why her performance was groundbreaking. Otto Preminger directed and shot a beautiful film, and contemporary actors, especially black actors, should set the performances in this movie as highwater marks to shoot for. Pearl Bailey was amazing in addition to the two leads, Belafonte and Dandridge. Joe Adams as the boxer and the woman who played Cindy Lou also gave great performance.

Again to see black actors in this time period given a chance to perform a full range of characters was really amazing. In a lot of ways this film is more progressive than the drivel of black genre films coming out of Hollywood today

This is the story of a soldier, Joe (Harry Belafonte) and a fiery lady, Carmen (Dorothy Dandridge) and their unlikely relationship which begins with Joe trying to transport Carmen to the brig...and ends up with the pair falling in love.

If you are looking to see a classic opera translated into more modern times and with entirely new lyrics, then "Carmen Jones" is definitely for you. However, regardless of its all-black cast, this is clearly a film that is for very select folks! You hate opera well then the film will be a tough sell! As for me, I would have enjoyed the music OR the story. The total package didn't hold my interest. But this does NOT mean the film is bad or poorly made...it's not. It's all a matter of personal taste.