Wow! Such a good movie.

Please don't spend money on this.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Captivating movie !

I saw this as a teen many years after it came out. The songs were beautiful, performances great. The pain and loss he felt was very moving. And I absolutely fell in love with Shirley Jones. Just a great movie. Not the typical every thing will work out perfect movie.

Before I get into the crustaceans and potatoes of this motion picture I want to reminisce about the play Carousel which my older sister appeared. No, it wasn't on Broadway. Actually my sister was acting at the ripe old age of 13 on stage at Camp Ma-Ho-Ge in Bethel,New York. The cast of the production consisted of the group labeled the"Subbies " were to perform the play Carousel on stage for the rest of the campers. My sister Donna's name was proudly displayed in the program playing the supporting role of Cousin Nettie Fowler. The play focuses on the struggling Carnival barker Billy Bigelow and his love interest Julie Jordan. I figured my Sister would be insignificant and probably had a few lines here and there being a supporting actor. My Sister was in the background most of the play. When it was her turn to shine she barged through and ran with it singing "June Is Bustin Out All Over" and then took the background cast by the hand and lead them off stage through the crowd creating a makeshift conga line continuing the song as the crowd stood in deafening rousing applause. I was so proud of her. Unfortunately my Parents weren't present and that's the penalty for sending your kids off to sleep away camp.Most musicals up until that time, the mid 1950's had the narratives on the lighter side of life. Nothing drastic like Romeo and Juliet but on the lighter side. Lovers quarrels or a young actor or actress trying to break into show business was the theme with bountiful choreography and singing. Carousel the film has all those qualifications and then some. The story takes place in a coastal Maine fishing village coined Boothbay Harbor which also has a Carnival in it's town. Our star is the colorful, handsome, quick talking Billy Bigelow played by Gordon MacRae. Billy has a girlfriend Julie Jordan (Shirley Jones) who works at the local mill. They both get fired for different reasons. Billy gets fired by his boss a jealous Mrs. Mullins, (Audrey Christie) for spending more time with Julie. Julie gets dismissed from the mill for staying out past the required curfew. I assume they get married (not shown in the film), and move in with Cousin Nettie (Claramae Turner). Still infatuated with Billy, Mrs. Mullins offers Billy his job back at the carnival provided he leaves his wife for her. To complicate matters, Julie gets pregnant and Billy has trouble finding other work to provide for the expectant child. Desperation leads to tragedy. Just a great story layered with beautiful cinema-scope. The June Is Busting Out All Over scenes and the Clambake are brilliantly photographed. The duets with MacRae and Jones match each other perfectly and are pleasant to the ear. Just a fine mix of serious subject matter in a bustling New England Town. There are special effects used in the later scenes which will bring a tear to your eye but every time this musical is aired on Television I'm transformed back to that wonderful summer night off the Silver lake shore during the Mid-1960's and the show stopping act my sister Donna pulled off to the electrifying crowds at our camp.

I gave it a 3 due to the music and the incredible voices. Honestly, it doesn't even deserve that. I understand that it's supposed to take place in the late 1800's, but this is horrid. Even at the time the movie came out women's lib had already begun and I can't believe that any woman would have had the insane mindset of "If he hits you, it means he loves you" as a norm. It wasn't true even then.Considering that this is Rogers and Hammerstein, I can't believe how bad it really is.I love musicals, and the old musicals tended to be rather sexist but this took it to a new level.

My gut instincts are telling me that modern filmgoers aren't going to care for what I have to say about the 1956 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, "Carousel". Most of the people reading this will find my opinion completely unacceptable. And in many respects, I can understand where people are coming from if they say that they didn't like this movie. If you have a permanent hatred for musicals, then "Carousel" is definitely not going to change your mind about the musical genre. And to be fair, even those who are big musical fans seem to be split on "Carousel". As for me personally, there are significant flaws about "Carousel" that I see as clearly as crystal. But as a big sucker for musicals, there are things that "Carousel" does extraordinarily well both on a visual level and on a musical level that are enough for me to consider it a guilty pleasure. It's important to note that Frank Sinatra was originally set to star as the main character of this picture. But due to the fact that he wasn't impressed with filming the same takes twice for two different cameras, he backed out. This is where "Oklahoma!" star Gordon MacRae comes in and takes over the role. And right out of the gate, I must say that this role seemed tailor made for Sinatra because MacRae does a heck of a job unintentionally impersonating his voice through this character. "Carousel" centers on Billy Bigelow (MacRae), a carousel barker with a bad reputation and a young mill worker named Julie Jordan (Shirley Jones) who both get fired from their jobs after essentially paying too much attention to each other one night. After being acquainted with each other against the wishes of their highly strict bosses, they fall in love and get married immediately. Yes, just after they meet each other for the first time that night, they get hitched three times faster than a typical Disney princess. Well, okay. So from there, we see them develop a meaningful and identifiable relationship, right? No, their character development gets sidetracked as Billy becomes bitter for being unable to find work and hits Julie in frustration one night, which isn't shown on screen. We get a subplot involving Billy and his pal Jigger (Cameron Mitchell) planning a robbery of a wealthy person in town, which will later have significant consequences. There's also barely a subplot with Julie's friend Carrie (Barbara Ruick) and her boyfriend Mr. Snow (Robert Rounseville). Basically the plot of "Carousel" is about a newly married couple that experiences some sort of trouble…allegedly, with too many subplots added into the mix. And all of the plots, including the central love story between Billy and Julie, are so hastily rushed that any trace of character development is completely missing. Yeah, I would say to go ahead and just fast forward through anything resembling a plot since it's so messed up and very sloppy structure wise. But the problem is that the film practically did that for us before we even though about it! That is exactly how unconfident the director and writers seemed to be in terms of the plot to "Carousel". For that crucial aspect alone, I shouldn't be recommending "Carousel" especially considering the controversial developments that occur later in the plot. And yet here I am confessing that I have a soft spot for this flick. But to be fair, my recommendation is solely based on two things: the soundtrack by Rodgers and Hammerstein and the cinematography. Now you're thinking to yourself: that's not a good enough excuse to recommend a picture of this nature. But in this case, I'm making an exception. Whatever jaw dropping plot holes "Carousel" provides is made up for with the effort the filmmakers put into making this as great as it possibly can with everything else. The film's producer Henry Ephron really took advantage of the film's settings and made it as visually bright and atmospheric as possible for the big screen through the widescreen CinemaScope cameras. Say whatever you will about some of the settings being filmed on stage as opposed to on location. Any way you slice it, even the on stage sets have a specific beauty to them. I liked the setting where the "If I Loved You" number took place with the traces of blue light against the mountains, lake, and buildings along with the little pond that shows the character's reflections. But of course, the cinematography on location in Maine and California are magnificent. The "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "When the Children Are Asleep" numbers stand out when naming scenes at the top of my head where the on location cinematography is put to its best use. In both of these numbers, the skies look sensational, the sun is clearly present and shining on our stars and dancers, everything seems to be really happening. With "June Is Bustin' Out All Over", I got the sense that the dancers were really scaling that building back and forth without breaking a sweat. Amazing! And as for "When the Children Are Asleep", I never got the sense that it was all green screened. I was sold that Carrie and Mr. Snow were really controlling the boat the whole time. Nowadays, with all the green screens and CGI in the world and with barely a hint of movie musicals being made anymore, it's refreshing to look at a 1950's musical like "Carousel" to remind me of how magical movies during that era truly were. Though its plot is messy, I give it credit for at least not being another backstage musical. But above all, I love how everything else right down to the singing seems to be really happening on screen. Even if you end up not caring for this, just remember that "You'll Never Walk Alone". Boy, that closing song was awesome!