We all know that the Rodgers and Hammerstein family of musicals, both for stage and screen, are of the hokey, traditional, Americana variety, except maybe the Sound of Music and The King and I. Carousel is no different. It sets about conveying those core values of family, tradition, love, and down-home that you find in Oklahoma! and State Fair.
I purchased this movie having never seen neither stage nor screen version because I'm going to use one of the songs as an audition piece, and you know (if you've read previous entries) how I feel about context. I found myself being truly drawn into this one in ways which the other down-home R&H musicals do not.
The music, as, after all, this is a musical, is hauntingly beautiful and more mature than any other R&H musical. In fact, I read in the DVD liner notes that for that reason, this was Richard Rodgers' personal favorite of all of his collaborations with Oscar Hammerstein. There are some truly lovely songs that stick with you.
The plot, though as thin as Oklahoma!, is also more mature in many ways. A carnival barker working at a local carousel named Billy falls in love with a factory girl (Julie) in a seashore town, but he's rough and tumble, a no-good good-for-nothing. He squanders his life and his love for this girl and mistreats a bit until he realizes that she's pregnant. He tries a get-rich scheme of a bit of thievery and ends up dead accidentally, and the musical actually begins in "heaven," where he tells of the love for this girl. He is then allowed a day to set to rights his wife and his daughter (who is 15) as well as redeem himself. The carousel itself, ironically, only figures in the first scene and is a misleading title.
I liked this musical movie, I truly did. It's got a charm about it that Oklahoma! does not have. There is something truly uplifting and inspiring about the journey of Billy, even though it is a bumpy ride. This is also another pairing of Gordon McRae and Shirley Jones (aka Mama Partridge) who played in the film version of Oklahoma! as Curly and Laurey only a year before.
If I were to subject this movie to my ratings system, I'd give it an 8 probably, but it is an old, movie musical, and criticisms must relax a bit.
I don't know what's with me, I've really been on this musical kick lately. Plus, this is the first new movie I've seen in a while.
Oh well. What's the Use of Wondr'in.