BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Sanjeev Waters A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Vern Sheldon-Witter Of Rogers and Hammerstein's scores,Carousel blurs at time between Opera and Musical. The Soliloquy sequences in their virtuosity rivals many Operas. It is indeed said by the friends of Richard Rogers that he often thought of composing libretto settings to someday make it into their only full fledged Opera. Even without,it remains one of the Duo's time tested favorites-though not right away. In 1956 it was not the smash Oklahoma was. But with TV exposure to later generations,Carousel remains to many the most poignantly haunting of all Rogers and Hammerstein Musicals done by Hollywood.Frank Sinatra would have been a horrible miscast in this part, he would have had trouble sustaining the music the way it was already written. Gordon MacRae was perfect as Billy Bigelow, and Shirley Jones was the obvious choice for the role of Julie. The Dance sequences toward the end of the movie show the unmistakable stamp of Agnes De Mille. In a childhood full of Musicals,this is still one of my favorites.

mysticnox 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.

Python Hyena Carousel (1956): Dir: Henry King / Cast: Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Cameron Mitchell, Barbara Ruick, Robert Rounseville: A carousel spins around in circles much like life's events and emotions. Gordon MacRae plays Billy Bigelow who is deceased in the film's opening but is given the opportunity to tell his story and return to earth for one day. He was a skilled carousel operator whose womanizing ways land him in trouble. Shirley Jones plays Julie Jordan who catches his eye and eventually becomes his wife. She becomes frustrated when he fails to change his ways with abusive behavior. Cameron Mitchell plays a sleazy criminal friend of Bigelow who makes an attempt to break up a relationship as well as con Bigelow into a crime. Barbara Ruick plays Julie's best friend who is getting married to Enoch Snow, played by Robert Rounseville. He is wealthy but unimpressed when his fiancé is being poached upon by Mitchell. Ruick is reduced to tears upon meeting Bigelow and his aggressive nature. Structure is rundown by too many pointless and meaningless musical numbers that never stand out. Another issue is the unpleasant disposition of the central character. We know how it ends and despite its corny delivery the production values work with director Henry King helming the wheel and preventing this musical charade from totally spinning out of control. Score: 7 / 10

yakimuckus I'm having a hard time understanding all the positive reviews on this movie. Was the musical supposed to be a tragedy and I just didn't get it? Was I supposed to sympathize with the characters in any way whatsoever? Did it have anything more than drivel to say about love or redemption? I can't think of any positive answers to those questions.Begin with a girl who falls in love with a total bum because he puffs out his chest a lot, a loser who makes no secret of his utter lack of respect for women. Throughout the song, "If I Loved You" (which was a nice song, btw, if removed from its context) I couldn't get her stupidity out of my head. Next a marriage where the guy treats her with utter disdain and abuse, and somehow she still loves him, even though he has yet to show a single redeeming quality in the movie.When he finds out she is pregnant he actually pauses for reflection on his life. During "Soliloquy" I thought perhaps this would be the beginning of a redemption story. Alas, he turns to crime and gets himself killed. When in heaven (or whatever it is) he puffs out his chest again and declares that he won't apologize for anything at all. This is one of the most awful characters I have ever seen.So finally he is given a chance to go back and make things right for his now-grown daughter (and needs to be brow-beaten into taking that chance, btw), how does he do it? First he ends up slapping her, which apparently brings fond memories for her mother. "It is possible, dear," she says, with wistful smiles on both their faces, "for someone to hit you, hit you hard, and it not hurt at all." What?? The ghostly bum then goes to his daughter's graduation and whispers into her ear to believe the graduation speech, then walks away self-satisfied. Oh job well-done, man!One reviewer said that the characters had emotional maturity of five-year-olds, and this hit the nail on the head for me. There was nothing redeeming about them, except perhaps that the wife - like me watching this film - patiently suffers and the complete loser of a husband never cheats on her as far as we can see. Was this supposed to be a love story? I don't get it.The music was good, though, and because of that I regretfully gave the movie as high as a 3-star rating.