Film Review: Carmen Jones (1954)

Otto Preminger earned his place in history of cinema by willingness to push the envelope and defy the limits of what was considered acceptable in 1950s and 1960s Hollywood films. Prime example can be found in Carmen Jones, a 1954 musical, known as one of the first major Hollywood productions to feature an all-black cast, made in an era when much of the USA was still under institutional racial discrimination.

The film is based on the popular 1943 musical by Oscar Hammerstein II, which in turn is based on Carmen, the famous 1875 opera by French composer Georges Bizet, which was based on the 1845 novella by Prosper Mérimée. The plot begins in American South during Second World War. Joe (played by Harry Belafonte) is US Army corporal whose future seems bright, because he has applied to flying school and is about to marry his long-time girlfriend Cindy Lou (played by Olga James). His misfortune is to be stationed at parachute factory where one of the workers happens to be Carmen Jones (played by Dorothy Dandrigde), a sultry and hedonistic woman whose seductive abilities are irresistible. When Carmen gets into fight with another worker, Joe is ordered to escort her to civilian court. Along the way the inevitable happens – she seduces him and uses opportunity to escape, after which Joe ends in stockade. He is nevertheless hopelessly in love with her, abandons Cindy Lou, and, ultimately becomes deserter and fugitive in order to live with her. When they come to Chicago, it turns out that Carmen is attracted to heavyweight boxer Husky Miller (played by Joe Adams).

The script by Harry Kleiner seamlessly replaces the original 19th Century Spain setting with the WW2 era USA, and the complete absence of white characters, even in Chicago and the box arena with thousands of people, might look unrealistic from today's perspective. However, it was not so at the time, with the US Army being officially segregated during WW2.

The film features an excellent cast, with Dorothy Dandridge, a singer and actress, delivering an iconic performance as Carmen Jones. Dandridge provided exactly what Preminger, who would become her lover during production, wanted - a beautiful, sultry, and hedonistic woman whose passion is a force of nature that would destroy both people around her and herself. Harry Belafonte, who was relatively unknown at the time, plays a very good role and would soon become a popular calypso star. Younger audiences, accustomed to his status as a Hollywood elder and renowned political activist, would probably be surprised to find him playing a young man who succumbs to ultimately self-destructive passion. The rest of the cast is more than capable, and that includes Diahann Carroll, who makes her feature debut as one of Carmen's friends.

Preminger was aware of how Carmen Jones could be interpreted as a "race film" and create controversies over stereotypical portrayals of African Americans. In order to prevent any trouble, he showed an early version to NAACP officials and was delighted to find that they had no objections. However, Preminger had more problems with Joseph Breen, the main Hollywood censor, who claimed that Carmen's demeanor and the costumes worn by Dandridge, including a scene in which she appears in underwear, ran against the MPAA Production Code. Preminger made a shortened version to appease him, only to later have the original version distributed.

Good acting and direction are somewhat compromised by the main cast's lack of proper singing abilities, at least not with the standards necessary for opera. Preminger had to hire white opera singers to dub black actors during musical numbers, which could be noticed by more perceptive viewers and deprives Carmen Jones of perfection. Despite these shortcomings, Carmen Jones became a major hit, allowing Dandridge not only to become one of the first African American stars of Hollywood mainstream but also to become the first African American to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress.

The film, despite looking slightly dated and too surreal for some of today's audiences, nevertheless deserves a recommendation as an interesting example of adapting old literary and musical sources in an original way.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

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