QDoes the film justify or excuse spousal abuse?
AThat depends on how you interpret what has happened and how politically correct you want to be. It is condemned in the dialogue when the Starkeeper asks Billy why he hit Julie. Billy says, "Well, we'd argue, she'd say this, I'd say that, and she'd be right. So I hit her". The Starkeeper asks him rather sternly, "Are you sorry you hit her", and Billy answers, "Ain't sorry for anything", making it clear that although Billy has a bad attitude, the authors of "Carousel" are not praising him for it. (In the 1934 French film of the non-musical play "Liliom", on which "Carousel" is based, Liliom - the Billy Bigelow character - is forced, as punishment, to watch a film showing him slapping Julie over and over.) However, the movie does seem to make light of it, suggesting that the magnitude of his hit on Julie was blown out of proportion by gossip and having Louise describe his hit to her hand as feeling more like a kiss.
QHow does this film compare to the stage version of "Carousel"?
AThe biggest difference is that most of the story in the film is presented as a flashback, while everything in the stage version happens in chronological order. But there are other differences, and one of them somewhat waters down the plot. In the play, Billy Bigelow commits suicide to avoid being captured by the police, while in the film he dies accidentally while trying to escape from them. Another difference is that, in the stage version of "Carousel", there is use of recitative (sung conversation that always leads to an actual composed song), while in the film, much of this recitative is simply turned into spoken dialogue. Occasionally a word or two will be changed in the lyrics, but this is usually for censorship reasons. One of the few lyrics changed just for the sake of changing it is in the song "You'll Never Walk Alone". The original lyric was "When you walk through a storm, keep your chin up high", and for the film this was changed to the now more familiar "When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high". The powerful, rousing song that Billy sings late in the stage version -- "The Highest Judge of All" -- is omitted from the film. The songs "You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan" and "Blow High, Blow Low" were recorded for the film, but not used. They can both be heard on the film soundtrack album and as extras on the 50th Anniversary DVD of the film, although the visual footage is not on the DVD and the songs are heard only as supplements. (On the soundtrack CD, they are heard in their rightful place.) However, the film is largely extremely faithful to the original stage version, retaining most of the dialogue. None of Billy's physically abusive behavior is shown, but then, up until the 1994 revival of the musical, it wasn't shown onstage either.
QWhat is 'Carousel' about?
ASixteen years ago, handsome carousel barker Billy Bigelow (Gordon MacRae) fell in love with and married Julie Jordan (Shirley Jones). Fired from his job on the carousel by jealous owner Mrs. Mullin (Audrey Christie), Billy had nowhere to turn except to a life of crime with his lowlife buddy Jigger Craigin (Cameron Mitchell), a 'job' that got him killed. Now polishing stars in heaven, Billy hears that Julie and their 15-year old daughter Louise (Susan Luckey) are having problems, so Billy wants to cash in on an option that he long ago turned down...the chance to go back to Earth for a day. However, he must first convince the starkeeper (Gene Lockhart) as to what good he could do if allowed to go back.
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