Review of Carmen Jones (1954) by Ashley H — 24 Oct 2009

Okay, I have to admit that I kind of lost track of the plot in places. Every once in a while, things would be happening, and I had no idea why or what had led up to them. Then again, I thought to myself, since when is [i]plot[/i] the important part in opera?

Yeah, I know. This isn't actually an opera. However, it's [i]taken[/i] from an opera, and that's close enough for me. It should be noted, incidentally, that Our Stars were dubbed, because none of them had the training for the operatic nature of the score--even though both Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge are well known for their voices.

Oh, well. What do you do?

And I did enjoy the movie, even when I was just kind of listening to the music. It was Bizet, after all, even if they'd let Oscar Hammerstein loose all over the words. And it may not've actually been Dorothy Dandridge or Harry Belafonte singing, but the people dubbing their voices were, obviously, quite good. And, as we know, more operatic and therefore befitting the Bizet.

The filming's good, too. The trailer refers to the "interesting people and colourful places" of the United States, presumably because it would've been a [i]bit[/i] tacky to refer to the colourful people in a situation like this one. And certainly the places are colourful, even if--as is the case in the flophouse in Chicago--that colour is grey.