Carousel

Time had not been kind to the 1956 film version on Rodgers and Hammerstein's CAROUSEL. Classic songs, check. Great photography in a big old widescreen Cinemascope style, check. Powerful leads in Gordon MacRae and a very young Shirley Jones, check. But oh man, this story line is a disaster, caught in a timewarp, wrapped in jaw dropping unacceptability. Billy Bigelow (MacRae) gets one day to come back to Earth to see his daughter and wife. The conclusion seems to carry the message that if a wife loves her man enough, it's okay if he hits her. I am not kidding! This is all the more shocking when you realize that the film is written by Henry Ephron, the father of Nora Ephron, screenwriter of many films with strong women characters, including "When Harry Met Sally" and "Sleepless in Seattle". Any attributes of the film are completely washed away by it's shocking position on physical abuse. When Tamara and I saw Carousel on Broadway about ten years ago, the London Theatre Company had updated the dialogue and characters to reflect modern times. Seeing this version, that was a VERY good idea........ Strikes a sour note with a D.