Carousel is a 1956 film adaptation of the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical of the same name which, in turn, was based on Ferenc Molnar's non-musical play Liliom. The 1956 Carousel stars Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, and was directed by Henry King. Like the original stage production, the film contains what many critics consider some of Rodgers and Hammerstein's most beautiful songs, as well as what may be, along with the plots of Allegro and South Pacific, the most serious storyline found in their musicals.

Film size

The film was made in CinemaScope 55, and in color by DeLuxe. It was, however, ultimately shown in regular 35mm CinemaScope rather than the 55mm version of the process, although the original premiere did feature a 6-track magnetic stereo soundtrack specially devised for CinemaScope 55. It was played on a separate machine synchronized with the picture. All of the other prints of the film were composite prints, and used the standard 4-track stereo soundtrack featured on regular CinemaScope films ca. 1953-1957.

Plot