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This week we’ll look at classic films and plays that were remade from their original all white casts to those of black casts and the impact on audiences.
Carmen is a novella by Prosper Mérimée, written and first published in 1845. It has been adapted into a number of dramatic works, including the famous opera of the same name by Georges Bizet (Boynton n.d.).
Carmen Jones is a 1943 Broadway musical with music by Georges Bizet (orchestrated for Broadway by Robert Russell Bennett) and lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II which was performed at The Broadway Theatre. Conceptually, it is Bizet’s opera Carmen updated to a World War II-era African-American setting. Bizet’s opera was, in turn, based on the 1846 novella by Prosper Mérimée. The Broadway musical was produced by Billy Rose, using an all-black cast, and directed by Hassard Short. Robert Shaw prepared the choral portions of the show.
The original Broadway production starred Muriel Smith (alternating with Muriel Rahn) in the title role. The original Broadway cast members were nearly all new to the stage; Kennedy and Muir write that on the first day of rehearsal only one member had ever been on a stage before.
Oscar Hammerstein II translated the libretto for Georges Bizet‘s opera Carmen from French into English for his Broadway production. Arts and Entertainment Editor Elisabeth Vincentelli further clarifies:
“The music was pretty much left intact, but Hammerstein transferred the action to WWII America. Carmen’s tobacco factory became Carmen Jones’ parachute factory, bullfighter Escamillo became boxer Husky Miller, and so on. As if this weren’t enough, there also was the ‘small’ detail of casting the show only with African-Americans…many of the show’s songs retain a surprising impact. The feverish intensity of ‘Beat Out dat Rhythm on a Drum’, for instance, hasn’t dimmed over the years, and the song’s been covered by a wide variety of performers, from Pearl Bailey and Marc Almond to Mandy Patinkin.”
The 1954 film was adapted by Hammerstein and Harry Kleiner. It was directed by Otto Preminger and starred Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte.
The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. It was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Film from any Source but lost to Richard III.
Dorothy Dandridge was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the first African American to be honored in the category, but lost to Grace Kelly in The Country Girl, and the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress, but lost to Betsy Blair in Marty.
At the 5th Berlin International Film Festival the film won the Bronze Berlin Bear award. The film also won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival.