#m: carmen jones (1954)

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R.I.P. Harry Belafonte (March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023)

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Carmen Jones (Otto Preminger, 1954)

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Carmen Jones (Otto Preminger, 1954)

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Carmen Jones (1954) - review

🎬Dive into the groundbreaking musical Carmen Jones (1954)! With stellar performances by Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte, this all-African-American cast film is a must-watch for its cultural significance and captivating music. #ClassicMusicals.

Image1: Dorothy Dandridge as Carmen and Harry Belafonte as Joe Reviewed by: LitewriterCheck out more of my reviews and articles on “Sunset Movie Reviews” by Litewriter CINEMATIC REVIEW: “Carmen Jones” (1954) Step into the vibrant world of 1950s cinema with Otto Preminger’s Carmen Jones. This iconic musical film, featuring an all-African American cast, dazzles with its performances as they…

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Carmen Jones (1954)

A young woman seduces a soldier, breaking apart his meaningful relationship with his girlfriend.

A fair few of the musical numbers are recognisable and enjoyable with the slight twists they have and new lyrics. The setting is unusual and it’s surprising to see a mostly black cast in the 1950s. All the performances were high in quality and there’s a fair amount of character development for the main three.

Although the story has some powerful subtext with reminiscences to classic plays, it’s rather uncomfortable to watch the types of relationship displayed. While it’s arguably progressive of the time to have a mostly African-American cast, none were shown in a very positive light, either displaying characteristics of aggressive sexuality regardless of consent, adultery, or murder.

The aesthetics were adequate though little appeared to be of special note. The colour palette was tame compared to many of the other musicals of the time, but it’s the setting that leaves something to be desired, having too many bleak military buildings and dirt roads. There’s a little discussion about honour which helped the narrative but it was short lived.

Most of the music numbers were engaging and helped to progress the narrative or expand upon the feelings of the characters, however many of the notes reached such a high pitch that it became difficult to distinguish many of the words so the tune and actions were relied upon more heavily to explain the scene.

3/10 -This one’s bad but it’s got some good in it, just there-

-The original opera on which the film is based was set in a cigarette factory.

-The lead was the first black actress to be nominated for Best Actress.

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CARMEN JONES (1954) dir. Otto Preminger

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Carmen Jones (1954) dir. Otto Preminger

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Some Black History In Classic Doctor Who

Something I've been itching to make a post about as I made my way through classic who! I hope you enjoy ^o^

In the 4th season of Doctor Who (1966), the missing serial "The Smugglers" featured the first black character with a speaking role. This character was named Jamaica and he was played by Elroy Josephs! He was tasked with guarding the captured 1st Doctor, and was later killed for failing to keep guard over him.

Elroy Josephs was born in Jamaica, and besides being an actor he was also a dancer. He became the first black dance lecturer at IM Marsh in Liverpool, which is part of Liverpool John Moores University.

Elroy Josephs is often overlooked for his influence on black British dance and on November 1997, a bench and plaque was unveiled in Elroy's memory at John Moores University.

More about his influence of black dance in Britain can be read here

★

The serial immediately after was called "The Tenth Planet" and this serial featured Earl Cameron as Glyn Williams, the first black astronaut in television (I've seen people say it's actually Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek, since she appeared on Star Trek JUST a month earlier in 1966, though I'd argue the portrayal in Doctor Who is more akin to what we know an astronaut to be. Still, a crazy close call!)

Glyn Williams, alongside another astronaut, discovers the Cyberman home planet Mondas in their rocket. This is the first serial to feature the cybermen, too! Their rocket gets pulled in by Mondas's gravitational pull and they die in an explosion.

Earl Cameron was born in Bermuda, and is well known as the first black actor to take a leading role in a British film! The movie was called "Pool of London" and was released in 1951. It was his performance in this movie that led to him becoming "Britain’s first home-grown, non-American black movie star"!

Earl Cameron passed away in 2020 at the age of 102, making him the 5th Doctor Who cast member to reach his 100th birthday!

★ - ★ - ★

"The Tomb Of The Cybermen (season 5)" and "Terror Of The Autons (season 8)" featured 2 characters, both played by Roy Stewart. Both characters have been criticised for their racist depiction of a black man. In TTOTC, Roy played the character of Toberman, who was a mute servant of an expeditioner and the strongest one of the team. He had no say in any matters and was supposed to be purely muscle. He was partially cyberconverted and sacrificed himself to save everyone.

In TOTA, Roy played the character Tony, a strongman with animal furs also tasked to be brute force. He helped keep the 3rd doctor captive, but was knocked out by Jo Grant.

Born in Jamaica, Roy Stewart came to the UK with the idea to become a doctor, though he ended up changing his mind to start acting. There weren't many black stuntmen out there (they would have white people "black up"). He ended up doing a lot of stunt work and became one of Britain's top black actors/stuntmen! Though, a lot of his earlier work went uncredited.

Roy Stewart also ran a gymnasium in 1954 with a policy allowing people of all races to train together. He also opened a Caribbean restaurant and bar called The Globe in 1960, which he ran until the day he died (2008). The Globe is now one of longest-running nightclubs in London, still with a Caribbean restaurant upstairs.

"Frequented by Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, The Clash and Bob Marley, The Globe became the place to be. Its notoriety was such, that even Mick Jones of The Clash named his album after it and wrote the title song about the nightclub." - The Globe Website

★ - ★ - ★

In season 5 the serial "The Enemy Of The World", Carmen Munroe played the role of Fariah Neguib, a food taster for the powerful politician, Ramón Salamander. She was a food taster by force, and rebelled against Salamander by giving the 2nd Doctor's allies important documents, revealing a black mailing side to the politician. She was shot and died in the arms of the enemy, pridefully refusing to give them information. Though sources are a bit muddy on this (1 sketchy source and the rest is my memory of classic who), Carmen Munroe could very well be the first black woman in Doctor Who. And if not, She is most certainly the first with a prominent speaking role.

Born in Guyana, Carmen Munroe played an instrumental role in the development of black British theatre and representation on tv. She played a good number of leading roles, but is best known for the role of Shirley in British TV sitcom Desmond's. Carmen is also one of the founders of Talawa, the UK's leading black theatre company, which was created in response to the lack of creative opportunities for Black actors and the marginalisation of Black peoples from cultural processes.

Today, Talawa is the primary Black theatre company in the UK, with more than 50 award-winning touring productions from African classics to Oscar Wilde behind it. In total the company has produced more than 80 productions. Our name, Talawa, comes from a Jamaican patois term and means gutsy and strong - Talawa.com

Carmen was also appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), which is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organizations, and public service outside the civil service.

★ - ★ - ★

Hope you enjoyed reading this bit of Doctor Who/Black History! Please feel free to add to this post with more black history in Doctor Who!

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DOROTHY DANDRIDGE in Carmen Jones (1954)

Costume design by Mary Ann Nyberg

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Dorothy Dandridge photographed by Bob Willoughby on set of Preminger’s CARMEN JONES (1954)

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Today We Honor Diahann Carroll

A television and stage actress and singer. Diahann Carroll has had a long, successful career that has expanded through 5 decades.

Appearing in Carmen Jones (1954), Porgy and Bess (1959), Julia (1968) one of the first series on American television to star a black woman in a non-stereotypical role, and Claudine (1974) to name a few.

Later she created the role of Dominique Deveraux on the popular prime time soap opera, Dynasty.

CARTER™️ Magazine

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CARMEN JONES (1954) dir. OTTO PREMINGER

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HARRY BELAFONTE (1927- Died April 25th 2023,at 96.Congestive Heart failure). American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Caribbean-American pop star, he popularized Jamaican mento folk songs which was marketed as Trinbagonian Calypso musical style with an international audience in the 1950s. His breakthrough album Calypso (1956) was the first million-selling LP by a single artist.Belafonte was best known for his recordings of "The Banana Boat Song", with its signature "Day-O" lyric, "Jump in the Line", and "Jamaica Farewell". He recorded and performed in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards. He also starred in several films, including Carmen Jones (1954), Island in the Sun (1957), and Odds Against Tomorrow (1959). Belafonte won three Grammy Awards (including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award), an Emmy Award,and a Tony Award. In 1989, he received the Kennedy Center Honors. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1994. In 2014, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy's 6th Annual Governors Awards and in 2022 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Early Influence category and was the oldest living person to have received the honour.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Belafonte

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Where you goin'? I might come back. Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte in Carmen Jones (1954) dir. Otto Preminger

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DOROTHY DANDRIGE IN CARMEN JONES (1954)

image from vogue