Search - Carmen Jones on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Violence, Sexual Situations Movie Release: 1954 DVD Release: 01/22/2002 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 45 mins Studio: 20th Century Fox Members Wishing: 4 Genres: Musical, Musical Romance, Film-Opera

In 1943, Oscar Hammerstein Jr. took Georges Bizet's opera Carmen, rewrote the lyrics, changed the characters from 19th century Spaniards to World War II-era African-Americans, switched the locale to a Southern military base, and the result was Carmen Jones. Dorothy Dandridge stars as Carmen Jones, tempestuous employee of a parachute factory. Harry Belafonte plays Joe (originally José), a young military officer engaged to marry virginal Cindy Lou (Olga James). When Carmen gets into a fight with another girl, she is placed under arrest and put in Joe's charge. Succumbing to her attractiveness, Joe accompanies Carmen to her old neighborhood, where, after killing a sergeant sent to retrieve him, he deserts the army. Carmen tries to be faithful, but fortune-telling Frankie (Pearl Bailey) warns her that she and her soldier are doomed. Enter Joe Adams in the role of boxer Husky Miller (a play on Carmen's bullfighter Escamillo), who sweeps Carmen off her feet, ultimately with tragic consequences. Alhough both Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte were singers, their opera voices were dubbed in by LeVern Hutcherson and Marilyn Horne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dorothy Dandridge - Carmen Jones
Harry Belafonte - Joe
Olga James - Cindy Lou
Pearl Bailey - Frankie
Diahann Carroll - Myrt

Otto Preminger's Carmen Jones comes to DVD with a beautiful widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Closed-captioned English soundtracks are rendered in both Dolby Digital 4.0 and Dolby Digital Surround. English and Spanish subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include the theatrical trailer. 20th Century Fox deserves much credit for making this mid-'50s film look and sound this good. Fans of the film will not be disappointed in the slightest. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide