Carousel

Company: This was a real nice clambake; we’re mighty glad we came. The vittles we et were good, you bet. The company was the same. Our hearts are warm, our bellies are full, and we are feelin’ prime. This was a real nice clambake, and we all had a real good time.


The cinematic version of the hit Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical, Carousel stars Gordon MacRae as Billy Bigelow and Shirley Jones as Julie Jordan, together again the year after they appeared in Oklahoma.

Set (and filmed) in a seaside town in Maine, the movie features a traditional New England clambake in June: codfish chowder with onions and salted pork, followed by lobsters, clams, and unshucked corn steamed in a covered pit in the sand. It’s no wonder the picnickers came away with full bellies.

Released 1956
Directed by Henry King
Screenplay by Phoebe Ephron and Henry Ephron, based on the play Liliom by Ferenc Molnár
Music by Richard Rodgers
Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Starring Gordon MacRae as Billy Bigelow, Shirley Jones as Julie Jordan, Cameron Mitchell as Jigger Craigin, Barbara Ruick as Carrie Pipperidge, Claramae Turner as Cousin Nettie, Robert Rounseville as Mr. Enoch Snow, Gene Lockhart as Starkeeper/Dr. Selden, Audrey Christie as Mrs. Mullin, Susan Luckey as Louise Bigelow, Jacques d’Amboise as Louise’s “Starlight Carnival” Dancing Partner, William LeMassena as Heavenly Friend, and John Dehner as Mr. Bascombe