While this film brought Dorothy Dandridge an Oscar nomination, it still wasn't that great.
Carmen (Dandridge) works at a parachute factory and has her eyes set on pilot Joe (Harry Belafonte), but he's in love with his childhood sweetheart, Cindy Lou (Olga James). Thanks to some masterful manipulations, Carmen gets Joe to fall in love with her and go AWOL for her and then she just tosses him aside because he has to stay hidden in their slum apartment so she starts dating the famous boxer, Husky Miller (Joe Adams) who she initially rejects in favor of Joe but Joe then gets to be jealous and controlling. So yeah, she wants to do what she wants and Joe can't stand it. He ends up killing her in the final scene.
And did I mention that this film is a musical? Written by Oscar Hammerstein, he is definitely missing Richard Rogers. While the songs are well-written and performed well (despite the actors largely being dubbed, which is just beyond unfortunate), they are not memorable, though the score is legendary. The plot is also trite but it should be noted that throughout the entire film, not one white person appears on scene though there is one behind the camera as Otto Preminger directed this film. Also, while Carmen may be wearing a wedding ring, it is presumed that Joe and Carmen were not married but shared that tiny apartment nonetheless. There is also a scene, albeit brief, where Carmen appears in her stockings, bra and panties, so that is revolutionary as is her opinion of not wanting a man to control her.
So, despite the solid performances and ground-breaking, this film is ultimately not great which is such a shame that such talent is ruined. Grade: B
Side Notes:
-Despite the talent that Dandridge and Belafonte both have, they made shockingly few films in their life time.
-Pay attention to Brock Peters (Tom Robinson from To Kill a Mockingbird) makes a cameo as the Sergeant Joe beats up.
-While Dandridge was nominated for an Oscar, another black woman was not nominated for Best Actress until 1972, which is just unacceptable.
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