The original motion picture soundtrack of the
Rodgers
and
Hammerstein
musical
Carousel
benefits from
Gordon MacRae
's powerful performance in the lead role of Billy Bigelow.
MacRae
was cast in the role when director
Henry King
's first choice,
Frank Sinatra
, fell through, and is clearly the highlight of the recording. Not every cast member is as reliable.
Shirley Jones
as Bigelow's wife has a tendency to overact her songs in a way that is more grating on record than in the film. The same mugging plagues the performance of the chorus on the classic song
"June Is Bustin' Out All Over."
The other major chorus numbers don't require overacting to be grating. Some critics complained that the film was missing some of the best songs from the Broadway version of
. The problem may not have been that songs were cut, but that they cut the wrong songs. The tedious
"Soliloquy"
is probably necessary to advance the action, but it's certainly not as tuneful as the absent
"Blow High, Blow Low."
And surely the show would hold up without the dopey
"A Real Nice Clambake."
No doubt most fans would happily exchange it for a few more reprises of
"You'll Never Walk Alone."
~ Evan Cater