1956 Motion Picture
Directed by Henry King with a screenplay by Phoebe and Henry Ephron, the 20th Century Fox film adaptation of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel premiered just a year after Oklahoma! made its way to the big screen. The film starred Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones and Cameron Mitchell. The lead role of Billy Bigelow was originally to be played by Frank Sinatra, but he left the production shortly after filming began in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Later, Sinatra would sing “If I Loved You” with Shirley Jones on television’s the Frank Sinatra Show.
In conjunction with the 1956 release of the motion picture, the Carousel soundtrack was released by Capitol Records on February 16, 1956. Starring Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones and Cameron Mitchell, director Henry King’s 20th Century Fox adaptation required a team of more than five orchestrators, whose work was conducted by Alfred Newman.