Karussell (1956)

Karussell: Directed by Henry King. With Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Cameron Mitchell, Barbara Ruick. Fifteen years after his death, a carousel barker is granted permission to return to Earth for one day to make amends to his widow and their daughter.

“In recent years it has become commonplace to site Frank Kaprau0026#39;s `Itu0026#39;s a Wonderful Lifeu0026#39; as one of the greatest films ever. It has become a Christmas tradition. I feel that film is overrated. The problem I have with it is that it stacks the deck in trying to convince us of the value of human life. George Bailey is a successful banker- not exactly rich but successful enough that he contributed a lot of material things to peopleu0026#39;s lives, including a housing development named after him. He also saved his brotheru0026#39;s life so his brother could save the men on that ship, etc. etc. The message is that you are of value if you have done the sort of things they build statues of people to honor. On top of that, without George, everybody in this town is nothing. They are all drunks or crooks or prostitutes. They have no capabilities of their own. They are all dependent on George Bailey.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003enI much prefer Carousel, whose hero is a bum. If you were to ask nearly everybody in town- a town that has done just fine without him, as a matter of fact, what Billy Bigelow contributed to their lives, they would say nothing- if they remembered him at all. The only people who would have anything good to say about him are those that he loved and who loved him. And that is the bottom line. If a person can be redeemed by his ability to love and to inspire love in others, we all have a chance. If you have to have a bank and town named after you, the bar is too high for most of us.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003enAs a musical, this is as good as it gets. `If I loved youu0026#39; is rivaled only by `Some Enchanted Eveningu0026#39; as a love song and it means more as itu0026#39;s revealing of the character of this crude man who canu0026#39;t express whatu0026#39;s in his soul and this shy girl who wants only to love and be loved. `Soliloquyu0026#39; is the dramatic highlight in the history of the musical as Billy works out all his hopes and dreams in his mind and vows to do anything he can to make his daughteru0026#39;s life special. By over reaching his bounds, he does the opposite. `Whatu0026#39;s the Use of Wonderingu0026#39; expresses the doubts anyone entering a relationship has and is doubly moving as itu0026#39;s sung by Julie, for whom we know the song will have special relevance. `When You Walk Through a Stormu0026#39; offers hope to us all. Those old guys at graduations are really worth listening to.”