Jones played Julie Jordan, a factory worker who falls for carnival barker Billy Bigelow. MacRae’s Billy was charming, reckless and often distant, which made the match more complicated than most mid-century musical romances. The film followed their relationship through hardship, tragedy and — in a dramatic shift — a glimpse of the afterlife. The structure was unusual, but the story stayed rooted in its cast and its music, with MacRae and Jones handling some of the film’s most demanding vocal performances.
The songs were already well known from the stage production, but the film gave them new life. “If I Loved You,” “June Is Bustin’ Out All Over,” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” were performed with full studio orchestration and shot in scenic outdoor locations around Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Director Henry King opted for real-world backdrops rather than studio sets, which gave the story a more grounded feel — even when the plot took its biggest leap toward the fantastical.
This was Shirley Jones’ second film, and it confirmed that her casting in Oklahoma! hadn’t been a one-time bet. Studio reports at the time claimed there was $10 million riding on her stardom, and the press was quick to label her a Hollywood “Cinderella.” But her path had more substance than storybook. Raised in a small Pennsylvania town, Jones studied music early, took on local stage roles, and eventually found her way to New York, where a chance audition got her in front of Rodgers and Hammerstein.
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
- Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones (Actors)
- Henry King (Director) - Phoebe Ephron (Writer) - Henry Ephron (Producer)
From there, she moved quickly — chorus work in South Pacific, then a lead understudy in Me and Juliet, then flown out to Hollywood for a screen test. She didn’t win the part in Oklahoma! by name recognition or luck — she won it after multiple rounds of tests alongside MacRae, where the producers watched closely to see how their voices worked together. The same pairing returned for Carousel, and again it worked — balancing the film’s more somber themes with a steady sense of presence.
Below, we’ve gathered original articles, production photos and promotional materials from the 1956 release of Carousel, along with an early profile of Shirley Jones that tells more about her path to the screen. The movie may have taken a few risks for its time, but with its cast, songs and visual style, it has remained one of the most distinctive entries in the Rodgers and Hammerstein film catalog.
Review of Carousel: The musical movie (1956)
Lansing State Journal (Lansing, Michigan) – March 31, 1956
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic, “Carousel,” produced in its new CinemaScope 55 photographic process and color, opened at the Michigan theater Friday.
This milestone in the progress of motion picture entertainment was ushered in with all the fanfare of a Hollywood premiere.
The studio gave it an incomparable group of singing artists to bring the unforgettable folk story to the screen.
Heading the cast are Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, both of whom won critical praise for their work in “Oklahoma.”
In the principal supporting roles are Cameron Mitchell, Barbara Ruick, Claramae Turner of Metropolitan opera fame, Robert Rounseyille, Gene Lockhart, Audrey Christie, Susan Luckey, William Le Massena, John Dehner and Jacques D’Amboise.
All the rich Rodgers and Hammerstein music which helped make “Carousel” a stage hit have been woven into the screen presentation.
Among the 12 songs heard in the picture are the very popular “If I Loved You,” “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” “June Is Bustin’ Out All Over,” “What’s the Use of Wond’rin'” and “When the Children Are Asleep.”
These popular songs gains in effectiveness and brilliance through their staging in the picturesque New England forests and seacoast.
Director Henry King transported the entire company and a troupe of 40 dancers to Boothbay Harbor, Maine, where the exterior scenes for the picture were filmed, thus giving great authenticity to the story of “Billy Bigelow,” the swaggering Carousel barker, and his love for “Julie Jordan,” a factory worker.
This romance, which ends in Billy’s tragic death, his sojourn in heaven, and return to earth, stirs up the entire Maine coast town and gives poignancy to the story.
Vintage Carousel movie trailer
Vintage Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Carousel” lobby cards
Shirley Jones: $10,000,000 bet on the Jones girl (1956)
The Detroit Free Press (Michigan) February 14, 1956
They say there is 10 million dollars worth of film invested in Shirley Jones, a 20-year-old movie hopeful from a tiny, coal-mining community of 800 souls near Pittsburgh.
She became the latest “Cinderella” when Rodgers and Hammerstein handed her the assignment of “Laurey” in the screen version of their Broadway classic “Oklahoma!” filmed in the amazing new Todd-AO process.
The casting was a calculated move, based upon the honest opinion that Shirley was the best of all candidates considered for the part. Shirley won the role only after exhaustive tests.
She played three scenes from the picture with Gordon MacRae, who was up for the part of “Curly.” Their voices were tested and retested together.
Some weeks later a voice on the long-distance phone said: “Hello, Laurey,” and then Shirley knew she had won the part. Said Shirley: “I promptly pinched myself before the news sank in.”
ALSO SEE: 20 ways “The Sound of Music” movie got it wrong
A slender, hazel-eyed, natural blond, Shirley was born March 31 in Smithton, Pa., and it was there that she went to school.
She showed a definite talent for singing and started voice lessons at 12. At South Huntingdon High School she was cast in dramatic stage presentations. In 1952, she represented Pittsburgh in the state-wide “Miss America” contests.
In 1953 she went to drama school at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, subsequently had leading roles with Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera in “Lady in the Dark” and “Call Me Madam,”
In New York for a holiday, Shirley visited a Broadway theatrical agent, auditioned for him, and was rushed over to the Rodgers and Hammerstein office.
Casting director John Fearnley was so impressed that he signed her to a contract, put her in the chorus of “South Pacific” on Broadway so that she might obtain experience. Later when that show closed, she understudied one of the leads and sang in the chorus of “Me and Juliet.”
During the road tour of this show, R. & H. brought Shirley to Hollywood for the “Laurey” screen test.
After completing this role, Shirley was cast in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Carousel.” She is a young newcomer who has really become a star in a hurry!
SHIRLEY IN THE ’70s: Meet the Partridge Family & see the TV show intro – C’mon get happy!
DON’T MISS: See Fred Astaire Puttin’ On The Ritz in the Irving Berlin 1946 musical movie ‘Blue Skies’
