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59-675: Both Vivian and Dorothy Dandridge originally made up the band The Wonder Children, organized by their mother Ruby Dandridge (also a performer) in Cleveland, Ohio . When they added Etta Jones to the group, they changed their name to The Dandridge Sisters and moved to Los Angeles. They originally began performing as aspiring dancers after studying at the Loretta Butler School of Dance and the Nash Dancing Company in Los Angeles as well as

118-690: A "sepia representation" of Macbeth in Los Angeles. California. The production began on July 8 at the Mayan Theater . Five years later, she appeared in a production of Hit the Deck at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco, California. One of Dandridge's earliest appearances (uncredited, as were many of the minor roles she played) was as a native dancer in King Kong (1933). In other films, she played Rheba,

177-602: A folk singer who recently had introduced calypso music to a mainstream audience, had only one film to his credit. But he had just won the Tony Award and Theatre World Award for his performance in John Murray Anderson's Almanac , and Preminger cast him as Joe. Pearl Bailey 's sole screen credit was the 1948 film Isn't It Romantic? , but she had achieved success as a band singer and was familiar to television audiences from her appearances on Your Show of Shows , so she

236-569: A heart attack at a nursing home in Los Angeles, California. She was interred next to Dorothy at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. In the 1999 film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge , Ruby is portrayed by Loretta Devine . Carmen Jones (film) Carmen Jones is a 1954 American musical film featuring an African American cast starring Harry Belafonte , Dorothy Dandridge , and Pearl Bailey and produced and directed by Otto Preminger . The screenplay by Harry Kleiner

295-919: A maid, in Junior Miss (1945), Dabby in Tap Roots (1948), the housekeeper in Three Little Girls in Blue (1946), Mrs. Kelso in Cabin in the Sky (1943) and Violet in Tish (1942). Dandridge played Oriole on both radio and TV versions of The Beulah Show , and Geranium in The Judy Canova Show , and was a regular cast member on Tonight at Hoagy's . She is heard as Raindrop on Gene Autry's Melody Ranch (August 1949 - April 1951). For one season (1961–1962), Dandridge played

354-411: A new dress and shoes, Joe questions how she paid for them. Offended that he is accusing her of cheating, she argues with him and goes to Husky's hotel suite dressed in her new clothes to spend time with her friends. Frankie begins to tell fortunes by drawing cards. Carmen takes it all lightly until she draws the nine of spades . She interprets it as a premonition of her impending death and chooses to enjoy

413-704: A note in which she says although she loves him, she is unable to deal with time in jail and is running away. Joe is demoted to private and locked in the stockade for allowing his prisoner to escape. Cindy Lou arrives for a visit just as a rose from Carmen is delivered to him, prompting her to leave abruptly. Having found work in a Louisiana nightclub, Carmen awaits his release. One night champion prizefighter Husky Miller enters with an entourage and introduces himself to Carmen, who expresses no interest in him. Husky orders his manager Rum Daniels to offer her jewelry, furs, and an expensive hotel suite if she and her friends Frankie and Myrt accompany him to Chicago , but she declines

472-404: A prolonged pre-production period. He hired cinematographer Sam Leavitt as director of photography, Herschel Burke Gilbert as musical director, and Herbert Ross as choreographer and began to scout locations. On April 14, 1954, six weeks before principal photography was scheduled to begin, Preminger was contacted by Joseph Breen , who was in the final months of his leadership of the office of

531-465: A relic from the gruesome social straitjacket that was segregation; every frame, you feel, is freighted with the tension imposed by the never-appearing white folks. It was, however, laudable in its desire to showcase the talents of African-American performers who were denied opportunities in Hollywood." TV Guide rated the film three out of four stars, calling it "intermittently successful" and "saved by

590-500: A road warned unsuitable for motor vehicles that is half the distance to the town where he is taking Carmen. Carmen suggests she and Joe stop for a meal and a little romance, and his refusal intensifies her determination to seduce him. Their army jeep ends up hopelessly stuck in a river. Carmen suggests they spend the night at her grandmother's house nearby and continue their journey by train the following day, and that night Joe succumbs to Carmen's advances. The next morning he awakens to find

649-536: A scene presumably showing several thousand spectators. And there wasn't a white person in the arena. This glared like chauvinism in reverse." In a 2007 review in The Guardian , Andrew Pulver rated the film as three out of five stars and said, "Underneath its obvious charms—slinky Dorothy Dandridge, brawny Harry Belafonte and a handful of memorable numbers relocated from Bizet's original—the 1954 film version of Oscar Hammerstein's all-black Broadway musical now feels like

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708-470: A show with the Jack Harris Orchestra and comedian Jack Durant. When they returned to the U.S., they hit the height of their stardom in 1940. They toured with Jimmie Lunceford and his big band orchestra, and recorded four songs with them. Vivian Dandridge, who was a year older than her sister and two younger than Etta, acted as the leader of the group. She arranged all the meetings, rehearsals, and

767-625: A show, and then moved to Hollywood to work on musical shorts. In Hollywood, they worked for MGM and appeared in Going Places (1938) featuring Louis Armstrong . They then went back to New York to perform at the Cotton Club and other nightclubs and theatres. They eventually went to Europe in 1939 to perform and travel around in cities in England and Ireland. They performed at the London Palladium in

826-463: A supporting role after proving her worth as a star. Dandridge complied but later regretted her decision, certain it had been instrumental in starting the slow but steady decline of her career. The film earned estimated rentals in the US and Canada of $ 2.8 million. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called the film "a big musical shenanigan and theatrical tour-de-force" and added, "In essence, it

885-458: A terrific cast" despite "Preminger's heavy-handed" direction. James Baldwin , in his 1955 published essays Notes of a Native Son , addresses the movie in the essay "Carmen Jones: The Dark Is Light Enough". Dorothy Dandridge became the first African American to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress , but lost to Grace Kelly for The Country Girl . Fox Video released

944-402: Is a crazy mixed-up film." Variety wrote that Preminger transferred the play from stage to screen "with taste and imagination in an opulent production" and directed "with a deft touch, blending the comedy and tragedy easily and building his scenes to some suspenseful heights. He gets fine performances from the cast toppers, notably Dorothy Dandridge, a sultry Carmen whose performance maintains

1003-632: Is a poignant story. It was in the opera of Bizet, and it is in the rich nostalgic folklore of the American Negro in the South. But here it is not so much poignant as it is lurid and lightly farcical, with the African American characters presented by Mr. Preminger as serio-comic devotees of sex ... The incongruity is pointed when these people break into song to the wholly surprising and unnatural aria airs from Bizet's opera. The tempos are alien to their spirits,

1062-502: Is based on the lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II , from the 1943 stage musical of the same name , set to the music of Georges Bizet 's 1875 opera Carmen . The opera was an adaptation of the 1845 Prosper Mérimée novella Carmen by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy . Carmen Jones was a CinemaScope and DeLuxe Color motion picture that had begun shooting within the first 12 months of Twentieth Century Fox 's venture in 1953 to

1121-402: Is in love and refuses to double time Joe. Husky believes she is back to finally be with him, but she refuses his advances before leaving, so he tells his entire entourage that they are cut off financially until they produce Carmen (whom he nicknames Heatwave). Carmen pawns a piece of jewelry so she can buy groceries before returning to the room. When she returns not only with a bag of groceries but

1180-495: Is put up on his entourage's shoulders. Joe grabs Carmen as she is following Husky to his dressing room and pulls her into a storage room, where he begs her to return to him. Angry that she has moved on, he claims he should have killed her. In a matter-of-fact manner, she tells him that what they had is over and there is no going back for them. When Carmen continues to rebuff him and says he needs to kill her or let her go, Joe strangles her to death. A janitor finds him as he goes to alert

1239-597: Is recognized for her role in the 1959 movie A Hole in the Head as Sally. Born Ruby Jean Butler in Wichita, Kansas, on March 3, 1900, she was one of four children. Dandridge's parents were Nellie Simon, a maid, and George Butler, who was a janitor, grocer and entertainer. Dandridge's father was also "a famous minstrel man." In 1937, Dandridge played one of the witches in what an article in The Pittsburgh Courier called

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1298-460: Is the first film title sequence created by Saul Bass , and marked the beginning of Bass's long professional relationship with Preminger. Bass also designed the film posters for the movie. Note: After the intro of the "Gypsy Song", there is a drum solo played by a drummer named Max and as the crowd hears it, they yell, "Go, Max!" The drummer is jazz percussionist Max Roach . The soundtrack recording featuring Marilyn Horne and LeVern Hutcherson

1357-452: Is threatened by a concealed knife Joe has brought with him. Husky's people try to get him to stand down due to his fighting prowess, but can't since Joe won't stop. Joe is hit with a few blows before Carmen helps him get away. Joe asks why if she no longer loves him, but she reveals it's because she can't bear to see anyone cooped up. She tells Cindy Lou to go home and find someone worthy of her. After leaving, Cindy Lou tells herself how silly it

1416-463: Is trying to save a man who not only doesn't love her but has left her for another woman. Joe escapes the Military Police and attends Husky's big fight. Dressed to the nines, Carmen, her friends and Husky's entourage escort Husky to the ring. He falters in the first round, but comes back to beat his opponent in the second. Husky runs to Carmen's loving arms after winning, but they are parted after he

1475-527: The Cotton Club ) to perform at the Cotton Club in New York City in 1936. They moved to New York with Ruby, Vivian being 15, Dorothy 14, and Etta 17 at the time. They were so well-liked at the Cotton Club that they were given a regular spot on the show in 1939, performing in their years at that popular Harlem venue alongside such famous African-American artists and entertainers as Cab Calloway , W.C. Handy , and

1534-561: The Motion Picture Production Code . Breen had clashed with Preminger over The Moon Is Blue and still resented the director's success in releasing that film without a seal of approval. He cited the "over-emphasis on lustfulness" in Carmen Jones and was outraged by the screenplay's failure to include "any voice of morality properly condemning Carmen's complete lack of morals." Preminger agreed to make some minor adjustments to

1593-669: The Nicholas Brothers . The trio became highly recognized as a musical trio at the Cotton Club and often were compared to the Andrews Sisters . Although the Dandridge Sisters studied as dancers, their music career led them to study music technically so as to be stable artists. After working in New York, they began to be chaperoned by their aunt Geneva Williams rather than their mother. They moved to Hawaii for five months performing

1652-632: The Chicago interiors being filmed at the Culver Studios . Principal photography was completed in early August, and Preminger and the Fox publicity studio began promoting both the film and its star. Dandridge was featured in Ebony and photographed for the cover of Life . She appeared on a live television broadcast on October 24, four days prior to the opening, to sing two songs from the film. The opening title sequence

1711-625: The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, teaching dance to young children in the parks and playgrounds. She died of heart failure in Los Angeles on June 29, 1997. A list of known film performances of the Dandridge Sisters includes: The only known recorded songs that the Dandridge Sisters made on vinyl were "Undecided" (1939), and "If I Were Sure of You" recorded for the Parlophone label while they were in London, and "Minnie

1770-521: The Mary Bruce School of Ballet in Chicago, Illinois . However, the trio entered a radio show contest at KNX Radio in Los Angeles just for the fun and ended up winning over more than 30 white contestants. This win brought them recognition in the music world as singers. They began performing shows around Los Angeles in various night clubs and theatres, and then were invited by Joe Glazer (the promoter for

1829-605: The Moocher is Dead", "You Ain’t Nowhere", "Ain’t Goin to Study War No More", and "That’s Your Red Wagon", recorded in 1940 with Jimmie Lunceford and his big band orchestra. Ruby Dandridge Ruby Jean Dandridge (née Butler ; March 3, 1900 – October 17, 1987) was an American actress from the early 1900s through to the late 1950s. Dandridge is best known for her role on the radio show Amos 'n Andy , in which she played Sadie Blake and Harriet Crawford, and on radio's Judy Canova Show , in which she played Geranium. She

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1888-402: The elder of the Nicholas Brothers specialty dance act, bearing a handicapped daughter before their divorce. Her marriage to Jack Denison also ended poorly, and she developed an alcohol problem. On September 8, 1965, she was found dead in her apartment from an overdose of barbiturates, ruled accidental. Etta Jones, a native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, was born in 1919 (but often is confused with

1947-512: The estate of composer Georges Bizet (who wrote the opera on which the film was based), the film was banned in France until 1981. The film was permitted to open the 1955 Cannes Film Festival , where for the first time Preminger and Dandridge openly flaunted their relationship. Soon after Cannes, Dandridge was offered the role of Tuptim in the screen adaptation of The King and I , but Preminger, acting as both lover and mentor, urged her not to accept

2006-472: The guise of buying groceries. Since he can't leave the room at all lest he be arrested, Joe questions her. Carmen becomes annoyed and tells him that she does what she wants. Carmen goes to Husky Miller's gym to ask Frankie for a loan, saying that although she has clothes, furs and diamonds, she has no actual cash. Frankie tries to convince Carmen to sit in Husky's corner so they all can be well taken care of, but Carmen

2065-403: The interim he cast Juilliard School graduate Olga James as Cindy Lou. On May 21, Preminger announced Dandridge had been cast as Carmen. Initially thrilled by the prospect of playing one of the best film roles ever offered an African-American woman, Dandridge quickly began to doubt her ability to do it justice. After several days, she told her agent to advise Preminger she was backing out of

2124-753: The maid on the television version of Father of the Bride . In 1955, Dandridge and her business partner Dorothy Foster bought land in Twentynine Palms, California, with plans to construct a subdivision of 250 homes. Also in the 1950s, Dandridge formed a nightclub act that played in clubs around Los Angeles. A review of her act cited her "flashes of effervescent showmanship" and stated "What Ruby lacks in her voice, she invariably makes up for it with her winsome personality." On September 30, 1919, she married Cyril Dandridge. Dandridge moved with her husband to Cleveland, Ohio , where her daughter, actress Vivian Dandridge ,

2183-524: The melodies are foreign to their moods, but they have at those classical numbers as though they were cutting rugs. And whatever illusions and exaltations the musical eloquence might remotely inspire are doused by the realistic settings in which Mr. Preminger has played his film ... There is nothing wrong with the music—except that it does not fit the people or the words. But that did not seem to make much difference to Mr. Hammerstein or Mr. Preminger. They were carried away by their precocity. The present consequence

2242-418: The military police. He realizes he is now going to die for committing murder. The Broadway production of Carmen Jones by Billy Rose opened on December 2, 1943, and ran for 503 performances. When he saw it, Otto Preminger dismissed it as a series of "skits loosely based on the opera", with a score "simplified and changed so that the performers who had no operatic training could sing it." In adapting it for

2301-479: The more famous jazz singer Etta Jones born in 1928). She attended both of Dorothy Dandridge’s weddings. Little other information is known about her whereabouts after the splitting up of the Dandridge Sisters. It is known that she sang with the Jimmy Lunceford orchestra for some time, and her first husband, trumpeter Gerald Wilson , was a member of the group. After retiring to raise a family, Etta later worked for

2360-419: The offer. Just then, Joe arrives and announces he must report to flying school immediately. Angered, Carmen decides to leave with Sgt. Brown, who also has appeared on the scene, and Joe severely beats him. Realizing he will be sentenced to a long prison term for hitting his superior, Joe flees on a train to Chicago with Carmen. Tired of being cooped up in a shabby rented room, Carmen gets dressed and leaves under

2419-461: The project, but the two felt it was not economically viable and declined. Following the completion of his previous film, River of No Return , Preminger had paid 20th Century Fox $ 150,000 to cancel the remainder of his contract. He was surprised when Fox head Darryl F. Zanuck contacted him and offered to finance the new film while allowing him to operate as a fully independent filmmaker. In December 1953, he accepted $ 750,000 and began what became

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2478-459: The project. The director drove to her apartment to reassure her and assuage her fears, and the two unexpectedly began a passionate affair. Although Dandridge and Belafonte were known singers, neither sang opera. Marilyn Horne and LeVern Hutcherson were hired to record their vocals, and soundtrack recording began on June 18. Horne later recalled, "Even though I was at that time a very light lyric soprano, I did everything I possibly could to imitate

2537-412: The rest of her life no matter how long it is. Cindy Lou arrives at Husky's gym in search of Carmen since she is the only one who knows where Joe is. Frankie tells her to give up on Joe because he is nothing but trouble. An angry Joe arrives, having evaded capture and intent on getting Carmen back. Although Cindy Lou is present, he ignores her while ordering Carmen to leave with him. Husky intervenes and he

2596-406: The right hedonistic note throughout." The Los Angeles Tribune review was mixed: "It's as wide as all outdoors. Its color outdoes nature by several tints and tones....Possibly never has the music of George Bizet been so fulsomely treated as it is here in stereophonic sound....Technically, 'Carmen Jones' is superb. It's too bad that slightly less may be said of its content....We've grown to accept

2655-539: The role of Carmen. Preminger was familiar with Dorothy Dandridge but felt she was incapable of exuding the sultry sex appeal the role of Carmen demanded, particularly after having seen Dandridge's performance as a demure schoolteacher opposite Belafonte in Bright Road (1953). Her agent's office was in the same building where Preminger's brother Ingo worked, and he asked Ingo to intercede on his client's behalf. At his first meeting with Dandridge, Preminger told her she

2714-825: The screen, he wanted to make "a dramatic film with music rather than a conventional film musical," so he decided to return to the original source material—the Prosper Mérimée novella. He hired Harry Kleiner, whom he had taught at Yale University , to expand the story beyond the limitations imposed upon it by the Bizet opera and Hammerstein's interpretation. Preminger realized no major studio would be interested in financing an operatic film with an all- African American cast, so he decided to produce it independently. He anticipated United Artists executives Arthur B. Krim and Robert S. Benjamin, who had supported him in his censorship battles with The Moon Is Blue , would be willing to invest in

2773-494: The script and even filmed two versions of scenes Breen found objectionable, although he included the more controversial ones in the final film. Because he was sensitive to the issue of racial representation in the film, Preminger had no objections when Zanuck urged him to submit the script to Walter Francis White , executive secretary of the NAACP . White had no objection to it. Preminger began to assemble his cast. Harry Belafonte ,

2832-782: The story focuses on Carmen Jones, a "shameless vixen" who works in a parachute factory in North Carolina . When she is arrested for fighting with a co-worker who reported her for arriving late for work, the leader of the Army guards, Sgt. Brown, assigns handsome Corporal Joe to deliver her to the civilian authorities over 50 miles away. This is much to the dismay of Joe's fiancée Cindy Lou, who had agreed to marry him during his leave prior to his reporting for flight school and an eventual officer's commission. Joe plans to deliver his prisoner as soon as possible to return to Cindy Lou and his leave. While en route, he decides to save time by taking his jeep over

2891-430: The thesis that a Hollywood musical is just that—a gay mish-mash of nothingness, strung together by an idiotic story and some song and dance numbers. But in 'Carmen Jones,' these inanities, these absurdities, become direct reflections upon Negroes. They become 'traits' because no one else is around to shoulder the blame. The all-Negro idea became especially absurd in 'Carmen Jones' during the prize-fight sequence. Here, we had

2950-502: The trio. She started in minor roles in Hollywood films and making popular soundies , but moved into an Academy Award nominated leading lady, becoming the first African-American woman to receive a nomination for an Best Actress for her title role in Carmen Jones in 1954. She starred as Bess in the lavish Porgy and Bess (1959), after which a variety of factors combined to send her career downhill. She first married Harold Nicholas ,

3009-569: The voice of Dorothy Dandridge. I spent many hours with her. In fact, one of the reasons I was chosen to do this dubbing was that I was able to imitate her voice had she been able to sing in the proper register ." Following three weeks of rehearsal, filming in CinemaScope began on June 30. Preminger had opted to remain in California for the shoot, with El Monte doubling for the Southern exteriors and

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3068-490: The way they dressed and their daily habits. They also said that they all preferred to be successful women in their musical career rather than seek love and marriage. After the trio stopped performing together in 1940, Vivian performed in a few movie roles. She was an extra in the movie Stormy Weather (1943), and the voice of "So White" in a controversial cartoon short Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (1943). She then released an album titled The Look of Love in 1968, but it

3127-682: The widescreen format as its main production mode. Carmen Jones was released in October 1954, exactly one year and one month after Fox's first CinemaScope venture, the Biblical epic The Robe , had opened in theatres. In 1992, Carmen Jones was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Set during World War II ,

3186-445: Was "lovely" and looked like a "model" or "a beautiful butterfly," but not Carmen. He suggested she audition for the role of Cindy Lou. Dandridge took the script and left, and when she returned she was dressed and behaved exactly as Preminger envisioned Carmen. The director was impressed enough to schedule a screen test for mid-May, after Dandridge completed a singing engagement in St. Louis . In

3245-426: Was born in 1921. Her second daughter, Academy Award -nominated actress Dorothy Dandridge , was born there in 1922, five months after Ruby and Cyril divorced. It is noted that after her divorce, Dandridge became involved with her companion Geneva Williams, who reportedly overworked the children and punished them harshly. Dandridge attended her daughter Dorothy's funeral in 1965. On October 17, 1987, Dandridge died of

3304-437: Was cast as Frankie. Joe Adams was a Los Angeles disc jockey with no acting experience, but Preminger felt he had the right look for Husky. Diahann Carroll auditioned for the title role, but she was so terrified of the director she could barely focus on the scene, and Preminger cast her in the small supporting role of Myrt instead. Finally, numerous African American actresses, from Eartha Kitt to Joyce Bryant , were tested for

3363-473: Was its spokeswoman. The sisters all mentioned that they spent much of their spare time (when not performing) dancing and making scrapbooks. The three were all seemingly religious (Etta was Roman Catholic ) and attended church each Sunday in every city they visited. They claimed to make all of their decisions as a musical trio after consulting in a group, but on the whole, the three girls were similar. They claimed to have very similar opinions on everything including

3422-589: Was originally released on LP by RCA Victor (LM-1881). RCA reissued the album on compact disc for the first time in 1988. The film had its world premiere at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City on October 28, 1954. The following February, it opened in London and Berlin, and in both cities it played for more than a year in exclusive first-run engagements. Because of a technicality in French copyright laws on order of

3481-452: Was unsuccessful. She lived in Seattle for the last eight years of her life, but changed her stage name to Marina Rozell after her third marriage. She seldom performed any longer except at open-mic nights. She died at the age of 70 in 1991 from a stroke. Dorothy often went by the nickname Dot while in the Dandridge Sisters. After breaking up the group in 1940, Dorothy became the most successful of

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