Event

Fox 75th Anniversary Presents: Hometown Hollywood "CARMEN JONES"

Fox 75th Anniversary Presents: Hometown Hollywood
This event is part of the 75th Anniversary celebration of 20th Century Fox. As part of this nationwide celebration, Fox is presenting "Hometown Hollywood" events in 15 cities, featuring films being shown in the cities in which they were shot and by which they were inspired. Chicago has been chosen as one of the lucky cities to participate in this unique opportunity. The historic Music Box Theater will present the 1954 film, CARMEN JONES, on Wednesday, September 15. Legendary actors Harry Belefonte and Dorothy Dandridge star in this powerful musical written for the screen by Oscar Hammerstein II and directed by Otto Preminger.

Synopsis:
In 1943, Oscar Hammerstein Jr. took Georges Bizet's opera Carmen, rewrote the lyrics, changed the characters from 19th century Spaniards to World War II-era African-Americans, switched the locale to a Southern military base, and the result was Carmen Jones. Dorothy Dandridge stars as Carmen Jones, tempestuous employee of a parachute factory. Harry Belafonte plays Joe (originally José), a young military officer engaged to marry virginal Cindy Lou (Olga James). When Carmen gets into a fight with another girl, she is placed under arrest and put in Joe's charge. Succumbing to her attractiveness, Joe accompanies Carmen to her old neighborhood, where, after killing a sergeant sent to retrieve him, he deserts the army. Carmen tries to be faithful, but fortune-telling Frankie (Pearl Bailey) warns her that she and her soldier are doomed. Enter Joe Adams in the role of boxer Husky Miller (a play on Carmen's bullfighter Escamillo), who sweeps Carmen off her feet, ultimately with tragic consequences. Alhough both Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte were singers, their opera voices were dubbed in by LeVern Hutcherson and Marilyn Horne.