Carmen Jones

A critically acclaimed adaptation of Bizet’s Carmen with Dorothy Dandridge’s temptress leading Belafonte’s handsome but naive GI astray.

  • Director

    Otto Preminger

  • With

    Harry Belafonte, Dorothy Dandridge, Pearl Bailey

  • USA 1954. 105min

  • 35mm

  • Certificate

    U

Dorothy Dandridge became the first Black woman to receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance in this critically acclaimed and popular adaptation of Bizet’s opera. Her tempestuous Carmen enchants Belafonte’s smitten GI. His subtlety as an actor underpins the social commentary of this film, helping to balance its operatic extravagance with a story which unfolds in North Carolina at the height of ‘Jim Crow’ racial segregation. It’s this element that adds a rawness to the drama.

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