Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this musical from Rodgers and Hammerstein isn't like their other crowd pleasers such as The Sound of Music and Oklahoma!. The themes are darker and the characters are flawed, especially Billy who beats his wife (not shown), steals, and dies in a knife fight. When he comes back as a ghost he may be after some form of redemption, but there are some mixed signals -- at one point he hits his daughter (who doesn't feel it).
Families can discuss if and how the film portrays Billy and Julie as fully-developed characters, rather than as a stereotypical couple facing domestic violence. Also, what are some examples of those stereotypes in other films? How might the film be different if it were made today instead of 1956?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Kathryn McGarr
A deceased Billy Bigelow, hoping to return to Earth for a day to visit his family, tells the Starkeeper in heaven about his rocky marriage. In the flashback, Billy and his mill-worker wife, Julie, meet at the fair where he works as a carousel barker. Julie marries him in spite of his reputation as a scoundrel. Since the female carousel owner had hired Billy based on his bad-boy reputation, he loses his job, and the couple depends on Julie's cousin. When Julie's pregnancy inspires the lazy Billy to earn money -- or steal it -- he meets his untimely end. The rest of the film follows Billy as he observes (from the beyond) his widow and teenage daughter in hopes of redeeming himself.
Some of the dancing, especially the ballet, is particularly good as far as movie musicals go. The song, "You'll Never Walk Alone" is memorable. Plus, the widescreen, Technicolor DVD features breathtaking scenery of the New England coast. An older audience, however, will pick up on the bleak and often misogynistic themes that make this story primarily about marital hardship and a husband's redemption.
Your family might enjoy Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae in a lighter Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma! For more colorful singing and dancing in the nineteenth century, try Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and for more Shirley Jones, The Music Man can't be beat.
Rate It!
| Content | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS | adults | kids | ||
Sexual Content |
 |
|||
ViolenceThere's implicit domestic violence that's never shown and may go over younger viewers' heads. Billy attacks a man with a knife and ends up falling on it and killing himself. As a ghost he hits his daughter -- she doesn't feel it. |
 |
|||
Language |
|
|||
Message |
|
|||
Social BehaviorBilly beats his wife (not shown), is unwilling to work, and steals when he's alive. He's only a little better when he comes back as a ghost. Julie explains that feelings of love can overcome physical pain, a message that may send mixed signals about justification of domestic violence. |
 |
|||
Commercialism |
 |
|||
Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoSome alcohol and tobacco use. |
|
|||
