Carmen Jones

Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte star as ill-fated lovers in Otto Preminger's reimagining of the classic opera Carmen.

The classic tale of Carmen and her tragic love affair with a Spanish cavalry soldier is relocated from 19th Century Spain to World War II-era America in Otto Preminger's exuberantly realised adaptation of Georges Bizet's opera. Dorothy Dandridge stars as Carmen Jones, a rambunctious wartime factory worker who sets her sights on Joe (Harry Belafonte), a stalwart GI with dreams of marrying his sweetheart and going to flying school. However, when the pair begin a forbidden love affair, a cruel fate sets the pair on a collision course with jealousy, betrayal and a dangerously fragile masculinity.

The film is renowned for launching and re-launching the onscreen careers of Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge, respectively. Dandridge had twenty years of acting experience before this, but campaigned strongly for the role. For her performance, she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading role, the first African-American woman to receive a nomination in that category.