Carmen Films

Exposed: The film industry's 100-year love affair with Carmen

"This is proof that the Carmen story does not date, and that it is still hugely relevant to the present day. It deals with still familiar situations and emotions -- those of love, jealousy, attitudes to women and the male fantasy."

THE CARMEN FILMS

1899: Sources suggest one film was made before the turn of the 19th Century but the title and director are unknown.

1900-1919: 26 versions including Charlie Chaplin's Burlesque on Carmen (USA, 1916) and Carmen featuring Theda Bara (USA, 1915), the first screen 'vamp' with her haunting, kohl-rimmed stare.

The 1920s: 10 versions including Carmen of the North (1920,) A Dutch version, which is silent and set against a snowy backdrop and The Campus Carmen (1928) Stars Carol Lombard, wife of Clark Gable, as Don Jose, in a mainly female cast.

1930s: Seven versions including the film commissioned by Hitler, Andalusische Nachte/Carmen, la de Triana (Germany/Spain 1938). Hitler was in love with actress Imperio Argentina, who played the lead role. The story was reinterpreted to fit in with Fascist ideology.

1940s: Four versions, including The Loves of Carmen, with Rita Hayworth as Carmen (USA, 1948)

1950s: Three versions, including Carmen Jones, featuring actress Dorothy Dandridge (USA, 1954), the first black Carmen in an all-black cast.

1960s: Eight versions including the USA-Germany 1967 pornographic film, Carmen Baby, featuring Uta Levka as Carmen.

1970s: Five versions, including the Venezuelan Carmen, la que contaba 16 anos (1975)

1980s: Seven versions were made this decade including the well known flamenco adaptation Carmen by Spanish director Carlos Saura, with Laura del Sol in the lead role (Spain, 1983), and Prénom Carmen by director Jean-Luc Godard with music by Beethoven and a Carmen who robs banks (France-Switzerland 1983).

1990s: Two versions, including a Slovenian film, Carmen (1995) and a 15-minute film by performance artiste Laurie Anderson, made especially for EXPO '92 in Seville.

2000- Two versions, both made in 2001. An MTV film, Carmen: A Hip Hopera, with Beyonce Knowles from the band Destiny's Child and the Senegalese Karmen Gei.

Issued by Newcastle University Press Office: contact Claire Jordan, tel: + 44 191 222 6067, email: claire.jordan@ncl.ac.uk
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