This retelling of Bizet’s classic opera Carmen in an African American setting ran on Broadway in 1943 before Preminger made his groundbreaking film adaptation, which garnered Dorothy Dandridge a Best Actress Oscar nomination—the first of its kind for an African American woman. Harry Belafonte plays Joe, the World War II flyboy at the center of Carmen’s love triangle. 1954, 35mm, 105 minutes.
Carmen Jones

Otto Preminger, Carmen Jones, 1954. Shown from left: Dorothy Dandridge (as Carmen Jones) and Harry Belafonte (as Joe).