Expert: Mel - 10/8/2010

Question
Ok Mel , here goes
I am 47 and I have seen this movie about 4 or 5 times give or take 1 since I was a kid.
I don't know the name, I might know the lead actress and actor but I will give their names after I give you what I can remember of the story line.

The guy is a Dock rat, rough and tough, tall broad shouldered blonde. he meets a nice girl and tries to got straight but as usuals in theses stories, something happens and he gets knifed on in a sort of gang fight on the docks. now I think the couple in the movie were married and she is pregnant when he gets killed. now montage forward and the the kid is a teenager getting picked on by snobby kids because her dad is dead and her family is poor, or something like that. the guy allowed to see his daughter from that middle place where you wait to see if your going to heaven or hell. He looks down and see her laying on a wagon wheel spinning in the sand on a beach. he begs to go an help her and is given just a little bit of time to do so so he goes down on the beach and talks to her. I cant remember much else accept that I think because of what he does to help his daughter he gets his wings.
Now my memory tells me its Kirk Douglas and Shirley Jones as the leads, but my fiance and I have searched for over an hour on two separate computers and have found nothing that seems to fit. Admittedly, I may have the actors wrong.
I know it was a black and white film and the time setting in the film could be late 40's or early 50's.
I would really like to figure out the name of this film and eventually get a copy if possible so any help you can give me would be appreciated

Answer
Hello Winona,

What you are describing is the story of Liliom (1934), which was later adapted as the musical "Carousel" (1956). There were also two ealier film versions of this famous play, in 1921 and 1930.

Now, having said that, there are a few problems between my answer and your question:

(1) "Carousel" was a musical, but you don't mention any songs. It was also made in colour and you state your film was black & white.

(2) Shirley Jones did star in "Carousel", but her co-star was Gordon MacRae.

(3) "Liliom" was made in black & white in 1934, which is a lot earlier than the time setting you stipulate.

(4) Neither Charles Boyer, who starred in the 1934 "Liliom", nor Gordon MacRae were what I would think of as a "tall broad shouldered blonde", although probably more so MacRae than Boyer.

I can't think of any other films that have used this story and the scenes you mention. Have a look at the following site......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liliom#Film_adaptations


Hope that's of some help. Cheers........Mel.