How did Carmen Jones change Georges Bizet's opera Carmen for the screen?

Otto Preminger’s 1954 film Carmen Jones modernized Georges Bizet’s classic opera by transposing the setting from its original European context to the American South.

A key element of this adaptation was the use of an all-Black cast, which featured Pearl Bailey, Harry Belafonte, and Dorothy Dandridge. Dandridge’s performance in the title role was particularly historic, as she became the first African American to receive an Academy Award nomination for best actress for her work in the film.1