It wasnt a musical but the story was very similar. From what I remember he didnt know about the daughter until after he died. The TV may have been a black and white, now that you mention it. It was at my grandmothers house and I was a kid. Could there have been a non-musical version of Carousel? Maybe another movie based in the same story?
I remember an old black and white movie when I was a kid. It was about a tough young man maybe a sailor? who dies. After he dies he finds out that he has a daughter and he watches her make a lot of mistakes growing up. He wants to help her to not turn out like him and has a chance to do one thing. It seems like he slaps her on the face. My memory may not be totally accurate, but I have been trying to find out the name of this movie for years. If you can help that would be awesome.
Tags: girl, Growing, Little, Movie, Title