Carrie (1952)

Carrie boards the train to Chicago with big ambitions. She gets a job stitching shoes and her sister's husband takes almost all of her pay for room and board. Then she injures a finger and ... See full summary »

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

Theodore Dreiser (novel), Ruth Goetz,

Stars:

Laurence Olivier, Jennifer Jones, Miriam Hopkins

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Laurence Olivier	...	George Hurstwood
Jennifer Jones	...	Carrie Meeber
Miriam Hopkins	...	Julie Hurstwood
Eddie Albert	...	Charles Drouet
Basil Ruysdael	...	Mr. Fitzgerald
Ray Teal	...	Allen - Bondsman
Barry Kelley	...	Slawson
Sara Berner	...	Mrs. Oransky
William Reynolds	...	George Hurstwood, Jr. (as William Regnolds)
Mary Murphy	...	Jessica Hurstwood
Harry Hayden	...	O'Brien
Charles Halton	...	Factory Foreman
Walter Baldwin	...	Mr. Meeber - Carrie's Father
Dorothy Adams	...	Mrs. Meeber - Carrie's Mother
Jacqueline deWit	...	Carrie's Sister Minnie (as Jacqueline de Witt)

Storyline

Carrie boards the train to Chicago with big ambitions. She gets a job stitching shoes and her sister's husband takes almost all of her pay for room and board. Then she injures a finger and is fired. This is the 1890s. Charles Drouet, a salesman she met on the train, comes to her rescue, invites her to dine at Fitzgerald's where the manager George Hurstwood sends over a bottle of champagne. Stay in Drouet's apartment. He will be on the road 10 days. When she leaves the apartment many months later -- on a train bound for New York -- her traveling companion is Hurstwood. Why is he in such a hurry?

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Plot Keywords:

train | restaurant | salesman | love | factory | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 October 1952 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Destino de dos vidas

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min 117 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Though based on Theodore Dreiser's novel "Sister Carrie," the movie was released simply as "Carrie" because the studio feared audiences would think "Sister Carrie" was the story of a nun.

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Quotes

Carrie Meeber: When you're poor, it gets all mixed up. You like the people who are good to you.

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Connections

Featured in Biography: Jennifer Jones: Portrait of a Lady (2001)

User Reviews

A Splendid Recreation of Another Era: Oliver At His Best, Jones Tamped Down To "Real"

This is a curious little sleeper from 1952, a grim, objective look at the upward mobility of a country girl who first adapts to the needs of the men around her, and then moves on to a successful stage career on her own, leaving one of the men in abject poverty.

Today Carrie succeeds not only because of it's splendid recreation of a time, but as one of the few American vehicles where the legendary Laurence Olivier, (who often walked through a character role for the paycheck) performs to his best advantage, evolving from an assured man of the world to a pathetic morsel at the bottom of the heap, a restrained and beautifully measured performance given 13 years later than his dynamic Heathcliff for the same directer in 1939's Wuthering Heights.

Jennifer Jones, too, is a good deal less hysterical and florid than usual; the music score by David Raksin underscores without bombast, and the supporting cast provide excellent contrast. This is definitely not a cheerer-upper, but a picture neatly tuning into it's original author's concerns. It deserves another look, and as time goes by, will be considered one of Wyler's significant contributions.