Carrie (1952)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

Theodore Dreiser (novel)
Ruth Goetz (writer) ...

Release Date:

31 October 1952 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Carrie boards the train to Chicago with big ambitions. She gets a job stitching shoes and her sister's...

Plot Keywords:

Train | Restaurant | Manager | Salesman | Big City

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Laurence Olivier	...	George Hurstwood
Jennifer Jones	...	Carrie Meeber
Miriam Hopkins	...	Julie Hurstwood
Eddie Albert	...	Charles Drouet
Basil Ruysdael	...	Mr. Fitzgerald
Ray Teal	...	Allen
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	...	Carrie's father
Dorothy Adams	...	Carrie's mother
Jacqueline deWit	...	Carrie's Sister Minnie (as Jacqueline de Witt)

Runtime:

118 min | Germany:117 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:16 (nf) | USA:Not Rated (extended version) | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Québec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:Btl | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) (2005)

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Laurence Olivier accepted the part of George Hurstwood so he could be in Hollywood at the same time that his emotionally troubled wife Vivien Leigh was making A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) so that he could look after her.

Quotes:

George Hurstwood: You still have time, Carrie. Move on now. Find someone... to love. It's a great experience, Carrie.

Movie Connections:

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

Cruel Classic Romance

In Columbia Clay, Missouri, the young and naive Carrie Meeber (Jennifer Jones) boards the train expecting to meet her older sister in Chicago and have a better life in the big city. While traveling in the train, she meets the fabric salesman Charles Drouet (Eddie Albert), who gives her his card. Once in Chicago, she finds a simple job in a shoe factory sewing shoes, but when she injures a finger, she is fired. Unable to find another job, she looks for Charles, and he invites her to have dinner at the Fitzgerald's, the most expensive restaurant of Chicago, where she meets the elegant middle-age manager George Hurstwood (Laurence Olivier). Carrie moves to Charles' apartment and becomes her lover due to the lack of options, and later George falls in love for her. Pressed by his wife and by the owner of the restaurant to forget Carrie, George leaves all his possessions behind and embezzles a fortune from the restaurant, traveling with Carrie to New York expecting to rebuild his life, but the shadows of his past are cruel with him. Meanwhile, Carrie matures and becomes successful in her business.

"Carrie" is a cruel classic romance, with a stunning performance of the great British actor Laurence Olivier, who surprisingly was not nominated as Best Lead Actor to the Oscar. I am really impressed with his acting in this movie, being perfect either as an elegant upper class man or as a beggar. The direction of William Wiler is brilliant and stylist as usual, supported by magnificent costumes and decorations. Jennifer Jones, Eddie Albert and Miriam Hopkins give credibility to their characters with their great performances. The romantic and dramatic story does not have the usual commercial happy end of Hollywood movies, but a credible and realistic conclusion, and maybe that is why I loved this film. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Perdição Por Amor" ("Perdition for Love")