Carrie is a 1952 feature film based on the novel
Sister CarrieSister Carrie is a novel by Theodore Dreiser about a young country girl who moves to the big city where she starts realizing her own American Dream by first becoming a mistress to men that she perceives as superior and later as a famous actress....
by
Theodore DreiserTheodore Herman Albert Dreiser was an American novelist and journalist. He pioneered the naturalist school and is known for portraying characters whose value lies not in their moral code, but in their persistence against all obstacles, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of...
.
Directed by
William WylerWilliam Wyler was a motion picture director.-Early life:Wyler was born Wilhelm Weiller to a Swiss father and a German mother, in Mulhouse in the French region of Alsace...
, the film stars Jennifer Jones in the title role and
Laurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century, along with his contemporaries John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, Alec Guinness and Ralph Richardson...
as Hurstwood.
Carrie received two Academy Award Nominations:
Costume DesignThis Academy Award was first given for movies made in 1948 when separate awards were given for black-and-white and color movies.- 1940s :Black-and-White*1948: Roger K. Furse – Hamlet** Irene Lentz – B...
, (
Edith HeadEdith Head was an American costume designer who had a long career in Hollywood that garnered eight Academy Awards—more than any other woman in history.-Early life and career:...
) and
Best Art DirectionThe Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(
Hal PereiraHal Pereira was an American art director and production designer....
,
Roland AndersonRoland Anderson was an acclaimed movie art director, famous for receiving 15 Academy Award nominations but never winning an Oscar. Anderson's fist Oscar nomination was for his first film in 1933, "A Farewell to Arms". A frequent collaborator with Cecil B...
,
Emile KuriEmile Kuri was a Mexican-born American set decorator. He won two Academy Awards and was nominated for six more in the category Best Art Direction....
). Additionally, Laurence Olivier received a BAFTA nomination for his performance.
The movie should not be confused with
Stephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American writer of contemporary horror fiction, science fiction, fantasy literature, and screenplays. An estimated 300–350 million copies of King's novels and short story collections have been sold, and many of his stories have been adapted for film, television, and...
's
novel of the same nameCarrie is American author Stephen King's first published novel, released in 1974. It revolves around the titular character Carrie, a shy high-school girl, who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who tease her...
, nor with
Brian De PalmaBrian De Palma is an American film director. In a career spanning over forty years, he is probably best known for his suspense and thriller films, including such box office successes as Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, Carlito's Way, The Untouchables, and Mission: Impossible.Throughout the 1970s...
's 1976 film version
Carrie, which is not a
remakeA remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of Wyler's movie.
Principal cast
- Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century, along with his contemporaries John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, Alec Guinness and Ralph Richardson...
- George Hurstwood
- Jennifer Jones - Carrie Meeber
- Miriam Hopkins
Ellen Miriam Hopkins was an American actress known for her versatility in a wide variety of roles.She was born in Savannah, Georgia and raised in Bainbridge, a town in the state's southwest near the Alabama border...
- Julie Hurstwood
- Eddie Albert
Edward Albert Heimberger , better known as Eddie Albert, was an American actor, gardener, humanitarian, activist and World War II veteran...
- Charles Drouet
- Ray Teal
Ray Teal was an actor who appeared in more than 250 movies and some 90 television programs in his 37-year career. His longest running role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee on NBC's most successful western, Bonanza . He also played a sheriff in the film Ace in the Hole...
- Allen
- Barry Kelley
Barry Kelley was a heavy-set actor in movies in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He often played cops in films, including Boomerang and The Asphalt Jungle. The 6'4", 230-pound Chicago-born actor began acting on the stage in the 1930s. Kelley also appeared in dozens of television programs...
- Slawson
- William Reynolds - George Hurstwood, Jr.
- Mary Murphy
Mary Murphy was an American film actress of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. She was born in Washington, D.C., before moving to Los Angeles...
- Jessica Hurstwood
- Basil Ruysdael
Basil Ruysdael was an American film actor and opera singer.-Early life:He was born in Jersey City, New Jersey and started as a bass-baritone in the Metropolitan Opera Company from 1910 to 1918...
- Mr. Fitzgerald
- Walter Baldwin - Carrie's father
- Dorothy Adams
Dorothy Adams was an American character actress. She was married to character actor Byron Foulger from 1921-1970...
- Carrie's mother
Plot summary
Carrie Meeber (Jennifer Jones) leaves her family in a small rural town and heads to Chicago to make a better life for herself. Carrie is young and absolutely lovely, which doesn't go unnoticed. On the train to Chicago, Charles Drouet (
Eddie AlbertEdward Albert Heimberger , better known as Eddie Albert, was an American actor, gardener, humanitarian, activist and World War II veteran...
) approaches her. Although Carrie is reluctant to speak to him, the salesman persists and the two chat until they reach Chicago. Carrie gets off in South Chicago, the slums as Charles Drouet points out, after taking Drouet's business card.
In South Chicago, Carrie stays with her sister, who is married and has one child. Her sister's husband takes $5 from her for room and board and Carrie works at a factory sewing shoes. The factory owner, in order to save money, keeps the lights very low and the women can barely see their fingers. When she gets her finger caught in the sewing machine she is fired. She is desperate. He brother-in-law is quite clear, if she doesn't pay for room & board she can't stay.
After an exhausting and fruitless day of job hunting Carrie looks up Charles Drouet. He not only talks her into having dinner with him at Fitzgerald's, an upscale restaurant, but also gives her $10. Carrie knows that this is more than "compromising" but she doesn't see any other possibilities.
Her sister and brother-in-law won't take "that kind of money." So Carrie, in order to stay with her sister, heads to Fitzgerald's to return the money to Drouet. While there she meets George Hurstwood (
Laurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century, along with his contemporaries John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, Alec Guinness and Ralph Richardson...
), the manager of the restaurant, who is immediately smitten with her. Instead of taking the money and returning it on her behalf to Drouet, he brings the two together, seats them himself and sends them a fancy bottle of champagne on the house.
Carrie ends up moving in with Drouet. He is a big talker but basically harmless. Carrie, although clearly not in love with Drouet, is relieved to be safe, to have a roof over her head, to have food on the table. She pressures Drouet to marry her because the neighbors are talking about them. Drouet tries to skirt the issue but it is becoming more and more difficult to do so. He tries to distract her and invites Hurstwood, whom he had run into by sheer coincidence, into their home. They are having a lovely evening playing cards but it is obvious that Hurstwood is falling madly in love with Carrie.
With Drouet's permission, Hurstwood takes Carrie to the theater while Drouet is on one of his many business trips. But Hurstwood and Carrie end up spending every free minute together and Carrie falls in love with Hurstwood, too. When Drouet gets back, just before she is about to run off with Hurstwood, she finds out that Hurstwood is married. It never had occurred to Carrie that Hurstwood might be married. She is distraught and confronts Hurstwood, who admits that he is married although terribly unhappy, but Carrie doesn't want to hear it.
Hurstwood's wife, who is absolutely evil, reminds her husband that every penny that he made, and he provided well for family, is in her name and that he would never see a nickel if he left her.
At the restaurant Hurstwood cashes up for the night and through a set of contrivances finds himself stuck with $10,000 of his boss's money. He goes home with the money and is initially pleased to find his boss there. He tries to give the money to his boss but when he learns that his boss intends to give his salary directly to his wife because of his relationship with Carrie he decides to take the money to run away with Carrie. He leaves an I-O-U intent on paying his boss back as soon as he made it on his own feet.
He coaxes Carrie, who initially refuses to see him, out of the house by telling her that Drouet had injured himself and that he would take her to see him. On the train to Drouet, Hurstwood tells her that he loves her and that the wants to be with her, asking her to leave Drouet. Carrie is torn, she does love Hurstwood and so she decides to stay with him.
The first few days are bliss but then reality catches up with them. Hurstwood's boss sends a tough guy from the bond company after Hurstwood to collect the money Hurstwood took. Hurstwood who has already been looking for work finds out quickly that his boss has gotten to every restaurant owner and everyone knows that he stole money. Unable to find a job, Hurstwood and Carrie soon find themselves in poverty. But they are still madly in love and when Carrie finds out that she is pregnant the two think that things might take a turn for the better. But Hurstwood's wife shows up, wanting Hurstwood's signature allowing her to sell the house they own jointly. Hurstwood wants his share of the proceeds but she says she will press charges against him for bigamy if he insists. Carrie is devastated. They had gotten married and she was sure he had gotten a divorce but that wasn't true. Hurstwood's wife refused to get a divorce and Hurstwood didn't know how to tell Carrie.
Hurstwood tells his wife, he will sign and won't ask for money if she'll grant him a divorce. She does but it is too late. Carrie loses the baby and decides to make a go of it the theatre. Hurstwood reads in the newspaper that his son is due in New York after his honeymoon and decides to see him at the docks. While he is there, Carrie leaves him (even though she still loves him) because she thinks he will take this opportunity to re-enter his family's life.
While Hurstwood drifts further and further into poverty and ends up in a homeless shelter, Carrie's star in the theatre rises until she is a well-regarded supporting actress on the cusp of fame.
Hurstwood, entirely starved, visits her at the theatre stage door, and she wants to take him back. She had found out from Drouet that Hurstwood had taken the money to start a life with her and blames herself for his predicament. She wants to make it up to Hurstwood but he won't take more than a quarter and disappears after toying with the gas burner in her dressing room.