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Carrie
is based on Theodore Dreiser's classic novel, Sister Carrie,
about the rise of a small town girl and the eventual demise of
the wealthy man who loves her.
 Carrie
Meeber, a vulnerable and dependent soul, leaves her small town in
Missouri to live with her married sister in Chicago. She finds
life to be very grim in her sister's staunch household and she is
not cut out for the harsh working conditions in a shoe factory.
When Carrie loses her job, she turns to Charlie Drouet, a salesman
that she had met on the train, and he offers her his flat while
he is away on business.  Charlie
later introduces Carrie to George Hurstwood, a distinguished restaurant
manager. George falls in love with Carrie but Carrie does
not know that he has a wife and children. George's boss disapproves
of the affair and begins to pay George's salary to George's wife
Julie. In a desperate attempt to have Carrie, George steals $10,000
from the restaurant's safe and takes Carrie to New York. A bondsmen
finds them and George returns the money but loses his job.
 George
is unable to find work and Carrie becomes pregnant. They are soon
reduced to living in a cheap apartment. In a meeting with his
wife and her lawyer, George signs away all of his personal property
in order to obtain his wife's signature for a divorce. Carrie
loses her baby and finally leaves George when she believes that
he can find solace with his son and his new wife.
 Carrie
finds work on the stage and eventually becomes a successful actress.
George, however, never confronts his son but instead becomes a
beggar on the streets. Carrie unsuccessfully tries to locate
George, but one night he appears backstage and asks her for some
money to buy food. Carrie brings him into her dressing room
and leaves to order food for him. George briefly contemplates
turning on the gas stove to commit suicide, but then takes one
coin from Carrie's purse and returns to the street.
 Carrie
was filmed in 1950 but it was not released until June 1952. Paramount
executives were unsure how to market the film and they feared
that the film's downbeat tone would be frowned upon during the
McCarthy era. The film did poorly when it was released and
was Jennifer's fifth box office disappointment in a row.
 Carrie
is an excellently crafted film. It was directed by the great William
Wyler and featured one of Laurence Olivier's best screen performances.
However, the film is so depressing and oppressive that most viewers
are just glad when it is over. It seems that George Hurstwood
has the worst luck imaginable and it only keeps getting worse
as the film progressives. The last half of Carrie is very
difficult to watch.
 Laurence
Olivier clearly steals the show in Carrie. It is
a masterful performance that evokes both sympathy and scorn. Olivier
took the part so that he could be in Hollywood near his wife Vivien
Leigh (who was filming A Streetcar Named Desire.) Jennifer
is physically ideal for Carrie Meeber, as one critic said, "she
looks like she stepped out of the pages of the book" and her acting
here is one of her most accomplished. She was pregnant at the
time (she later had a miscarriage shortly after the completion
of the film). Miriam Hopkins was quite adept as Julie Hurstwood,
George's disdainful wife. And Eddie Albert was perfect as
Charlie Drouet.
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Ruby
Gentry 
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Carrie
Meeber, a vulnerable and dependent soul, leaves her small town in
Missouri to live with her married sister in Chicago. She finds
life to be very grim in her sister's staunch household and she is
not cut out for the harsh working conditions in a shoe factory.
When Carrie loses her job, she turns to Charlie Drouet, a salesman
that she had met on the train, and he offers her his flat while
he is away on business. 
