CARRIE

No, this is not the 1977 Carrie with Sissy Spacek. The name is the only thing these films have in common. The 1952 Carrie is about a naive small town girl who moves in with her sister with the hope for a better life in nineteenth century Chicago. While on her trip to the big city she meets a man (Charles Drouet) on the train; a fast talking, hyper, full-of-crap type of individual.

Well it doesn’t take long for “fast talker” to sweep the poor gullible Carrie off her feet.
After getting fired from her sweat-shop job, Carrie moves in with fast talker. Scandalous. In fact the novel which the movie based on was considered too hot/immoral by publishers.

Soon the friend of fast talker, the respectable, gentleman and manager of an upscale restaurant/bar, George Hurstwood, played by Laurence Olivier– though married– meets and falls hard for Carrie. She falls for him. Passion, passion, passion.

The affair would not work without a miserable wife to justify the affair, enter Miriam Hopkins. Mrs Hurstwood has Mr H. by the pocket book; the business and properties are under her name. She refuses to give Mr H. a divorce, nevertheless he runs off with the love of his life, the lovely Jennifer Jones, Carrie.

Life gets complicated after the couple elopes; money dwindles, and jobs are hard to come by. While living in poor condition, the pressure is more than the uppity Mr H. can handle. Carrie finds work and… Mr H. ends up… well, not too good. It’s a quintessential tear jerker/romance, but even I, a real man, liked it. Olivier and Jones, what’s not to like?

Based on Theodore Dreiser’s novel “Sister Carrie.”
Director … William Wyler
Jennifer Jones …. Carrie Meeber
Laurence Olivier …. George Hurstwood
Miriam Hopkins …. Julie Hurstwood
Eddie Albert …. Charles Drouet