In William Wyler’s melodrama, Carrie, set at the turn of the century Chicago and based on Theodore Dreiser’s famous novel, “Sister Carrie,” a wealthy restauranteur (well played by Laurence Olivier) falls for a naïve provincial girl (Jennifer Jones).
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Later on, Carrie goes up the ladder, becoming a successful actress, while he goes down, turning into a pathetic loser.
Fearing that the public might think it’s a movie about a nun, Paramount’s executives changed the title to “Carrie.” However, divisive critical response might have contributed to the movie’ commercial failure.
Oscar Nominations: 2
Art Direction-Set Decoration (b/w): Hal Pereira and Roland Anderson; Emile Kuri
Costume Design (b/w): Edith Head
Oscar Awards: None
Oscar Context:
The Bad and The Beautiful, Vincente Minnelli’s black-and-white inside-Hollywood melodrama won the Art Direction and Costume Design (Helen Rose).
Directed by William Wyler
Written by Ruth Goetz, Augustus Goetz, based on Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
Produced by Lester Koenig, William Wyler
Cinematography Victor Milner
Edited by Robert Swink
Music by David Raksin
Production company Paramount Pictures
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date: July 17, 1952
Running time: 118 minutes
Budget $2 million
Box office $1.8 million (US rentals
