Carrie
In the late 1890s, the ambitious, innocent Carrie arrives in Chicago’s South Side and stays with her nagging, dullish married sister. She then runs for help to traveling salesman Charles Drouet. She soon becomes his mistress, but falls in love with married restaurant manager George Hurstwood.
Critics Sentiment
Weak from hunger Hurstwood visits Carrie at the theater
Hurstwood's wife threatens bigamy charges unless he signs over everything
The film plunges from the romantic peak of Hurstwood and Carrie's theater courtship (8.6) to the harsh reality of poverty and joblessness (4.9) as consequences catch up with their affair.
Critics praised Carrie as a mature, uncompromising melodrama anchored by Olivier's magnificent tragic performance as Hurstwood's descent from respectability to destitution. While reviewers admired Wyler's direction and the film's frank treatment of adultery, some felt it dragged during the poverty sequences, though most found the final act deeply moving. The consensus viewed it as prestige filmmaking elevated by exceptional performances, particularly Olivier's physical and emotional transformation.
Full cast
Showing 20 of 36
Laurence Olivier
George Hurstwood
Jennifer Jones
Carrie Meeber
Miriam Hopkins
Julie Hurstwood
Eddie Albert
Charles Drouet
Basil Ruysdael
Mr. Fitzgerald
Ray Teal
Allen - Bondsman
Barry Kelley
Slawson
Sara Berner
Mrs. Oransky
William Reynolds
George Hurstwood, Jr.
Mary Murphy
Jessica Hurstwood
Harry Hayden
O'Brien
Charles Halton
Factory Foreman
Walter Baldwin
Mr. Meeber - Carrie's Father
Dorothy Adams
Mrs. Meeber - Carrie's Mother
Jacqueline deWit
Carrie's Sister Minnie
Harlan Briggs
Joe Brant
Melinda Casey
Little Girl
Donald Kerr
Slawson's Bartender
Don Beddoe
Mr. Goodman
John Alvin
Stage Manager
Crew
Write a Review
Rate each story beat:
