Carrie

Rating:
Summary: Attention Hollywood! Please remake this movie!
Review: Fortunately, Theodore Dreiser was long dead before the release of this bland travesty of his masterpiece "Sister Carrie", so he didn't have to suffer the misery of seeing it. Although plans for the movie had been floating around while he was alive (with Irene Dunne slated to play Carrie and Charles Laughton to play her married lover), due to the themes of the novel (young girl moves in with travelling salesman, then marries bigamist), the Hayes Office kept it off the screen for years. When it finally emerged, Jennifer Jones starred as Carrie, and Lawrence Olivier played her married lover, with Edward Albert as the travelling salesman.

In the novel, Carrie is a plucky, ambitious and often ruthless girl set loose in the cruel world of Chicago around the turn of the century, who survives by her wits and triumphs against all odds. In the film, as played by Jennifer Jones, she is a bland, wimpy, completely guileless and innocent girl who is taken in by the cruelty of men, and simply plods her way along from bad situation to worse situation (with Ms. Jones all the while widening her eyes for sympathy). The movie robs the audience of one of the greatest literary heroines since Becky Sharp. Most of the fault lies in the watered down screenplay, but I also must lie blame on Ms. Jones. One wonders what Vivien Leigh could have done with the role. I'm wondering what Jennifer Jason Leigh could do with it now, if some enterprising producer would read one of the greatest classics of American literature.

Advice? Skip this and pray for a decent remake.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting adaptation
Review: I notice many of the other reviewers lamenting that this film adaptation of Dreiser's novel is not as good as the book itself. Of course it isn't, but that doesn't mean there isn't considerable merit in this film. Naturally there are considerable differences between the book and the movie, but that is inevitable in any screen translation.

The performances are uniformly good. Jennifer Jones was hardly considered an outstanding actress, but she's well cast here in the role of a passive, timid and one-dimensional Carrie. The ambitious side of Carrie in the novel is muted a bit for the screen. Olivier is exceptional in the lead character and his disintegration from rich restaurant manager to skid row bum is masterful. Perhaps the most overlooked performance is that of Eddie Albert, cast as Carrie's first lover. Albert is exceptional and most resembles the original character in Dreiser's book.

The ending will have you reaching for your handkerchief's, so be forewarned. For anyone who has not read Dreiser's novel, you will be prompted to lay hands on the book as soon as this film is concluded. Recommended viewing.

Rating:
Summary: Good, But Could Have Been Better
Review: If you are a fan of Laurence Olivier, then you should definitely see this movie. The beautiful Jennifer Jones is an adequate, if uninspired, Carrie--hampered partly by production codes that took too much bite out of the character and her overriding drive for happiness. The excellent novel by Theodore Dreiser definitely deserves another shot by Hollywood, but not if it involves the previous reviewer's suggestion of the title character being portrayed by Jennifer Jason Leigh. Miss Leigh has very little talent and plays every one of her characters as if she's on the brink of committing suicide. She ruined the remake of "Washington Square" with her talentless performance, so if "Sister Carrie" is remade, please, Hollywood, don't let Miss Leigh get her hands on this fascinating character from another American Classic!