Carrie (1952)

Directed by William Wyler
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Paramount)

Laurence Olivier is a middle-aged, wealthy restaurant manager in Chicago. He is respected, trusted and bored with his marriage. In walks Jennifer Jones, a wide-eyed beauty from the sticks in Missouri, and he falls madly in love. She is involved with huckster Eddie Albert, but is mainly using him for a place to live. She falls for Olivier, and they begin a passionate relationship. Olivier gives up everything to be with her: his job, his respect and his family. They flee to New York and try to start over with money he has "borrowed" from the Chicago restaurant. His deed soon catches up with him and they live in abject poverty. As Olivier slips further into depression over his lack of a job and lost family, Jones starts a career as a Broadway actress. He leaves her and becomes homeless. The film works on many levels: the folly of an older man falling in love with a younger woman and its consequences, how a rich man deals with poverty, how a poor woman deals with wealth, dehumanization in the big city, the loss of innocence, and more. Olivier is excellent as always as the pathetic George Hurstwood. Downbeat to the end, this one is not your usual Hollywood fare.