Jennifer Jones is rather tepid playing Carrie Meeber, a small town girl who becomes involved in her first romance with a classy restaurateur from the big city. Laurence Olivier's performance as Carrie's lover is sly and seductive, but there isn't any real chemistry between he and Jones, and Olivier could just as well be acting to a mirror (he's very good, very charismatic, and yet highly enamored of his own presence). Director William Wyler stages some dandy melodrama, but one still aches for much more than hand-wringing in a film with talents this big. The final sequence (set underneath a stairwell) is amazing both visually and emotionally, but too much of this story is balky or routine. None of the supporting players in the cast are allowed to outshine Larry Olivier; the picture may be called "Carrie", but all eyes are on the acting prince. ** from ****
Review of Carrie
