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Carrie (1952) / The Country Girl (1954)

Carrie (1952)
September 14, 2014 - 7:00 pm

From the collection of the George Eastman House.

Carrie (1952)


Directed by
William Wyler.  

A moving exploration of the strictures of social class, director William Wyler’s period drama sees poor factory worker Carrie (Jennifer Jones) accepting favors from two different men—whose love for her always comes with strings attached.  A tour-de-force of costume design, the picture shuttles Carrie and her suitors to plateaus high and low, illustrated subtly but magnificently in the palettes, textures and condition of wardrobe.

Paramount Pictures Corp. Producer: William Wyler. Based on the novel Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser. Screenwriter: Ruth Goetz, Augustus Goetz. Cinematographer: Victor Milner. Editor: Robert Swink. Costume Designer: Edith Head. Cast: Laurence Olivier, Jennifer Jones, Miriam Hopkins, Eddie Albert, Basil Ruysdael.

35mm, b/w, 119 min.

Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.

The Country Girl (1954)


Directed by
George Seaton.  

In a flourish of off-casting, director George Seaton assigned popular stars Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly to uncommonly earthy dramatic roles in this moving saga of a broken-down actor and his stalwart wife, rebuilding their lives after a tragedy.  Costuming bespeaks the characters’ journey from despair to hope, with Kelly in particular brightening in both dress and spirit as the story progresses.

Perlberg-Seaton Productions, Paramount Pictures Corp. Producer: William Perlberg. Based on the play by Clifford Odets. Screenwriter: George Seaton. Cinematographer: John F. Warren. Editor: Ellsworth Hoagland. Costume Designer: Edith Head. Cast: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, William Holden, Anthony Ross, Gene Reynolds.

35mm, b/w, 104 min.