Perdição por Amor

This was a pretty powerful melodrama, thanks to the great performance of Sir Laurence Olivier.

Olivier plays an unhappily-married older man who falls for the young and beautiful Jennifer Jones (not hard to understand!).....and pays a huge price for his adultery. Olivier is near-mesmerizing in this film and Jones is absolutely gorgeous, as she was in "Portrait Of Jennie," made about five years prior to this film.

Eddie Albert was a bit annoying (but effective) in his role and Miriam Hopkins is downright brutal in her small part as Olivier's wife.

The shocking thing about this film was the subject matter, rare for its day. It was ahead of its day in one respect: it makes the adulterers into the sympathetic "good guys." I'm surprised that got by the censors of the day. Jones' character is oddly innocent for someone "shacking up" with Albert.

I am not a fan of soap operas, but this was highly involving, a tough story to put down once it started I didn't particularly like the ending, but are you gonna do? Note: One of the scenes near the end was inserted on the DVD. It had previously been cut out of the theatrical release. That "flophouse" scene was one that was not passed over by the censors.

This filming of Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie focuses more on Laurence Olivier's character of George Hurstwood more than on the title character that Jennifer Jones portrays. In the novel, Carrie is not quite as good a girl as Jennifer portrays her. But that is probably due to 1950s conventions and David O. Selznick's svengali-like influence on his wife's career.

It's not a film that ranks high with Olivier fans. In fact he did it to keep himself busy while current wife Vivien Leigh was doing A Streetcar Named Desire. But his portrayal of George Hurstwood may rank as the most tragic character Olivier ever brought to the screen.

Poor Hurstwood. On the outside a most respectable individual, good job wife and two kids, money in the bank. He's the manager of a fancy Chicago eatery named Fitzgerald's. And one day accompanied by Eddie Albert, walks Jennifer Jones into his place and he flips for her.

Carrie's a young girl from the farm gone to Chicago to seek life. But women were rather restricted in their employment and their options for living. She runs up against Victorian morality which was what Dresier was really writing about in his book. To today's audiences those conventions seem ridiculous, but William Wyler does do a good job in portraying the era.

He also does another clever thing in the film. Mary Murphy has a brief part as Olivier's daughter. She bears a striking resemblance to Jennifer Jones. She has a couple of lines of inconsequential dialog with Olivier, but your image of her stays throughout the film and you understand why Olivier tumbles for Jones. Freud would approve.

Kudos also for Miriam Hopkins who plays Mrs. Hurstwood. She's a vindicative shrew in this film, but she's also a wronged party and Hopkins does convey a fine balance in her portrayal.

Eddie Albert is also a wronged party. Jones meets him on the train to Chicago and he falls for her also. Due to circumstances in the film, she has to accept his hospitality. Albert also falls for her big time, but she can't see him when Olivier's around.

There is also a nice bit by Ray Teal as an insurance investigator. I can't tell you about him without giving some of the plot away, but he's a very cynical fellow and kind of gives both Jones and Olivier a reality check.

It's a nicely done film, fans of the stars will love it.

Olivier and Albert certainly play supporting roles in this terrific William Wyler flick, but as in the Dreiser novel, Jones/Carrie is the star. Is she really evil incarnate, or is she lied to and corrupted by two men who both claim to love her? Does she take care of herself at their expense, or does she sell herself to them out of necessity? These men make a bargain from which both men derive benefits that in 1890, they would not be entitled to unless they deceived and took advantage of Carrie. The scene from the original filming that has been included in the DVD release helps clarify Carrie's motives. She is certainly guilty, but not evil incarnate. But the first wife is much worse, far more grasping, self-serving, and vicious than Carrie.

Jones is good here, but Olivier is amazing.

This is a superb film, directed with great style by William Wyler. A tough film for romantics, it's about how following your heart will not always lead to living "happily ever after". A very mature film about becoming middle-aged but still yearning for romance - and a very uncompromising film in which love and forgiveness are sometimes just not enough. An unusual film to come out of Hollywood in the Fifties, it now emerges as one of the finest American films of that period.

Jennifer Jones, Eddie Albert and Miriam Hopkins all deliver top-notch performances - subtle, believable, multi-dimensional and real. Hopkins remains one of the most under-rated of all Hollywood stars - her reputation sadly damaged by her real-life feud with Bette Davis. But she was a brilliant actress. Jones looks stunning, and portrays her character's development from naivety to worldliness with intelligence and strength. Albert is likeable, but also quite menacing, as her salesman lover.

But towering above all is the great Laurence Olivier, in what I venture to say is his best screen performance. As the ageing restauranter who finds true love too late, he gives an unbearably moving performance. His astonishing physical transformations match perfectly his character's downward fortunes - but there is also a complete truth to his emotion here. One wonders how much he was drawing on his own tragic marriage to Vivien Leigh to find that truth.

This is a ten star film.

I read the book at 17 and picked it up again. I remember seeing the film many years ago and decided to buy the video. What a find. I had never realized how romantic Sir Olivier could be. Talk about how desperate love can destroy a life at any age. When George Hurstwood, a wealthy manager of a prominent drinking establishment meets naive, trusting Carrie Meeber from Columbia City he is smitten. Right from the moment he spies her entering the men's bar entrance you know from his eyes he is hooked. When he attempts to seduce her away from Charles Drouet I believe he plans to just keep her as a mistress to satisfy his need for love. When he finds she is not to be won over he must sacrifice everything to have her, including forfeiting his property and assets to a shrew of a wife, played unmercifully by Miriam Hopkins.

Olivier's eyes are captivating in every scene with Jennifer Jones, his manners are impeccable the chemistry between them is dazzling. Watch his eyes especially when Carrie declares her love for him in the park. I love this film and it is much more idealistic than the book which describes Carrie as disillusioned when Hurstwood can't support her and thinks him old and useless. In the film her love endures even in poverty. When Hurstwood's son surfaces Carrie encourages him to seek him out for help and decides to leave only for his benefit.

Carrie is not portrayed in the film as the selfish character in Dreiser's novel. You truly believe her love for Hurstwood but at what cost. Hurstwood has the class and wealth Carrie is looking for. Problem is she loves nice things and her respectability is compromised when thinking Hurstwood unmarried chooses him. Jennifer Jones is marvelous going from a poor young, innocent girl with an education but it's her looks that help her along. Eddie Albert is fine as the self assured drummer who wins her over with his charm. I also picked up on the "green acres" bit. It's Olivier who steals the film, going from a respectable gentleman to a tragic figure who holds onto his dignity to the end. For all you romantics see this film. It's fifty years old and Olivier and Jones can still burn up the screen.