Sister Carrie (Barnes & Noble Classics S - Theodore Dreiser [229]
13 (p. 296) The new flat ... contained only four rooms: This is a stage of downward mobility for Hurstwood and Carrie, a shrinkage of space and of prospects that Hurstwood accepts and Carrie frets at. Dreiser’s sister Emma (on whom Sister Carrie was based) and L. A. Hopkins lived in this neighborhood, and Dreiser visited them there in the mid-1890s.
14 (p. 360) the various trolley companies refused: The long, bitter Brooklyn Trolley Strike of 1895, in which 4,000 workers walked off their jobs to fight for better wages, was marred by frequent violence. The 7,500 National Guardsmen who were called in to escort scabs often attacked crowds with guns and bayonets, and ultimately killed two bystanders. The strike was front-page news for months and ended with a public boycott of the scab-driven trolleys, forcing the trolley companies to re-hire the strikers.
15 (p. 403) “I’m living at the Chelsea now”: This apartment building on West Twenty-third Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, later became a somewhat seedy landmark residence hotel for poets, composers, artists, and assorted bohemians.
16 (p. 416) second-hand Hester Street basement collection: This shopping street on the Lower East Side, lined with tenements, was home mainly to Jewish immigrants; its shops sold cheap goods, and the area’s primary food market was located there. Photographs of the period often show the street teeming with pushcarts, horse carriages, and a sea of humanity.
17 (p. 438) “Pere Goriot,” which Ames had recommended to her: Balzac’s famous novel of 1834 is about a father who sacrifices all for his two selfish, ingrate daughters. That Carrie is reading Père Goriot rather than Dora Thome is proof of her desire to improve herself culturally. The influence of Balzac’s writing on Dreiser is something he referred to often.
Inspired by Sister Carrie
The 1950s are regarded as the golden age of melodrama in American cinema, a time when such legendary directors as Douglas Sirk and Vincente Minnelli produced some of their best work. In 1952 William Wyler released his superb Carrie, an adaptation of Theodore Dreiser’s novel of urban plight, and it resonated strongly with contemporary moviegoers.
Carrie stars Laurence Olivier as Hurstwood, Jennifer Jones as Carrie, and Eddie Albert as Drouet. Even though Dreiser named his novel after its female protagonist, critics have always found the author’s rendering of Hurstwood’s tragic downfall the most masterful portion of the book. The same sentiment has been expressed regarding Olivier’s brilliant, show-stealing performance as the disgraced restaurant owner; he portrays Hurstwood’s deep loneliness with grace and subtlety, his sad eyes and desolate expression reflecting his pain and despair. As Carrie, Jones gives a multifaceted performance that only gets better as the movie progresses. Jones shows vulnerability as well as hardness, revealing the emotional development Carrie undergoes during her difficulties and subsequent swift rise. Albert turns in a brilliant performance as Drouet, conveying the fundamental irresponsibility of the man while keeping him, despite his machinations, charming, friendly, and even likable. Miriam Hopkins is also excellent as the shrewish Julie Hurstwood. Carrie capably recreates the atmosphere of the growing cities of Chicago and New York at the turn of the twentieth century. Wyler’s direction is quiet and fluid, allowing the stories and characters to speak for themselves. The film earned Oscar nominations for art direction and costume design.
For Carrie, Wyler teamed with screenwriters Ruth Goetz and Augustus Goetz. The trio had earlier created an outstanding adaptation of Henry James’s novel Washington Square entitled The Heiress (1949), starring Olivia de Havilland in the title role and Montgomery Clift as her penniless suitor. Carrie was Wyler’s fourth effort at bringing a classic novel to life. In 1936 he had adapted Dodsworth, based on the novel by Dreiser’s fellow naturalist Sinclair Lewis, and in 1939 his famed version of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering