William Wyler's Carrie seemed destined to become another triumph in the director's rich, twenty-five-year-long career. It was adapted from the celebrated literary classic by Theodore Dreiser, boasted a stellar cast headed by Laurence Olivier and Jennifer Jones, and was produced with the same meticulous care typical of the best product coming from Paramount Pictures. The film had many of the same attributes that turned Wyler's previous pictures such as Wuthering Heights (1939), The Little Foxes (1941), Mrs. Miniver (1942), and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) into critical successes as well as big commercial hits. However, Carrie did not live up to its potential and ended up a bitter disappointment. The film took in only $1.8 million in rentals and the reviews were mixed at best.

Many critics complained that the adaptation distorted the celebrated original story and “whitewashed [the title protagonist] until she's as pure as the driven snow … In Dreiser's novel, the heroine had some grey and black shadings to go with her all-white traits; she was thus a more convincing character,” wrote one reviewer. Bosley Crowther in The New York Times had no qualms about calling the character of Carrie

The renowned critic was so disturbed by the film that he revisited the subject a few days later. In an article entitled “Halleluiah, Sister! Carrie Becomes a Good Girl on the Screen,” Crowther once again complained about the unwarranted changes from the novel, which removed all social commentary from the material and transformed it into a routine romance. He also offered several possible culprits. According to him, it may have been the still powerful Production Code Administration with its regulations and strict enforcement of traditional morality; Wyler and Paramount Pictures executives seeking commercial success; or the actress Jennifer Jones, who “didn't wish (or wasn't able) to portray a woman for whom the feminine audience might not have overflowing sympathy.”