Carrie

 On this date in 1976, "Carrie" was released in 17 theaters in the Washington D.C.-Baltimore area. Two days later it opened in 9 theaters in Chicago, before opening in 53 theaters in New York City on November 16 and in Los Angeles on November 17.

Many young actresses auditioned for the lead role, including Melanie Griffith. Sissy Spacek was persuaded by husband Jack Fisk to audition for the title role. Fisk then convinced director Brian De Palma to let her audition, and she read for all of the parts. De Palma's first choice for the role of Carrie was Betsy Slade, who received good notices for her role in the film "Our Time" (1974). Determined to land the leading role, Spacek backed out of a television commercial she was scheduled to film, rubbed Vaseline into her hair, left her face unwashed, and arrived for her screen test clad in a sailor dress which her mother had made her in the seventh grade, with the hem cut off, and was given the part.

Nancy Allen (who played Chris Hargensen) was the last to audition, and her audition came just as she was on the verge of leaving Hollywood. She and De Palma later married.

SOMETHING SPOILERY THIS WAY COMES:

The final scene, in which Amy Irving as Sue reaches toward Carrie's grave, was shot backwards to give it a dreamlike quality. This scene was inspired by the final scene in "Deliverance" (1972). Rather than let a stunt double perform the scene underground, Spacek insisted on using her own hand in the scene, so she was positioned under the rocks and gravel. De Palma explains that crew members "had to bury her. Bury her! We had to put her in a box and stick her underneath the ground. Well, I had her husband [Fisk] bury her because I certainly didn't want to bury her."

A 1988 Broadway musical of the same name, starring Betty Buckley, Linzi Hateley, and Darlene Love, closed after only sixteen previews and five performances. An English pop opera filtered through Greek tragedy, the show was so notorious that it provided the title to Ken Mandelbaum's survey of theatrical disasters, "Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops."