Carbine Williams is a 1952 American drama film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring James Stewart, Jean Hagen and Wendell Corey. The film follows the life of its namesake, David Marshall Williams, who invented the operating principle for the M1 Carbine while in a North Carolina prison. The M1 Carbine was used extensively by the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.