Sadie Thompson

It's sad that we don't have on film Jeanne Eagels and her performance from Broadway of the classic Rain. I'm told there was something truly special about it. But having said that Gloria Swanson has given us one riveting performance as Sadie Thompson, the girl that gets everyone thinking from below decks in the South Seas.

With the exception of Rita Hayworth's version, I have something nice to say about all the screen Sadies. You've got to be both one sexy dish and an extraordinary actress to pull this role off. In Gloria Swanson and Joan Crawford we've had both.

W. Somerset Maugham long before Tennessee Williams was writing about taboo sexual subjects and people bought his books and saw the plays and movies from them. Rain is the granddaddy of them all. Maugham as a gay man just asks a simple question, why don't people just let people alone to do their thing if it doesn't harm anyone?

That's the attitude in rollicking Marine sergeant Raoul Walsh who is stationed on the tropical south sea paradise that Sadie Thompson finds herself stranded. Walsh who directed also gives us an opportunity to see him before he lost an eye a couple of years later.

Also there is Lionel Barrymore and his wife Blanche Frederici, the Reverend Davidson. One of the most uptight people in literature it's like he's got to destroy the thing he lusts for, but can't have because of convention and the beliefs drummed into him. In a nutshell you have a ton of religious and political figures, closeted gays who are outwardly rightwing homophobes. Maugham knew them well.

So with one look, Barrymore takes a most personal interest in the 'salvation' of Sadie Thompson. But it's all a cover and in the end when his world is exposed it's the end for him.

Rain will be getting productions ad infinitum although they might be underground productions as per the local mores until the end of time. Sadie Thompson got two Oscar nominations in the first Oscar ceremony, one for Gloria Swanson as Best Actress and one for cinematography.

Not a film to be missed.

Religious hypocrisy is the main theme of 'Sadie Thompson', based on a short story by W. Somerset Maugham. Sharing the same hotel in Pago Pago, a religious reformer (Lionel Barrymore) takes a dim view of a 'loose' woman (Gloria Swanson), and after failing to get her to change her ways, lobbies the local governor to get her shipped back to San Francisco.

I liked this version a bit better than the 1932 version with Walter Huston and Joan Crawford because Barrymore is so brilliant, so harshly upright but at the same time, hinting at a demonic side as he glowers away. Despite the movie being silent, director Raoul Walsh (who also plays Swanson's love interest) delivers a couple of compelling scenes with Barrymore trying to exert his will, Swanson resisting, and the rain coming down, unrelenting. Swanson also lets loose with her anger, and in one funny moment it's obvious she's cursed a blue streak, as the ladies around her cover their ears and scamper off. 1928 was the first year for the Oscars and Swanson would be nominated for her performance. I admire her for it, but admire her more for producing the movie despite pressure because of its content, and considered a slightly higher rating.

The film itself is not in that great a shape, and while the last couple of minutes are mostly gone forever, we're fortunate that Dennis Doros restored it as best possible mostly with carefully selected stills. Watching this one has you clearly thinking you're getting a window into the past, but at the same time, aren't these themes of religious overreach still so prevalent today? Thank you Gloria Swanson.

In this film, Swanson shows that she was one of those personalities who almost literally jumped from the screen. This is the first of two excellent film versions of Rain; the other being that of Joan Crawford.The fact that Swanson was somewhat older then Crawford adds to the greater impact of her performance, in my opinion. She offers us a world-weary prostitute who may or may not be looking to settle down; yet who still has fire in her veins. She does an outstanding job in conveying the emotions of Sadie both when she is sensuous and flirtatious at the beginning of the film; and when she undergoes a temporary change of character. Those of us who have seen Sunset Boulevard half-a-dozen times can easily see the anticipation of her bravura performance as Norma Desmond here, in Sadie Thompson. Her films after Sadie were trifles in which she had little opportunity to display any depth of character. Film history sentimentalists had to be gratified by her re-emergence in Sunset Boulevard, even though many might regard her performance there as somewhat overdone. All other components of this film are as admirable as other comments claim. However, I will put in a plug for Walter Huston in Rain, especially the brief close-up when you can see his judgmental attitude toward Sadie turn into lust. Lionel Barrymore is very good, but seems to me to be somewhat more remote from the character. The completion of the final scenes with stills and occasional bits of film are not a great barrier to enjoyment of this classic.

I had only seen Gloria Swanson in her more mature role in Sunset Boulevard and not in her heyday. She is gorgeous downright hot and very convincing as Sadie Thompson. The version of the W. Somerset Maugham story is superior to the better know Joan Crawford version Rain. Lionel Barrymore does a fantastic job as the self serving preacher. Raoul Walsh the well know director appears here as the serviceman who is in love with Sadie.

This was the first version of the W. Somerset Maugham novel "Rain," which was remade in 1932 by the original title and again in 1953 as "Miss Sadie Thompson." Gloria Swanson is amazing in the title role as a prostitute who becomes stranded on the remote Island of Pago Pago. She flirts with a soldier (Raoul Walsh, who was the director), then seduces a respected preacher played by Lionel Barrymore. This certainly can be called one of the "pre-code" films of the 1920s/1930s, before the Hays Code was in effect. For many years the final scenes were lost, so now the restored versions use still photos and new title cards to complete the picture.