Sadie McKee (1934) User Reviews (24)

Great Conclusion

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 1 September 2016]

In Richley, New York, Sadie McKee (Joan Crawford) works as a maid in the Alderson mansion where her mother is the cook. When the son of their employee, the successful lawyer Michael Alderson (Franchot Tone) that was raised with her, returns from New York after two years, his family offers a dinner party to family and friends. While serving soup, Sadie hears the comments made by Michael about her boyfriend Tommy Wallace (Gene Raymond), who was fired from the Alderson factory accused of being a dishonest person. Sadie reacts and tells that they are insensitive. Sadie decides to flee with Tommy to New York to get married and find job. They befriend Opal (Jean Dixon) and she takes them to the low- budget boardinghouse where she lives. On the next morning, Sadie leaves the boardinghouse to seek a job and marry her beloved Tommy. But his next room neighbor Dolly Merrick (Esther Ralston) overhears him singing and seduces Tommy to travel with her in an itinerant show business. Sadie prepares to return home, but Opal convinces her to stay and finds a job of dancer in a nightclub. Ten days later, Sadie is helped by an alcoholic costumer to get rid of an abusive one and he invites her to join him at his table. She learns that he is the millionaire Jack Brennan (Edward Arnold) and his friend is Michael Alderson. When Michael patronizes her telling to leave Jack, she is still angry with Michael and stays with Jack that proposes to marry her. She accepts and is seen by the society as a gold-digger. But Sadie is still in love with Tommy. What will happen to her?

"Sadie McKee" is a Pre-Code drama with the story of a working girl in love with a rascal that marries a wealthy girl. The role is perfect for Joan Crawford. The amoral story has a great open conclusion where the viewer needs to guess the birthday wish of Michael. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Três Amores" ("Three Loves")

Satisfying and trim

[hildacrane · 8/10 · 22 August 2005]

I'm a big fan of the Crawford oeuvre, in all its permutations and occasional excesses. That said, her Sadie is refreshingly underplayed and sincere. The mid-Atlantic accent that she tended to is at a minimum here, and there is a fluidity that is in much contrast to the Greek tragic masks, riveting though they are, of some of her later performances. The wonderful Jean Dixon is on hand in a role that is a precursor to Eve Arden's pal of "Mildred Pierce" and "Goodbye My Fancy"--worldly, rueful, self-denigrating. (Mary Phillips took on a similar part in "The Bride Wore Red" several years later.) Esther Ralston does a fine job as the blowsy, sensuous man-stealer--at one point she practically does a Mae West with her intonations and stance. Solid performances also from Franchot Tone and Gene Raymond and the always-reliable, under-appreciated Edward Arnold. The very engaging Earl Oxford appears as "the Stooge" and one wonders why this charmer did not have a film career.

The story is serviceable, and there is a motif of characters' taking responsibility for their lives, and, as best they can, making amends for wrongs. Note that at the start and end of the film there are scenes in which the camera follows a character from one room to the next in such a way that you realize that there is not any real partition between the two rooms--an enjoyable little breaking of the "fourth wall" premise of theater.

Sadie Was A Lady

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 31 July 2007]

I'd have to describe Sadie McKee as both the typical Joan Crawford vehicle and the typical Franchot Tone vehicle. The two of them who were husband and wife when the film was made are perfectly cast in roles that typified their images in the Thirties.

Crawford is the daughter of a cook on the sumptuous palatial Long Island estate where Tone is the young heir and a lawyer by trade. To earn a few extra bucks Crawford occasionally helps mom out serving at formal meals.

At one of those meals she hears Tone disparaging her sweetheart Gene Raymond who was caught in a petty theft. Tone makes a big point in saying we can't give people like these help because they're no good. Crawford throws a fit and runs to Raymond.

She almost marries Raymond, but he runs out on her for Esther Ralston. In New York working as a nightclub cigarette girl she runs into Edward Arnold who is a millionaire with a severe drinking problem. No doubt caused by drinking a lot of rotgut liquor during recently repealed Prohibition. And wouldn't you know it, Tone is his lawyer.

So Sadie has her three men, give you one guess who she winds up with in the end. You'd probably guess right, but let's say it's a character altering experience for all.

Sadie McKee is probably a good example of the Joan Crawford shop girl before she became a hardened creature like Crystal Allen in The Women. As for Franchot Tone, MGM just loved casting him as rich men in a tuxedo, probably because he looked so darn good in them. The only way either of them escaped type casting was as they got older they varied their parts due to age. Crawford was ever the film star, even in some of the horror flicks she did in the sixties. Tone went right into television and worked steady right up to his death.

Sadie McKee however is a good opportunity to see them both young and at the height of their fame. Also note the Nacio Herb Brown-Arthur Freed ballad All I Do Is Dream Of You comes from Sadie McKee.

The Perfect Crawford Vehicle.

[tjonasgreen · 26 March 2004]

Clarence Brown was an above average director and his pictures with Joan Crawford in the early and mid '30s are better than those she did with others. Brown had an eye and a sense of detail and he favors long takes with two or more performers interacting, which creates a certain tension where there might otherwise be none. Certainly this improbable script is not noticeably better than others Joan did around that time, but everything about this picture works perfectly.

Having finally found her best 'look,' Crawford is undeniably gorgeous, the ravishing epitome of glamor. And Adrian does some of his best work for her in this, putting her in one stunning and flattering gown after another. She is also given a talented and varied supporting cast and all of the big set pieces work, though Edward Arnold's drunk scenes go on for too long.

And there are a couple of fantastic sets, one of Arnold's mansion and the other of a glass sanitarium in the snow. Though the whole cast is more than adequate, a few players stand out: Jean Dixon is delightfully world weary in a leopard coat, Esther Ralston makes a perfect amoral siren, and it's a bit of a revelation to see how much Leo G. Carroll accomplishes by doing very little in his role as a nasty butler. There's also a fantastic jazz version of "After You've Gone" performed by Gene Austin, Candy Candido and Otto Heimel. As for the main players, Crawford, Franchot Tone and Gene Raymond don't dig very deep in their performances, but with a plucky, luscious Crawford at full tilt and with everything else about this movie clicking so well, it doesn't matter. It works.

Love Stinks

[utgard14 · 6/10 · 12 January 2014]

Joan Crawford plays Sadie McKee, a maid in the household of the Alderson family. When Michael Alderson (Franchot Tone) insults her no-good boyfriend Tommy (Gene Raymond), Sadie quits. She runs off to the city with Tommy, presumably to get married, but Tommy abandons her. Instead of finally believing Tommy is a rat, Sadie still blames it all on Michael. Seeing a chance to get back at him and to become wealthy herself, Sadie marries Michael's friend Jack Brennan (Edward Arnold). Jack is an alcoholic and Michael comes to despise Sadie for marrying him, even thinking she's trying to drive him into his grave so she and Tommy can collect his money. But his mind changes when he sees Sadie help Jack overcome his alcoholism. There's a lot more plot to go from here. Sadie will take more twists and turns before the movie is through.

On the surface it looks like yet another of Joan's forgettable soapers from the '30s. Franchot Tone's in the cast, as he usually was. But, surprisingly, it's actually better than those films. The thing that makes it better is that it has a different tone to it. It's treated as a serious dramatic film, not a melodramatic soap opera. Even though it deals, as most of Joan's films from this period, with characters of moral complexity I didn't find myself hating everybody. I was pretty frustrated with Joan's character here, mainly because she kept loving dirtbag Raymond despite the movie never showing us one good thing about him. But her performance was sincere enough I didn't find myself hating her even though I didn't like her always. Tone gives a great performance. One of the best of any of his films with Joan. Arnold is very good in an atypical role for him. Gene Raymond is bland as ever but inoffensive. He gets to sing the song "All I Do Is Dream of You " repeatedly in the movie. I'm not a big fan of Raymond's but he sings the song well. Anyway, it's a good movie let down some by a contrived ending and Sadie's fanatical devotion to the undeserving Tommy.

Nobody suffers quite like Joan Crawford

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 23 November 2022]

This is often forgotten in Joan Crawford's filmography. It has lots of the ingredients of precode Hollywood, released a couple of month before the inception of the Production Code. It also has lots of the components of the films that Crawford made for MGM of the 1930s, but this one came relatively early in her career and thus seems fresh compared to later similar entries.

Sadie is the daughter of the cook in the home of the wealthy Alderson family. One night when helping out with the serving at dinner, she listens to the son and lawyer of the family (Franchot Tone as Michael) talking about how her boyfriend, Tommy Wallace, is a thief and should get no second chance from the community now that he's been fired from his job. Sadie tells them off and takes off with Tommy (Gene Raymond) to New York City. They have about twenty dollars between them, and pretend to be married to the landlady, planning to be married the next day. Sadie has a job interview, so she and Tommy agree to meet at city hall at noon and be married. He never shows. But this is not an Affair to Remember. Instead, it's exactly what you'd suspect. Brassy nightclub singer Dolly Merrick hears Tommy singing in the boarding house bathroom and offers him a job singing in her act. But the audition would conflict with his wedding. Tommy picks the audition over the wedding, clears out his clothes, and doesn't even leave a note behind.

Sadie, now a hardened jaded woman, gets a job dancing in a night club act where she meets the very wealthy Jack Brennan ( Edward Arnold). He's drunk when he meets her, drunk when he marries her, in fact the guy is perpetually drunk to the point I get tired of him, and it is so hard to get tired of the talented Edward Arnold. The complicating factor is that Michael Alderson is Brennan's lawyer, thinks the worst of Sadie, and is still a pompous glass bowl, although he was right about Tommy having no character. Sadie can't forgive him for that either.

Then comes the day when Sadie is told Brennan will die if he doesn't quit drinking, Sadie sees Tommy again and the old feelings surface, and Michael AND all of the servants think she is just a scheming tramp trying to let Brennan die drinking so she can become the rich widow. Complications ensue.

This film had lots of precode moments. There is the insinuation that Tommy and Sadie, in spite of their promises to each other to wait, do share a bed that one night they are in the rooming house. And there is the delightful Jean Dixon as Sadie's hard boiled friend who looks at the bedroom arrangements after Sadie marries Brennan and says "I've done a lot more for a lot less".

Recommended if it ever comes your way. It packs a lot of plot into its running time.

How things have changed - possible spoilers

[rogerneon · 7/10 · 14 May 2005]

Another poster has mentioned that this film was released a couple of months before the Hayes Code was being strictly enforced. Nevertheless it has to go through some amazing "story gymnastics" to get several points across.

I don't want to spoil the story for anyone, but observe the incredibly indirect way Sadie's friend has to ask if she is sleeping with her wealthy husband, and the almost as indirect answer Sadie gives. Perhaps even this much wouldn't have been allowed under full enforcement of the Hayes Code.

Alcoholism was another touchy subject. It's very clear that Sadie's husband is an alcoholic, but the words "alcoholism" is never used; the disease is simply called "it," and you have to infer what "it" is from the surrounding material.

I'm trying to not give too much of the story away, but another rule movie makers had to follow was that divorced people aren't supposed to be happy. So what to do after Sadie and her wealthy husband are amicably divorced? For the answer, I guess people will have to watch the movie!

Every Girl Has Her Price – And Joan's is High

[Jim Tritten · 9/10 · 8 August 2002]

Well-made Clarence Brown pre-Code soaper with Joan Crawford (Brown directs Joan 5 times) costumed by Adrian (he does this a total of 28 times) and photographed by Oliver T. Marsh (he did a total of 15 films with Joan). First class production crew yields a first class film.

Joan plays a `shopgirl' character that could have had no heart (Barbara Stanwyck would have excelled at such an interpretation) but the writers gave her an innate goodness that warms Sadie McKee to her audience. Edward Arnold stands out as the drunken millionaire that must have served as a role model for Dudley Moore years later in `Arthur.' His sock in the jaw to Joan is unexpected and looks very real. Gene Raymond does well as the love interest and if that was he singing – he did it well. His final scene is very good and somewhat unusual. Franchot Tone does not appear to have had the opportunity to develop his character sufficiently to make him more effective. It must have been good enough, because he got Joan after the film was completed. A somewhat zaftig Esther Ralston still manages to demonstrate why she was `The American Venus' and why Raymond spent so much of his time smiling. Why her character does not react to Raymond singing a love song to Joan in the Apollo Theater is beyond me. Leo G. Carroll does a superb job as the butler – his distain for the lower class Joan is great.

Joan's character has many choices in this film and she generally comes out ahead with some short deviations into taking what she can get when she can get it. She gives great looks at Arnold when she realizes she must be his lover now that they are married and later to her friend when she exclaims, `So I've got everything, huh?' and while reflecting what she has done after throwing Tone out of her house. Arnold also has choices and responds well to the outcome of the marriage. Although the two policemen in the film do not take the `tip' offered by Joan, they run out after the taxicab man who gets their share presumably to get their cut out outside the presence of Joan.

This is excellent movie making and a must see for Joan Crawford fans (or anyone else that wants to see a good movie). Highly recommended.

Sadie and her men

[theowinthrop · 6/10 · 29 May 2005]

A Joan Crawford vehicle (prior to 1940, when she got more control over choosing her properties) tended to have her the center of attention of several men at once. In THE GORGEOUS HUSSEY she is of interest to Melvin Douglas, Jimmy Steward, Robert Taylor, and Franchot Tone (she ends with Tone, but Taylor apparently married her for awhile). Here her beaus are Tone again, Gene Raymond (who in a poignant moment sings "ALL I DO IS DREAM OF YOU" across the footlights of a packed theater to Crawford), and Edward Arnold. But while Peggy O'Neill in THE GORGEOUS HUSSEY is genuinely attracted to her beaus, Sadie Magee really only is interested in Tone and Raymond. Tone is jealous of her interest in Raymond, and Raymond throws her over for Esther Ralston. But she meets Arnold, a nice guy millionaire (who is the son of a cook, like Crawford is the daughter of a cook), and she agrees to marry him for security. The problem is he's an alcoholic (and while normally a decent sort, he can be violent - he socks her at least once). However, she is decent too, and finally (despite the well-meant but stupid behavior of his butler, Leo G. Carroll) helps cure him. All in time to return to a dying Raymond. All in time to end up with Tone again. This is a very kitschy vehicle. But it is well acted and directed, and worth seeing.

Carrying the Torch

[movingpicturegal · 8/10 · 11 July 2006]

Joan Crawford acts up a storm in this well done, interesting soap opera like story of working girl Sadie, daughter of a cook, who is madly in love with a loser named Tommy (played by Gene Raymond). Sadie and Tommy run off together to NYC where they soon take up residence in this shabby, one-room apartment. The next day, big plans for job hunting and a noon appointment at the city hall to get married, but unfortunately for Sadie, Tommy the Rat is thrown in the path of a bad blonde/singer named Dolly who hires him on the spot to sing in her act, they kiss and run off together leaving poor Sadie waiting at the so-called altar. But Sadie pulls herself up by her boot straps, gets a job as a dancer, and meets a multi-millionaire (Edward Arnold) with a big drinking problem, while still holding the torch for her beloved Tommy.

This film is quite a good one, the story completely held my interest, and the acting is top-notch with Joan Crawford giving out her full emotional range, Edward Arnold is excellent playing drunk for the majority of his scenes, and Esther Ralston does a good job as Dolly, the loose hipped, barely able to sing man-snatcher. Franchot Tone plays a lawyer, the son of the well-to-do home where Sadie was raised - he isn't given as much to do here as I would have liked but still gives a satisfying performance, and he certainly looks handsome enough, as usual. The film includes a few fun to watch musical numbers, plus some interesting scenes filmed in diners and a neat old-time Automat.

She's got her work cut out for her!

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 24 July 2012]

From the cook's daughter to employer of a cook, Sadie McKee (Joan Crawford) has a lot on her plate. Engaged to Tommy (Gene Raymond), she moves with him to New York but he leaves her for a chorus girl. Working in a nightclub chorus line herself thanks to neighbor pal Esther Ralston, Crawford marries drunken millionaire Edward Arnold on the rebound making her the scourge of New York society as well as her own kitchen. But Crawford only has noble motives and vows to make Arnold sober when his doctor tells her that his continued drinking will surely kill him! Not wanting him to suffer another "Lost Weekend", Crawford has an intense scene where she threatens to fire the staff who refuse to acknowledge her marriage to Arnold.

Music plays an important part in this well-acted soap opera with Raymond's recurring singing of "All I Do Is Dream of You" and a nightclub scene where the chorus comes out of what looks like a dresser drawer underneath the orchestra. 1934 was a busy year for Crawford, and she was outstanding in all three films she made that year. I used to confuse Gene Raymond and Franchot Tone (here cast as Arnolds' attorney, ironically an old pal of Crawford's), but after seeing them here together, I never will again, even though the roles they played were basically interchangeable. Arnold gives one of his best performances as the lovable drunk who gets violently furious when anybody tries to take away his liquor. Here, he is one of those actors worthy of Supporting Acting Oscar consideration several years before that prize was given. Esther Ralston is worthy of praise as well. Brilliant art decco set design and some great photography, particularly the hospital scene where snow falls outside the enormously large windows.

I need to see more of Franchot Tone

[glmoritz · 8/10 · 12 July 2006]

I had never heard of "Sadie McKee" before I saw it on Turner Classic's schedule and decided to Tivo it even though I'm not much of a Joan Crawford fan. I'm so glad I did. I think of 1934 as the start of the "code" period, but this is clearly pre-Code material. Not realistic in the modern sense, but more complex and human than I expected.

The real revelation to me was Franchot Tone as Michael, in whose aristocratic home Sadie grew up as the daughter of the cook. I have seen Tone in a number of other films -- "Mutiny on the Bounty" and "Lives of a Bengal Lancer" come to mind -- but I think I need to seek out some more of his films. In "Sadie McKee," he displayed more emotional range and acting technique than I had ever before seen from him. I understand that he and Crawford were married for awhile after this film was completed. It's easy to imagine the attraction.

Solid supporting cast

[HotToastyRag · 6/10 · 4 June 2019]

I've said the same thing about so many of her movies, but Sadie McKee would have been better if it starred another actress besides Joan Crawford. She plays a poor young woman, the daughter of a cook, and through her quest to achieve high society and wealth, she learns about the real struggles of life. However, through her entire performance, all I felt was entitlement and a conceit that she knew where the camera was and thought she was doing a good job acting. If you don't get that vibe from Joan Crawford's performances, you might like this movie. I would have preferred Barbara Stanwyck.

The supporting cast of Sadie McKee is very good, helping to balance out their leading lady. Gene Raymond is the poor scoundrel who ruins Joan's reputation but keeps her heart, and he's very believable in all his scenes. Franchot Tone knew Joan when she worked in his house, and while he was fond of her in her youth, when she hardens, he tries to stop her from hurting anyone else along the way. They're very antagonistic towards each other in this film; no one would ever guess they'd get married in real life two years later! Edward Arnold is fantastic, as Franchot's friend who unknowingly walks into Joan's trap. Edward is extremely rich and extremely fond of alcohol, and while he picks up a chorus girl for a good time, he winds up getting much more than he bargained for. If he were unlikable, the story wouldn't work. Thankfully, he's likable and pitiable, despite his drunken foolishness, and everyone else can work off of him and create a good movie.

Quality soap opera with a masochistic bent...

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 24 March 2008]

Honest working girl (Joan Crawford), the daughter of a cook who's employed by a high society family, is jilted at the altar by her no-good fiancé and decides not to go home (despite an apparently warm relationship with her mother); instead, she takes a job as a hoochie-koochie dancer, catching the eye of an alcoholic, millionaire playboy. The young Joan Crawford practically developed the patent for roles such as this--yet, the film is just as masochistic and sudsy as her later, more womanly soapers. Despite a solid M-G-M production, "Sadie" creaks and groans under the weight of improbabilities and half-baked dramatics, and the heroine's initial circumstance (living poor vs. living back home) is just shrugged off. There are some good ideas and scenes, and fascinating musical asides (check out that incredible all-male trio at the nightclub--whew!!). Joan, dressed for the most part in black, scowls, cries, and gets socked in the face, though her finest moments are all near the end (particularly when she puts herself in-cahoots with the millionaire's staff). The script, based on the short story "Pretty Sadie McKee" by Vina Delmar, is no great shakes, but it should satisfy those in the mood for a torrent of grand emoting. ** from ****

More likable than you might expect

[gerdeen-1 · 16 October 2014]

"Sadie McKee" was made just before Hollywood got serious about sanitizing its content, and the movie is set squarely in what we now call the pre-Code world. In this world, men are on the make, cops are on the take, rich people do pretty much as they please and prostitution is just another job option.

But while many other pre-Code film can leave you with a bleak feeling about human nature, this one is stocked with basically decent characters. Bribe-takers are just ordinary folks trying to get by. A clever seducer can't silence his own conscience. And when an aging, drunken millionaire orders up a young girl and takes her home for the night, the relationship quickly blossoms from exploitation into an odd kind of love.

Joan Crawford plays the title role, a plucky survivor whose ups and downs would have broken a lesser person. Gene Raymond, Franchot Tone and Edward Arnold play the three very different men in her life. The story is improbable at times, moving from flophouse to sleazy nightclub to mansion. But it's never gets so unrealistic that you stop caring. The ending is somewhat enigmatic, at least to me. I'm still wondering exactly where everyone stood at the end, and where things were headed. That's OK. I like a movie that leaves a little something nagging at you.

If the story is improbable, there's nothing unbelievable about how Joan Crawford's character turns men's heads. A lot of people still view Crawford through a "campy" lens, remembering her long years as a fading star with a lot of personal baggage (real and reputed). Forget all that stuff. In 1934 she was young and lithe and simply gorgeous. She carries this movie, and she carries it well.

Joan Crawford goes from rags to riches in this engrossing but flawed melodrama that features some good popular songs.

[Art-22 · 6/10 · 16 November 1998]

I liked this fine melodrama despite Joan Crawford and Gene Raymond not being among my favorite actors. Crawford's mother (Helen Ware) is a servant in Franchot Tone's household, and she is also a maid, but has to leave after she berates Tone in front of all the dinner guests for bad mouthing Raymond, who was caught stealing. She leaves with Raymond for New York City where they hope to start a new life together, intending to marry the next day. Love, apparently, has no boundaries. They find a cheap rooming house after befriending showgirl Jean Dixon and get a room where she lives. This film was released less than two months before the Production Code was strictly enforced, after which you would never see an unmarried couple sharing the same room. The scene fades to black after they kiss passionately. Of course, while Crawford is looking for a job, Raymond is enticed by singer Esther Ralston to join her act, so he never meets her at the marriage license bureau as planned. Eventually, Crawford meets and marries multi-millionaire Edward Arnold, an alcoholic to end all alcoholics. In a 1948 interview, Arnold said this was his favorite role to that date. I can't fault his acting, but his character was very irritating. Even alcoholics have periods where they are not so pie-eyed they can't walk without staggering. Meanwhile, Tone, who is Arnold's lawyer, thinks Crawford married Arnold for his money and knows she still carries the torch for Raymond, and Tone despises her for it. She admits she didn't love Arnold and it was a marriage of convenience. But when she cures Arnold of his alcoholism, Tone has a newfound respect for her. So when Crawford learns Raymond was dumped by Ralston, and she tells Arnold of her love for Raymond and asks him for a divorce, presumably without a settlement, she asks Tone to help her find Raymond, which he does. He's ill with tuberculosis, so Tone pays to get the best doctors to try to cure him.

The film is entertaining despite little of it ringing true. The way Crawford behaved at times, I expected to see a halo over her head, so Crawford fans should love the film. It also helps to know that Crawford and Tone were married in real-life the year after this film was released. There is some pleasure from the music on the soundtrack, including the very popular songs "All I Do is Dream of You" and "After You've Gone," the latter performed in a jazzy version by Candy Candido and Gene Austin. I would have liked more comedy relief, since I didn't think Arnold's actions were particularly funny. The one scene that made me laugh involved two motorcycle cops and a taxi driver, and a tip that Crawford tries to give the cops for bringing the passed-out Arnold home. Otherwise, I never even cracked a smile.

From servant to master

[raskimono · 8/10 · 23 March 2004]

This boxoffice hit from 1934 is a joy to behold for its lack of dripping syrup or treacle as is often the case with these female melodramas, even the best of them. Joan Crawford plays a role she basically had a patent on in the late twenties through the thirties. * Note, Joan Crawford when photographed rightly, looks like the most beautiful woman in the world. The role is that of a servant girl who is in love with one of her fellow workers. He gets fired by the family for something they know he did not do, but to make an example of him, still let him go. This obviously gets Joan riled up and she quits to the chagrain of the master's son, Franchot Tone who loves her. They move together, take the hard knocks together and I'll never forget a scene where a guy puts a cigarette into a hardly eaten cream cake: the look on Sadie/Joan's face is priceless. Will Joan keep her man? Will she survive and escape the claws of poverty? We all know what will happen and Joan to her credit gives one of her best and enduring performances. Check it out whenever it is on Turner Classic Movies.

One of Joan's best from the 30s

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 28 March 2008]

SADIE MCKEE is very typical of Joan Crawford's films of the late 20s and 30s. As was usually the case, she plays a poor working girl who eventually makes it big....though in this case she seems far less set on wealth than her other films--it just "drops on her", so to speak.

The film begins with Joan as a maid in the home of a rich family whose son is Franchot Tone (who married Joan in real life). She likes Tone but also likes Gene Raymond. When she hears Tone bad-mouthing Raymond and saying Raymond was a bit of a scoundrel, Joan is quick to Raymond's defense. As a result of her blow up at Tone, she impulsively leaves her job and runs off to New York City--where she ultimately discovers Raymond really is a jerk! Oddly, instead of Joan and Tone patching up their differences, they continue to have a thorny relationship--even though you know down deep they care for each other. Much of the rest of the movie involves their on again/off again contact with each other. While most everyone in the audience knew that EVENTUALLY they'd make up and be together, I appreciated how the film placed so much plot in their way--things that made the most ordinary plot actually seem different. This complexity was generally very welcome, though the intervening marriage to Edward Arnold and her unflagging feelings for Raymond were a bit inexplicable.

For a long time, I have not particularly liked Joan Crawford's films--especially when she made so many formulaic films in the 20s and 30s involving a poor girl wanting to get rich. After a while, they all just seemed repetitive. However, despite this film also having such a theme, it is still a fine movie and has me re-thinking my attitude towards her. This film, while a bit of a soap opera, was exceptionally engaging and sure kept my interest. Plus, I've seen many of her films recently and have to admit that while not every film has been that great, her acting was usually very professional and very competent. In essence, I have gone from a "Crawford hater" to at least someone who respects her talent and has really enjoyed several of her films.

See this film and you'll see one of the better films of the era. Good writing, excellent acting and a humanity that surprised me about Crawford's character.

On the Pre-Post Code Line An Above Average Joan Crawford Vehicle

[LeonLouisRicci · 8/10 · 18 April 2015]

This Joan Crawford Film from MGM was Straddling the Line Between Pre-Post Code. A Few Things are Sanitized and Most of the Heavier Stuff is Implied Rather than Shown. But there is Alcoholism, Street Walkers, Some Disrobing, Violence Against Women, and a Few Others that are More than Implied.

Crawford is Enjoyable and Plays to Her Fan Base as a Rags-to-Riches Gal with a Moral Compass that Never Goes Fully Off Center, and is a Likable Protagonist in the Cut-Throat Depression Era.

She is Supported by a Fine Film Production with Art Deco Sets and Gowns, a Very Good Supporting Cast Including Edward Arnold, Francois Tone, Jean Dixon, Leo G. Carroll (debut), and the Always Bland and Forgettable Gene Raymond.

The Musical Numbers are Excellent Introducing "All I Do is Dream of You" and a Jazzy Rendition of "After You've Gone". The Other Tunes are Non Intrusive. The Heavy Soap-Opera Plot is More Engaging than Usual with Arnold's Irritating Drunk Character the Center of the Somewhat Tragic Story.

The Ending is Pure Hollywood Sap and Designed to Wring the Emotions and Bring the Tears and is the Most Heavy Handed of the Piece, but What Comes Before is Engaging and Interesting. Overall a Way Above Average Movie of its Type, and a Slightly Above Average Joan Crawford from Her Early Period.

Joan Crawford, cook's daughter

[blanche-2 · 23 August 2011]

Joan Crawford is "Sadie McKee" in this 1934 film also starring Gene Raymond, Edward Arnold, Franchot Tone, and Jean Dixon. Crawford is the daughter of the cook for the wealthy Alderson family. The young man of the family, Michael (Tone) has obviously fallen for Sadie, but her heart belongs to loser Tommy Wallace (Raymond), who has just been fired for a malfeasance. Sadie runs off to New York with Tommy, and the two wind up in the rooming house of Mrs. Craney. The next day, they are to be married at City Hall at noon. But showgirl Dolly Merrick (Esther Ralston) who also lives at the rooming house, hears Tommy's dulcet tones and convinces him to forget marriage, leave town, and take a job in her traveling show.

Another women rooming at Mrs. Craney's is Opal, who gets Sadie a job at her club. There Sadie meets the filthy rich, drunken Jack Brennan, whom she marries. It turns out that Jack's drinking has all but destroyed his health. Though Sadie can't stop thinking about Tommy, she is determined to help Jack quit drinking and regain his health.

Pretty good melodrama, with Crawford wearing some fabulous outfits. Esther Ralston was a gorgeous blonde and is a lively Dolly Merrick, and Jean Dixon gives a good performance as Opal.

The debonair Franchot Tone gives a smooth performance as Michael, and Gene Raymond sings and acts pleasantly enough as Tommy, who manages to be likable though he walked out on Sadie.

Crawford made a lot of this type of film -- the working girl who moves up in class -- and they were very popular. She gives an appealing performance, and she was one actress who could look and act like a hard-working girl who came from a slum and also pull off being glamorous and wealthy.

Worth seeing.

The Tough and Principled Sadie McKee

[view_and_review · 8/10 · 10 March 2024]

Joan Crawford has some awesome roles. If she were to have starred in movies as a young lady in the 1990's, she may have been in action movies. The last role of hers that I really loved was, coincidentally, her role as Sadie Thompson in the movie "Rain."

In the movie "Sadie McKee" Joan played the eponymous character. Her life took some twists and turns largely because of her love for her sweetheart Tommy Wallace (Gene Raymond). Her love for Tommy was her only weakness, if she had any. Barring that, she was as tough, smart, and principled as they come.

In the beginning I didn't know how I'd feel about Sadie McKee. Was she going to be a typical sap, twisting herself into knots for a man she was in love with, or was she going to be a gold digger. Unfortunately, many women fell into one of those two categories back then.

It was when Sadie met the wealthy drunkard, Jack Brennan (Edward Arnold), that I was sold on her.

Sadie was working for a restaurant that provided entertainment and sexily clad women for the enjoyment of the male guests. Brennan saw Sadie and wanted to have a drink with her. Sadie's boss urged the meeting because he knew Brennan would spend considerable money at his restaurant, and it also meant a 10% cut for Sadie, so she obliged.

As she was sitting with the sloppily drunk Brennan she was getting an earful from Brennan's lawyer who also happened to be Sadie's childhood friend, Michael Alderson (Franchot Tone).

Michael was the impetus behind Tommy and Sadie running away to NYC. Just by happenstance Sadie encountered Michael again. Michael tried his best to be a savior to Sadie by telling Brennan he's drunk and that he'd give Sadie a ride home, etc. His chivalry was on full display.

When Sadie rejected every effort of Michael to break up the party, he turned on her. He went from being a chivalrous gentleman to being a moralistic blowhard. Now, he was intent on protecting the vulnerable Brennan from a "chiseler" like Sadie. Michael huffed and puffed until he was blue, but he couldn't move Sadie or Brennan. She didn't want to hear any part of his preaching. If Brennan wanted to marry her and spend money on her, that was her business. And that's exactly what happened. I knew then that I liked her. It wasn't so much that I was looking for her to take advantage of a rich sap, it was that I wanted her to do what she felt was right regardless of the chastising from Michael. I didn't want her to get bullied or browbeaten into a decision by some wannabe morally superior man, and she didn't.

Sadie McKee was a strong woman. She reminded me of a Blondie Johnson (played by Joan Blondell), a Frisco Jenny (played by Ruth Chatterton), or a Babyface (played by Barbara Stanwyck), except Sadie didn't do anything illegal. Sadie McKee was a superb woman who had the wonderful combination of toughness and integrity. Only if there were more Sadie McKees back then.

Free on Odnoklassniki.

Above average "Working Crawford" pic

[xan-the-crawford-fan · 8/10 · 25 October 2021]

Sadie McKee (Joan Crawford) is a cook's daughter. She runs away from home to marry her sweetheart Tommy (Gene Raymond), despite protesting and ribbing from the son of the family she works for, lawyer Michael (Franchot Tone). They (Sadie and Tommy) get an apartment of their own and all seems to be going well. Trouble is, Tommy's overheard singing and whisked off by an entertainer named Dolly (Esther Ralston), essentially standing Sadie up at the altar.

Sadie then takes a job at a nightclub, where wealth practically falls in her lap- a rich alcoholic by by name of Jack Brennan (Edward Arnold). Jack's alcoholism is a burden to Sadie, who makes it her duty to run him dry. She succeeds at that, but can't quite hide another thing- she still loves Tommy. Jack agrees to give her the divorce, but Tommy's got some troubles of his own. What are they? Will they get back together? Watch the film.

Joan Crawford gives an honest portrayal of a hard-working young woman with her turn as Sadie McKee. This was still the Pre-Code era, but tastes were changing, so instead of using her body and good looks to get a better life, riches just happen to come to her by coincidence. Seeing as this is an M-G-M production, Joan is given lots of sumptuous gowns to wear, and she rocks every one. It's films like this that I recommend to people when they tell me that Crawford couldn't act. (This film is also the one they used in What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? To show that Blanche was a good actress.)

Gene Raymond is a rather colourless actor and a slightly-more-than-mediocre singer, but he's attractive, and there's a certain quality that he has that makes him believable as a love interest for Joan Crawford. They're a very cute couple. Edward Arnold is good as rich drunk Brennan, even if his role does eventually descend into a clichéd caricature. Franchot Tone just does his usual, except his character is a bit more of an arse than you might think. Esther Ralston is alright as Dolly, and Jean Dixon provides some comic relief in the beginning as Sadie's friend Opal.

The plot, as you may have noticed from my description above, is fairly soapy, but the stars make it work. However, the writers seem to have run out of ideas by the third half, although I guess I appreciated that (minor spoiler) the two first billed stars didn't end up together at the end- something that happens in 98% of the films of this era- although they were such a nice couple that it also made me a bit sad. Clarence Brown, never a flattering director, directs this film with much more effort than usual. His shots are mostly better than usual, although some could have been improved.

The film was also the one that introduced standard Al I Do Is Dream Of You, later used in the film Singin In The Rain- it works better here as a ballard.

My complaints are outnumbered by the things I like about this film, however. This is a good film in the entries of all parties involved, but if it isn't your thing, that's okay.

The Girl He Left Behind

[lugonian · 8/10 · 27 November 2022]

SADIE MCKEE (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1934), directed by Clarence Brown, based on the story by Vina Delmar, stars Joan Crawford in one of her top movie roles for the studio. Once more playing a Sadie character named McKee, as opposed to Sadie Thompson from RAIN (United Artists, 1932), Crawford's role here is as a devoted and self-sacrificing woman with three men to consider.

Sadie McKee (Joan Crawford) is introduced as the daughter of a cook (Helen Ware) for the Alderson estate in Richley, New York. Though she has known Michael Alderson (Franchot Tone) since childhood, she has been in love with Tommy Wallace since she was 17. After overhearing Michael discussing Tommy (who has been fired for stealing from the neighborhood factory) in a negative manner, Sadie denouces her employers and quits. She goes away with Tommy (Gene Raymond) by train to New York City where he hopes for a better life. Thanks to the kindness of Opal (Jean Dixon), a stranger, Tommy and Sadie acquire a walk up flat with bathroom in hallway. With intentions on getting married the next day, Sadie goes off looking for a job. While singing in the bathroom, Tommy's voice catches the attention of Dolly Merrick (Esther Ralston), who immediately hires him for an act in Connecticut. Not wanting to lose his opportunity, Tommy leaves Sadie a farewell note. Opal then arranges the embittered Sadie a dancing job in a nightclub where she encounters Jack Brennan (Edward Arnold), an alcoholic millionaire, accompanied by his lawyer, Michael. Before the night of over, Brennan proposes marriage to Sadie, and accepts, against the wishes of Michael. Though Brennan's servants think Sadie is a tramp after Brennan's millions, she is, in fact, helping her husband from his alcoholism in order to save his life. In spite of her devotion to Brennan, whom she does not love, she still cannot stop thinking about Tommy. Co-starring Leo G. Carroll (Finnigan, the Butler); Akim Tamiroff, Zelda Sears, Frank Conroy, Samuel S. Hinds and Walter Walker.

Though essentially a drama, song numbers featured include: "All I Do Is Dream of You," "When I Look In Your Eyes," "After You've Gone" (performed by Gene Austin and Candy Candido)," "All I Do Is Dream of You" (reprise) and "Your Kiss Can Leave Me Weak and Willing." Of the tunes, "All I Do is Dream of You" has become a song standard.

Not quite as iconic as Crawford's Academy Award winning performance as MILDRED PIERCE (Warner Brothers, 1934), SADIE MCKEE is an interesting commodity. It must have been one of Crawford's favorites since it was clipped in her latter work of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (WB, 1961) in which her character watches her old movie on television with much admiration. Working for the third movie in a row opposite Franchot Tone, and only time with Gene Raymond and Edward Arnold, Arnold comes off second best as the alcoholic who refuses to give up the bottle. His drunken scenes are believably played, and even more agreeable when sober and sensible. Raymond proves to be a good singer during his song interludes along with some nice dramatic touches, while Jean Dixon, in a manner of character actress, Cecil Cunningham, plays amusingly as the wisecracking best friend.

Distributed to home video in the 1990s, and later DVD, SADIE MCKEE was resurrected after years of obscurity on Turner Network Television (1988-1991) and Turner Classic Movies cable channels for a new generation to enjoy. Good job, Sadie. (***)

The stuff that Joan is made of...

[Poseidon-3 · 19 April 2002]

It's easy to see why films like this made Crawford the idol of millions of young women across the country. It's the epitome of a "vehicle".....a film designed to display all the talents of a star and make audiences fall for them. As in many of her early films, she begins at the bottom...the daughter of the cook for a wealthy family including Tone. She gets a hot scene right off the bat when she angrily defends her boyfriend, who is being derided by the aristocrats at the table, by telling them all off (this moment actually brings to mind Emily Watson's similar, yet much more subdued, scene in "Gosford Park".) Soon she and lover Raymond are off to NYC. This section is fascinating as it portrays the way diners were in that era. There's an astonishing coffee dispenser that is shown in one scene and the Automat is quite interesting to behold (not to mention the corned beef hash and 2 poached eggs for $0.35!) Circumstances progress to where she is working in a dance hall (and showing some positively scary legs! It amazing how times have changed in that, today, a similar dancer would have to have sticks for legs and breasts out to there, etc....) Here she becomes associated with a drunken millionaire (Arnold) who takes a major shine to her. Fortunately, for the viewer, she sticks with him, so she can wear an array of dazzling Adrien gowns and furs. Ultimately, each of the men in her life (Tone, Raymond, Arnold) presents her with a variety of conflicts and decisions....all of which she handles with the utmost nobility and grace. She is photographed magnificently throughout with her amazing profile and luminescent eyes featured repeatedly. It's a good thing the film is in black and white because she'd be too much to deal with in color! Everyone knows that Hurrell retouched his amazing portraits of her, but here she looks quite wonderful with just make up and good lighting. The plot is creaky and contrived and the film is just plain out of date, but it's great to see Joan in action in her quintessential role and there's a decent performance from Arnold and nice work by several other supporting players including Hitchcock favorite Carroll. One fun thing to watch for: As a precursor of the later, more antagonistic Crawford, Joan gets fed up with a nightclub singer, barks at her to "Shut up!" and shoves her backwards into a trunk! Fun stuff.