Due to a possible cholera epidemic onboard, passengers on a ship are forced to disembark at Pago Pago, a small village on a Pacific island where it incessantly rains. Among the stranded passengers are Sadie Thompson, a prostitute, and Alfred Davidson, a fanatic missionary who will try to redeem her.
Acting
Crawford's Sadie: brassy, wounded, and fighting for every inch of dignity.
Direction
Milestone turns rain into a character—oppressive, inescapable, biblical.
Production
Those dripping sets practically smell of mildew and sin.
Director
Lewis Milestone
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was the SECOND Rain adaptation in five years—1932 audiences couldn't get enough of Sadie Thompson's suffering.
Crawford fought the Hays Office for months; they forced cuts to her 'sinful' dancing and demanded Sadie seem more punished. She hated the final film.
US
