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Lionel Barrymore, Blanche Frederici, Gloria Swanson, James Marcus, Raoul Walsh ... see more see more... , Charles Lane , Florence Midgley , Sophia Artega , Will Stanton

Rain, the famous John Colton-Clemence Randolph theatrical adaptation of Somerset Maugham's short story about religious hypocrisy, was such a "hot potato" in 1928 that the Hays Office, Hollywood's self... read more read more...-appointed censorship bureau, would not allow the play to be filmed under its original title. Thus, the silent film version of Rain went out as Sadie Thompson, which happened to be the name of the central character. Gloria Swanson plays Sadie, a woman of loose morals and sordid reputation who travels to the South Seas, seeking out a new life. She makes little effort to curb her hedonism, especially when she's "entertaining" a group of US marines stationed in the tiny island where she lives. Sadie falls genuinely in love for the first time with marine Raoul Walsh (who also directed the film), which displeases visiting bluenose Lionel Barrymore (a clergyman in the original play, but a private citizen here). Threatening to expose Sadie to the local authorities if she doesn't clear out, the sanctimonious Barrymore declares that the fallen woman can only save herself by embracing the word of God. The repentant Sadie sobbingly promises to do so--whereupon Barrymore, in a moment of weakness, seduces Sadie himself. Barrymore commits suicide, leaving Sadie free to start life over with Walsh. Lip-readers had a field day watching Gloria Swanson mouth the most colorful of obscenities, which were immediately "laundered" by censor-approved subtitles. Current prints of Sadie Thompson are incomplete; the final reel has been reconstructed with reshot titles and still pictures. The film would be remade under the original title Rain in 1932, with Joan Crawford in the lead; 22 years later, a heavily bowdlerized musical version of Rain, starring Rita Hayworth, was released as Miss Sadie Thompson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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65% liked it

433 ratings

Critics

83% liked it

6 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 37 min.

Directed by: Raoul Walsh

Release Date: January 7, 1928

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DVD Release Date: February 20, 2001

Stats: 22 reviews

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Gloria Swanson and Lionel Barrymore Best Actress nominee 1927-1928 Sadie Thompson Sadie Thompson Gloria Swanson & Raoul Walsh Sadie Thompson
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Flixster Reviews (22)

  • catbox9
    July 22, 2008
    catbox9
    After seeing Sunset Boulevard a while back and being thoroughly impressed by Gloria Swanson I wanted to see some more of her work. She was most famous for her silent pictures and this was the silent picture for which she received the best actress nomination.

    The film stars Glori... read morea Swanson who plays a woman named Sadie Thompson. Sadie Thompson was from San Francisco (probably a prostitute in San Francisco) and takes a ship to Pago Pago to try and start a new life. There, she meets an over-zealous missionary (played by Lionel Barrymore - the great uncle of Drew Barrymore) who tries to get her to repent for her sins. She meets a man who wants to take her to Australia, but the missionary wants no part of that. The plot isn't really all that complex and takes place in pretty much once location. My main complaint with the plot is that Thompson's attitude seems to flip-flop several times with little explanation during the end of the film but other than that the plot is good.

    This film is the first silent film I've seen where I really noticed the acting in any meaningful way. While Swanson did not impress me in this film nearly as much as the talking picture Sunset Boulevard, this performance was still quite memorable. Swanson made me care about Sadie Thompson. Lionel Barrymore's performance as the missionary was also quite good. As the film progressed I hated him.

    Unfortunately, the final reel of this film is considered lost so the dramatic conclusion is not presented in video but rather still photographs from the missing scenes and excessive intertitles. While not completely distracting, it is quite unfortunate as it made the ending a little less dramatic than it should have been. Only a very small percentage of silent films exist in any form today so it is quite fortunate that this film, or at least the vast majority of it, still exists.

    Overall, this was a pretty good film although it was far short of the nearly perfect Sunset Boulevard. Swanson's performance was the most memorable bit of silent acting I've ever seen. For those that have seen and liked Sunset Boulevard and are not afraid of silent films, this is probably worth checking out. Most people won't even consider watching silent films so I would only recommend this to those that do as this is not the best silent film to make your first.

    80/100
    B-

    UP NEXT: Back to talking pictures with Alfred Hitchcock's I Confess.

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Critic Reviews

Emanuel Levy
April 27, 2011
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Gloria Swanson received her first Best Actress Oscar nomination for the silent version of Somerset Maugham's famous story, directed by Raoul Walsh. Full Review

Fernando F. Croce
September 25, 2009
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

Confirms Walsh's robust chivalry and, as in Queen Kelly, Swanson's personal triumph Full Review

Steve Crum
January 1, 2008
Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com

Gloria Swanson and Lionel Barrymore are terrific.

Michael E. Grost
May 28, 2005
Michael E. Grost, Classic Film and Television

Fair drama, of note for Raoul Walsh as actor, and comments against the Religious Right Full Review

March 26, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Mordaunt Hall
March 25, 2006
Mordaunt Hall, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Emanuel Levy
July 3, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Carol Cling
July 16, 2004
Carol Cling, Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

Derek Adams
June 24, 2006
Derek Adams, Time Out

Click to read the article Full Review

May 24, 2003
Film4

Click to read the article Full Review

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