From the 1950s: Miss Sadie Thompson

1953 Drama

From Columbia Pictures

Directed by Curtis Bernhardt

Starring

Rita Hayworth

José Ferrer

Aldo Ray

Russell Collins

Harry Bellaver

Wilton Graff

Peggy Converse

Charles Bronson

Henry Slate

Rudy Bond

It surprises me that it's taken all these years of writing this blog to include this movie among my many treasures.  I was probably 14 when I first saw it, almost under the cloak of darkness for I was too young to see a movie like this.  And I thought of it when I wrote postings on two of its stars but then I would forget again.

I almost think of my history with the movie more than the film itself.  When I first wanted to see it, I was 12 and already a pretty informed movie nut.  My mother bellowed out her cherished absolutely not.  That expression always implied and I'm done discussing it.  I pouted for a while and tried every trick I knew but nothing took.  Mama was not going to allow me to see a flick about a prostitute stranded on a south seas island with a gaggle of horny Marines in residence.  Now that's funny because it's exactly why I wanted to see it.  And by the way, don't think Mama was pious.  She wasn't.  She saw it.  Liked it, too.  She just reiterated I wasn't going to see it under her watch.

Funny, after watching it yesterday, I realize it is kind of a saucy little flick, rather bold for 1953 and I can see what Mama's objections were.  Well, let's get into that.

Just after WWII a shady singer arrives on American Samoa on the same boat as the self-righteous, religiously-inspired Mr. Davidson (Ferrer) and a kindly doctor (Collins) and their wives.  (What is Davidson?  Is he a minister?  If so, why is he addressed as Mr.?   Is he a missionary?   Is he simply a religious fanatic?)    All passengers were to have a two-hour layover and then go on to other destinations.  Then they are informed that a ship quarantine will strand them all for days... and that's not a good thing.

Four marines, led by Sgt. O'Hara (Ray), spot Sadie before she lands and they fall all over themselves to get to her.  The sergeant, with his brawn, puts a stop to it and stakes his claim.  Sadie is for him.  She makes it apparent she doesn't mind being adored, if not pawed, by all the boys but the sergeant's boyish yet dominant appeal gets most of her attention.

All those from the ship stay at a ramshackle lodge run by a man and his wife.  Sadie's the only guest on the ground floor and it allows for easy access for visitors, especially the hunky sergeant.  But usually several other marines horn in on the fun and the music gets loud as the the voices soar and the booze flows.  Sadie, ever the performer, sings her little heart out every time she gets a chance.

The heat is on

They get too loud and are asked to tone it down.  When it doesn't happen, Davidson leaves his card game, opens Sadie's door without knocking and orders all the men out.  Then he reads Sadie the riot act.  She feigns indifference.

But she pays attention to him calling her a prostitute.  He knows where she worked in Honolulu and says it was for women to turn tricks with servicemen, the most notorious place of its kind in the city.   Enraged, she yells that she was a singer, the star attraction, and she didn't involve herself in other things.  He doesn't believe her.  We're not sure we do either.

One of the film's best exchanges, if not the key point to the entire story, comes when Davidson says to his doctor friend I know the look of immorality when I see it and the doctor responds and I know intolerance when I hear it.

The influential Davidson uses his connections to have Sadie sent back to San Francisco, where she last resided in the States.  But she is resistant to going which piques Davidson's curiosity.  Her attentive sergeant says he will be out of the military shortly and why don't they meet up in Sydney and start a new life together.

Davidson tells the sergeant about Sadie's true past and the latter sees red and he and Sadie have a row and the sergeant walks out.  Sadie is so distraught that she allows herself to be taken in by Davidson and looking to God for salvation.  Soon he has her reading Bible passages and ready to return to San Francisco where, it turns out, the cops want to question her about a past boyfriend's activities.

The sergeant and the singer

We have suspected a dark side to Davidson all along.  He is a conflicted man whose righteous indignation causes a bumpy ride for his carnal desires.   His wife says he dislikes women like her but we know better.  Just when he has her in the palm of his hand, ready to have her return to San Francisco a saved woman, he does the unforgiveable.  He rapes her.  And then, unable to live with what he's done, he commits suicide.

Sadie drops her newfound religion like a hot potato and now her sergeant is back in her arms and as the film ends, they will be joining up in Australia.  It might be said that what religion couldn't accomplish for Sadie, marriage will.  We have our doubts about that, too.

In 1921 W. Somerset Maugham wrote a short story Miss Thompson which came out of a period of time he spent in the Pacific islands.  While still a new work, he changed the title to Rain.   Under that title it became a sensational Broadway play in 1922 with a splashy Jeanne Eagels.  In 1928 it became a silent movie, Sadie Thompson, starring Gloria Swanson.  As Rain, it became a 1932 film starring Joan Crawford.  And finally, 21 years later it became this film.

Over the years there has always been much speculation who was the best Sadie.  Eagels is usually out of the running because it was the movie Sadies that were being considered.  It has always been conceded that Eagels was a fabulous Sadie and she claimed it was her favorite role.

I've never seen any other version but I don't think Swanson's was all that highly regarded.  I have heard that Crawford nailed Sadie.  Isn't it true that all four of these actresses were cast because they had their similarities to the character?   I've noted that Mary Pickford, Deanna Durbin and Dale Evans never played Sadie.

The late, great Robert Osborne considered Hayworth to be the ultimate Sadie.  Maugham apparently was quite taken with her characterization as well.  Of course, I thought she was wonderful.

This was her third film after returning to Hollywood and Columbia Pictures from her four-year sabbatical from filmmaking while married to Prince Aly Khan.  She returned a bit of a mess, her tail between her legs, a little bit frightened and drinking more than she should have been.  Columbia head Harry Cohn, an evil s.o.b., took pleasure in tormenting her.

He thought she looked a mess and it was fairly agreed upon that she'd lost that beautiful youthful look.  She was all of 35 but in the movies that was starting to be an age when the phone didn't ring as much.  Sad but true.  She left Hollywood a glamour girl and returned looking older and more worn out.   Her face betrayed any notion that she wasn't a drinker.  Regardless, it was agreed upon that physically she would make a perfect Sadie who was also a boozer.  Sadie had melancholy written all over her face and, doncha know, so did Rita.   If some of the things written about Rita seemed somewhat unsavory, the same could be said of Sadie.   I think it was a role she simply had to play.  

It is a fascinating coupling of the actress and the character.  Nosey me has wondered what she must have thought of the comparisons, reel and real.  Surely she saw it.  I wonder how she dealt with it.

She needed to do some work that was worthwhile.  Her last film, Salome, tanked and a hit would help.  She hoped she'd be a hit but if it were just the film that got the praise, she'd be thrilled. 

Her current notoriety came from her relationship with singer Dick Haymes.  Usually fueled by alcohol, their screaming/slapping/name-calling, belittling sessions made all the papers and trades.   She thought a trip to Kuaui was just the restorative magic she needed.

Ferrer offering redemption

And apparently it was to a degree or until Haymes visited the set.  She adored working with both of her leading men.  She had such respect for Ferrer and thought he was one of the best actors she'd ever worked with.  He'd also just won an Oscar.  He had not wanted to take the role originally because he was dealing with the witch hunt that was consuming Hollywood.  Ferrer lauded his leading lady by saying she made the role her own and was easy to work with.   I thought his role could have been a little better written, allowing the most capable actor of digging into it more.  But then we remember the title.

Ray, in between marriages, had a crush on Hayworth.  He, too, was a Columbia employee but held in much higher esteem by Cohn than Hayworth was at the time.  Whether they allowed their relationship to become something more intimate is unknown to me but each was the type to do so.  I thought his role could have been developed a little bit more, too,  and a little more zip added to their screen relationship.

Ray and the lady he admired

Director Bernhardt didn't have many big successes in his career and technically Sadie wasn't one either because the film didn't strike box office gold when it was first released.  I think over the years it has been regarded more favorably.  He did, however, get a good performance out of Hayworth and it turned out to be one of her most famous roles.

 

Charles Lawton's striking cinematography paints the island and the ocean with gorgeous, inviting colors and he captures a middle-aged Hayworth playing a good-time girl down on her luck.   Well photographed were the sweating actors to capture that heat and there were compelling shots of the unforgiving tropical downpours.

Hayworth sings three songs (actually dubbed by Jo Ann Greer).  One of them, Blue Pacific Blues, became the movie's only Oscar nomination.  Another, the aptly-titled The Heat Is On, gets a crowd of marines all excited and undoubtedly a goodly number of audience members, too. 

Overall, it's an entertaining film with a compelling turn by Hayworth.  Hopefully it's not been missed by her fans or by fans of the classic tale upon which it is based.

Here's the trailer:

Next posting: 

One of Oscar's 60s best actors