''Miss Sadie Thompson'' is a 1953 3-D American musical romantic

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film directed by

Curtis Bernhardt Curtis Bernhardt (15 April 1899 – 22 February 1981) was a Jewish film director born in Worms, Germany, under the name Kurt Bernhardt. He trained as an actor in Germany, and performed on the stage, before starting as a film director in 1924, wi ...

and starring

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

José Ferrer José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992) was a Puerto Rican actor and director of stage, film and television. He was one of the most celebrated and esteemed Hispanic American actors during his lifetime, w ...

, and Aldo Ray. The film was released by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. The film is based on

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

's 1921 short story " Miss Thompson" (later retitled "Rain"). Other film versions include '' Sadie Thompson'' (1928) starring

Gloria Swanson Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...

, ''

Rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...

'' (1932) starring

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was si ...

, and '' Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A.'' (1946). The film received a nomination for

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

("Sadie Thompson's Song") at the

26th Academy Awards The 26th Academy Awards were held on March 25, 1954, simultaneously at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood (hosted by Fredric March), and the NBC Century Theatre in New York City (hosted by Donald O'Connor). The second national telecast of ...

Premise

bar girl A bargirl is a woman who is paid to entertain patrons in a bar, either individually or, in some cases, as a performer. The exact nature of the entertainment varies widely from place to place; depending on the venue this can be individual enterta ...

from Hawaii, a religious zealot, and a love-struck Marine struggle with sin and salvation just after World War II while Sadie Thompson kicks out several songs, including "Blue Pacific Blues".

Cast

as Sadie Thompson *

as Alfred Davidson * Aldo Ray as Sgt. Phil O'Hara * Russell Collins as Dr. Robert MacPhail * Diosa Costello as Ameena Horn * Harry Bellaver as Joe Horn *

Wilton Graff Wilton Graff (born Wilton Calvert Ratcliffe; August 13, 1903 – January 13, 1969) was an American actor. Early years The son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Graff, he was born Wilton Calvert Ratcliffe in St. Louis, Missouri, US. He graduated ...

as Governor * Peggy Converse as Mrs. Margaret Davidson *

Henry Slate Henry Sonken (July 15, 1910 – August 11, 1996) was an American film, television and theatre actor. He was known for his appearances in the films ''Miss Sadie Thompson'', ''Loan Shark'', ''Hey Boy! Hey Girl!'', ''Somebody Loves Me'' and ''Rock ...

as Pvt. Griggs *

Rudy Bond Rudolph Bond (October 10, 1912 – March 29, 1982) was an American actor who was active from 1947 until his death. His work spanned Broadway, films and television. Early life Bond was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second youngest of f ...

as Pvt. Hodges * Charles Bronson as Pvt. Edwards (as Charles Buchinsky) * Frances Morri as Mrs. MacPhail

Production

In February 1952, producer

Jerry Wald Jerome Irving Wald (September 16, 1911 – July 13, 1962) was an American screenwriter and a producer of films and radio programs. Life and career Early life Born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, he had a brother and sons who were act ...

announced he had the film rights to the play adaptation of ''Rain'' from producer Lester Cowan. Wald had a production unit at RKO with

Norman Krasna Norman Krasna (November 7, 1909 – November 1, 1984) was an American screenwriter, playwright, producer, and film director who penned screwball comedies centered on a case of mistaken identity. Krasna directed three films during a forty-year ca ...

and wanted to make it as a musical in color. In October 1953, Wald left RKO to become a vice president and executive producer at Columbia Pictures. He planned to personally produce two films a year and said one of these would be ''Rain''. It would star Rita Hayworth, who was the biggest star at the studio. Harry Kleiner was assigned to write the script. Plans were made to shoot the film in 3-D. This was Hayworth's third film after her marriage to Prince

Aly Khan Prince Ali Salman Aga Khan (13 June 1911 – 12 May 1960), known as Aly Khan, was a Pakistani diplomat of Iranian and Italian descent. He was the son of the Aga Khan III, and the father of Aga Khan IV. A socialite, racehorse owner and jockey, ...

had kept her off screen for four years. The public eagerly welcomed her return in two previous films '' Affair in Trinidad'' and '' Salome'' so Columbia gave ''Miss Sadie Thompson'' an "A" film budget. "It would give her the chance to not be glamorous", said Wald.

3-D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. They have existed in some form since 1915, but had been largely relegated to a niche in the motion pic ...

s had become a fad, with some 3-D films drawing huge crowds in major cities, so it was used as well. Exteriors were filmed on the island of Kauai,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

and interiors on the Columbia lot. The original story of sin and redemption was sanitized to appease the

Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...

and several musical numbers were inserted to spice up the tepid reworked plot. As with her previous films, Hayworth's singing was dubbed, this time by

Jo Ann Greer Katherine Joan Greer (April 3, 1927 – May 24, 2001), known professionally as Jo Ann Greer, was an American singer. Career Her career spanned nearly 50 years, and she primarily worked in the fields of movie dubbing and band-singing. She init ...

. In August 1953, Hayworth and Ray shot some additional romantic scenes. By the time of the premiere on December 23, 1953, interest in 3-D had died down considerably. After a two-week run, all 3-D prints were pulled. The film was given a national release "flat", in other words, in regular prints, minus the 3-D. The film was banned in some territories such as Memphis.

Reviews

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote, "She catches the feel of the title character well, even to braving completely deglamorizing makeup, costuming and photography to fit her physical appearance to that of the bawdy, shady lady that was Sadie Thompson". ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' wrote, "Although its Hays Code sanitizing is mitigated somewhat by the glorious extravagances of 1950s cinema (it's a Technicolor, 3-D star vehicle with musical numbers), Miss Sadie Thompson (1953) is a scoured version of ''Rain'' (1932)." Bosley Crowther of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote, "The character of Sadie is drained of considerable point by the prudence of the producers. And Miss Hayworth is left with a role in which she is able to inject very little, outside her own particular brand of appeal".

Availability

* A dual projection polarized 3-D print of ''Miss Sadie Thompson'' was screened at The World 3-D Expo 2006 September 10, 2006 at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, Ca. * A 3-D version of the trailer can be seen in the Blu-ray Collection "3-D Rarities" from Flicker Alley. * A VHS full screen edition of ''Miss Sadie Thompson'' was released in 1994 but is no longer available. * A DVD full screen edition of ''Miss Sadie Thompson'' was released in 2001 but is no longer available. * Another edition of the DVD is available as part of "The Films of Rita Hayworth" 5-disc box set. * A 3D

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

is now available in the US as of July 12, 2016, from Twilight Time Movies.

References

External links

* * * * {{Curtis Bernhardt 1953 films 1953 musical films 1953 romantic drama films 1953 3D films 1950s musical drama films 1950s romantic musical films American 3D films American musical drama films American romantic drama films American romantic musical films Columbia Pictures films Films about the United States Marine Corps Films based on short fiction Films based on works by W. Somerset Maugham Films directed by Curtis Bernhardt Films set in American Samoa Films shot in Hawaii Films with screenplays by Harry Kleiner 1950s English-language films 1950s American films