Rain (1932)

Directed by

Lewis Milestone

Genre

drama film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 33m

Rated

NR

Rating

6.6 of 10 from 59 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

During a rainy stopover on a South Seas island, a prostitute named Sadie Thompson clashes with a self-righteous missionary who pressures her to reform. The missionary's own moral standards begin to erode as he becomes obsessed with saving her soul.

tenseclaustrophobicmelodramaticbleakslow-burnmorally fraughtvisceral

What happens

Rain is a 1932 pre-Code drama film that stars Joan Crawford as prostitute Sadie Thompson. Directed by Lewis Milestone and set in the South Seas, the production was filmed in part at Santa Catalina Island and what became Crystal Cove State Park in California. The film also features Walter Huston in the role of a conflicted missionary who insists that Sadie end her evil ways, but whose own moral standards and self-righteous behavior steadily decay. Crawford was loaned out by MGM to United Artists for this film. The plot of the film is based on the 1922 play Rain by John Colton and Clemence Randolph, which in turn was based on the 1921 short story "Miss Thompson" (later retitled "Rain") by W. Somerset Maugham. Actress Jeanne Eagels had played the role on stage. Other movie versions of the story include: a 1928 silent film titled Sadie Thompson starring Gloria Swanson, and Miss Sadie Thompson (1953), which starred Rita Hayworth. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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