Rain

Rating:
Summary: DVD quality poor, storyline poor
Review: I am a Crawford fan, and also enjoy old B&W movies. But this is just so boring to watch, and you wonder why they bothered going on location to Catalina Island - all you mostly see is the stage stuff anyway. The film apparently got bad reviews when it was first released, and Crawford herself said if she could have re-done it, she would have as the overall film lacked spark -she also referred to her own acting as too over the top. This is one of her worst films in my opinion, yet it was one of the first they released on DVD. Why not release the good ones first - like Mildred Pierce? What's wrong with movie companies? The quality of this DVD is also really bad despite my copy saying "Digitally remastered from the original print". It was so poor that it kept fading in and out. For the collectors of oldies only. Sorry the review could not be more positive, but i dont want you wasting money on a bad product.

Rating:
Summary: DVD quality poor, storyline poor
Review: I am a Crawford fan, and also enjoy old B&W movies. But this is just so boring to watch, and you wonder why they bothered going on location to Catalina Island - all you mostly see is the stage stuff anyway. The film apparently got bad reviews when it was first released, and Crawford herself said if she could have re-done it, she would have as the overall film lacked spark -she also referred to her own acting as too over the top. This is one of her worst films in my opinion, yet it was one of the first they released on DVD. Why not release the good ones first - like Mildred Pierce? What's wrong with movie companies? The quality of this DVD is also really bad despite my copy saying "Digitally remastered from the original print". It was so poor that it kept fading in and out. For the collectors of oldies only. Sorry the review could not be more positive, but i dont want you wasting money on a bad product.

Rating:
Summary: great movie
Review: I remember seeing this at Theater 80 St. Marks expecting that it would be a "camp"-y good time. I was genuinely surprised at how good it was. Crawford is wonderful as the tough-talking tramp who is "saved" by the Reverend. She is great at projecting the vulnerability inside Sadie before and during her conversion to penitent, and how, despite her lack of faith in humanity being being well-placed. that that vulnerability remains after her conversion back to tramp. A great performance that was considered a flop in 1932 (Critics at the time said the role was all but beyond her) that works far better today. It also give you a whiff of the raw sexuality that Crawford exuded in her early movies that made her the Madonna of her day. Very much worth seeing.

Rating:
Summary: fine Crawford
Review: Joan Crawford gets to play the South Seas harlet Sadie Thompson, in RAIN, the second film adaption of the Maughm story.

Crawford is in fine form; as Sadie, Crawford slumps around with a world-weary air, hat tilted to one side and a pouty expression.

Walter Huston plays the lust-driven Reverend Davidson, driven to the extremes of love and hated, life and death, all from knowing Sadie Thompson.

With Guy Kibbee, William Gargan, Walter Catlett, Beulah Bondi and Kendall Lee.

Not the best version. I still prefer MISS SADIE THOMPSON with Rita Hayworth and Jose Ferrer.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent acting and story but poor video quality
Review: Joan Crawford is cast as Sadie Thompson and Walter Huston as the preacher in this 1932 version of the Somerset Maugham classic. Shot in black and white, the video and soundtrack are somewhat scratchy, but the quality of the screenplay and the performances shine through. The mood of the film is dark and shadowy throughout, and the Pacific island seems hot, wet and foreboding. Even the opening shot of soldiers marching in the rain and singing a song about how they expected a paradise when they signed up but were now disillusioned, sets the tone for the piece.

I never realized how attractive Joan Crawford was in her early days and this role calls for her to play both the hard edged prostitute as well as the newly converted former sinner. Both these personas come across loud and clear. Walter Huston plays the preacher role sincerely, as a true believer who wants to save Sadie's soul. Later, we see his inner conflict by just the look on his face, as his eyes glisten and he turns towards the closed door of her room. There are a lot of shadows and a lot of close-ups and a lot of long, lingering looks between the actors. This all works as a film and even though I knew the story, I felt the tension and conflict clearly.

The only music was the ragtime of Sadie's phonograph, the Polynesian melodies of the natives and - towards the very end - an instrumental rendition of "St. Louis Woman". Also, given the technological restrictions of the time, there were some wonderful shots of the hard rain and rain barrels. Everything looked wet and hot and sultry. It was really very well done.
Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful DVD transfer of an old film...
Review: Joan Crawford often said that this was her worst performance. I think her judgment was more than a little harsh, as I have always enjoyed her in this early film. The director did a beautiful job. I was amazed when I first saw this, due to the fluid and stunning camera work. Remember that in this period, the camera was usually stationary due to limitations in equipment, both for the camera and the sound recording. For the work of the director and cameraman, I consider this a landmark film. The story is a little dated now, but well worth viewing (just be sure to buy the Roan Group DVD edition, which has been restored--the other versions are rather dreadful!).

Joan Crawford at her worst was wonderful! Now if only Mildred Pierce Humoresque, and The Women would be released on DVD...(sigh!)

Rating:
Summary: Crawford Shines!
Review: Not only is this one of Crawford's greatest performances--it's also one of her hottest. Very few actresses stand the test of time. She is sexy and strong and very modern. Wish more women were as tough and sexy as Crawford in this film.

Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: Strange little film... A bit stagey perhaps, but I don't consider that much of a criticism, and actually there are some particularly "cinematic" touches for an early talkie --- lots of odd camera movements. It does feel a little claustrophobic, but this is pretty essential to the plot; the entire movie takes place in a tiny hotel, it rains throughout, and Sadie is trapped in a variety of ways, both emotionally and physically. I must disagree with the couple of people who claim this is an example of Joan Crawford not hamming it up. She is awfully charming in this but definitely doesn't give a performance I would describe as understated. In fact, I would say that what gives this film its peculiar charm is a combination of its staginess, claustrophobia, and Crawford's appropriate-seeming hamminess. It's interesting to compare this with the equally enjoyable Raoul Walsh/Gloria Swanson film, "Sadie Thompson". They are EXTREMEly similar, but "Sadie Thompson" makes no reference to the play "Rain" in its credits --- only the Maugham story. Wonder when the play came out....

Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: Strange little film... A bit stagey perhaps, but I don't consider that much of a criticism, and actually there are some particularly "cinematic" touches for an early talkie --- lots of odd camera movements. It does feel a little claustrophobic, but this is pretty essential to the plot; the entire movie takes place in a tiny hotel, it rains throughout, and Sadie is trapped in a variety of ways, both emotionally and physically. I must disagree with the couple of people who claim this is an example of Joan Crawford not hamming it up. She is awfully charming in this but definitely doesn't give a performance I would describe as understated. In fact, I would say that what gives this film its peculiar charm is a combination of its staginess, claustrophobia, and Crawford's appropriate-seeming hamminess. It's interesting to compare this with the equally enjoyable Raoul Walsh/Gloria Swanson film, "Sadie Thompson". They are EXTREMEly similar, but "Sadie Thompson" makes no reference to the play "Rain" in its credits --- only the Maugham story. Wonder when the play came out....

Rating:
Summary: FINE EARLY CRAWFORD.....
Review: Supposedly, "Rain", from Somerset Maughams' story, was a flop on its' release in 1932. Maybe the subject matter was too far over the heads of Depression era audiences. "Rain" is fine today as a vintage relic of adult filmmaking. It concerns a group of missionaries who land on the tropical isle of Pago Pago during rainy season to save the souls of the "sinful" natives who are otherwise living in blissful harmony. Unfortunately, a group of Marines gets stranded there as well and among them is the colorful Sadie Thompson (Crawford), a woman of easy virtue and proud of it. The Marines love her and she parties hardy with them much to the shock and chagrin of the missionaries--- particularly the Reverends' self righteous wife (Beulah Bondi). She complains loudly and the Reverend determines to cast out the "evil" from Sadies' soul even though Sadie is just fine with it the way it is. Their confrontations eventually lead to a near exorcism of Sadie and she succumbs to the Reverends' power. But the rain doesn't let up and the jungle drums keep pounding in the night. The Reverend succumbs to a power of a different kind---that of the unleashing of long pent up sexual frustration and he rapes Sadie thus sealing his own fate as the real "lost soul". Walter Huston is stagily effective as the pompous Reverend and Crawford is nothing short of magnetic as Sadie. A definite curio from the pre-code 30's and an interesting look at a young Joan Crawford. My DVD from Image looks and sounds fine so for me this was a plus.