Main Cast: Rita Hayworth, José Ferrer, Aldo Ray, Russell Collins, Peggy Converse, Diosa Costello
Release Year: 1953
Country: US
Run Time: 91 minutes
Plot
Set in New Caledonia (though filmed in Hawaii), Miss Sadie Thompson is a heavily laundered adaptation of Somerset Maugham's Rain, with Rita Hayworth in the title role and José Ferrer as the pious Alfred Davidson. To satisfy the censors, Sadie is no longer a whore but a nightclub entertainer "with a past," while Davidson is not a minister but a lay preacher. The end result, however, is about the same, with Davidson trying to save Sadie's soul, only to lose his own in the process. Aldo Ray co-stars in the beefed-up role of the marine sergeant who harbors a crush for the colorful Miss Thompson. Highlights include Rita Hayworth's rendition of the musical numbers "The Heat is On" (later parodied by Muriel Landers in the 1957 Three Stooges comedy Sweet and Hot), "Blue Pacific Blues," and ""Hear No Evil, Seek No Evil."" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Somerset Maugham purists might as well look elsewhere than Miss Sadie Thompson for a satisfying version of the author's tale of carnal and spiritual lust. Thanks to the Production Code (and who knows what other outside forces), Sadie is nothing more than a late-in-her-career Rita Hayworth vehicle, with the added "bonus" of 3-D thrown in. Mind you, if you're going to take a ride in a vehicle, then Hayworth is a mighty fine person to have behind the wheel. Of course, even this screen goddess needs to have an engine with some sort of power in it, and Sadie is sadly lacking in cylinders. The source material has been bowdlerized, which doesn't help; but the lifeless dialogue and cardboard characters with which the cast have been saddled make matters worse. José Ferrer doesn't seem to have his heart in his work, and Aldo Ray is simply unbelievable. That leaves Hayworth, in great form, to carry the picture with her magnetism, personality, and sensuality. These come through most effectively in the handful of musical numbers, especially the incredible "The Heat Is On," one of the most blazingly erotic dance segments to be put on the screen. Give Hayworth the chance to set the screen on fire and she certainly delivers; it can't raise Miss Sadie Thompson to great art, but it does make it memorable. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Harry Bellaver - Joe Horn; Charles Buchinsky - Edwards; Wilton Graff - Governor; Henry Slate - Pvt. Griggs; Rudy Bond - Hodges; Frances Morris - Mrs. MacPhail; Peter Chong - Chung; John Grossett - Reverend; Johnny Duncan - Marine; Charles Horvath; Ted Jordan; Al Kikume - Native Secretary; Count Billy Varga; Robert G. Anderson - Dispatcher; Ben Harris; H. Tom Hart; Fred Letuli - Native Messenger
Credit
Carl Anderson - Art Director, Lee Scott - Choreography, Jean Louis - Costume Designer, Curtis Bernhardt - Director, Viola Lawrence - Editor, George Duning - Composer (Music Score), Lester Lee - Composer (Music Score), Morris W. Stoloff - Musical Direction/Supervision, Clay Campbell - Makeup, Charles Lawton - Cinematographer, Jerry Wald - Producer, Louis Diage - Set Designer, George Cooper - Sound/Sound Designer, Harry Kleiner - Screenwriter, John Colton - Play Author, W. Somerset Maugham - Play Author
A B-girl from Hawaii, a religious zealot and a love struck Marine struggle with sin and salvation while Sadie Thompson kicks out several songs including the Oscar nominated "Blue Pacific Blues".
Production
This was Rita Hayworth's third film after her marriage to Prince Aly Khan 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 had no problems in giving Miss Sadie Thompson an "A" film budget. 3-D films 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 Kauai, Hawaii with interiors on the Columbia lot. The original story of sin and redemption was sanitized to appease the Production Code and several musical numbers were inserted to spice up the tepid reworked plot. As with her previous films Rita's singing was dubbed, this time by Jo Ann Greer. By the time of its 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.
Censorship
Miss Sadie Thompson was produced during the era of the production code. To conform with censors' dictates, the character of Sadie Thompson was changed from a prostitute into a nightclub singer with a past, and Alfred Davidson was changed from a morally corrupt and sadistic reverend into an unaffiliated religious zealot (to avoid offense to any specific religious group). Even with the changes, the film still drew criticism. Lloyd T. Binford, the 85-year-old head of the Memphis Board of Censors, said, "It's rotten, lewd, immoral, just a plain raw dirty picture," called "The Heat Is On" a "filthy dance scene," and believed the film should be banned. Several state censorship boards banned the film outright.
Reviews
Variety: "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: 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 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.
