La Belle du Pacifique

This is the 1950's "Disney-ized" version of W. Somerset Maugham's wonderful story "Rain," which was filmed much more successfully and faithfully with Joan Crawford as Sadie back in 1932.

Rita Hayworth is always a pleasure to watch--a true beauty with significant talent, though her performance here isn't much to shout about. Probably due to the wretched script and mediocre direction.

This Technicolor, 3-D (in the original theatrical release), musical version demonstrates clearly that technology does not equal quality.

The worst element of this version is perhaps Jose Ferrer as the unbending moralizer who tries to convert Sadie. Certainly he's supposed to be stiff, but not to the point where his face shows absolutely no nuance of emotion ever.

Look for a studly young Charles Bronson in a minor role, listed in the credits as Charles Buchinsky (this must have been before he discovered that Hollywood didn't like ethnic--especially in the 50's).

No, your best bet is just to read the story. Maugham deserves the attention; he's a much under-rated writer.

Having read some of the comments about this film I must disagree with much of the criticism made against this film. I have seen the 1932 Joan Crawford film "Rain", and while I agree that it is more successful in creating the mood and tone which is required for the story I consider this film version to have its own virtues. Rita Hayworth is good as Sadie (although unlike Joan Crawford she presents herself most of the time a a happy go lucky sort whereas with Crawford it is always apparent that she has a "bad" past)and Jose Ferrer is solid as Mr. Davidson. The location and Photography also add a great deal to the telling of this simple yet powerful story.

After reading other reviews- wow. It's not that bad. Yes, the story has been done, but Hayworth makes it well worth watching.

And the theme underlying the story is still relevant. Sadie Thompson is a woman of questionable repute, living on a South Sea island trying to re-make her life.The Jose Ferrer character is effectively odious. A man hung up on projecting his moral issues on the nearest target. This happens to be Miss Sadie.

I recall seeing this film on an TV afternoon movie festival, when I was very young. I enjoyed it. Maybe if we were less jaded we would find the story more enjoyable. This was made in 1953, and the morality issues then are still present today.

The sets are beautiful. This was filmed on the sparsely populated Hawaiian island, Kuaui. Overall even if you are not a major Hayworth fan, the story has redeeming aspects. I will have to watch "Rain" again with Joan Crawford to compare, but it is so dated, this film is worth a look.8/10

The old Sadie Thompson story gets the full Technicolor treatment and some eye-filling location photography of a beautiful South Seas island--but nothing hides the fact that the story is simply another reworking of the Somerset Maugham saga about a sinner, a man of the cloth and a bunch of rowdy U.S. Marines.

RITA HAYWORTH gives her all to put some much needed vitality into the tale and puts some heat into her dance number--"The Heat Is On"--while the men aren't shy about showing how they appreciate her earthy charms. But there's not much to say about the story and its labored message about sin and redemption with JOSE FERRER as the uptight preacher who takes a moral stand on her behavior but can't practice what he preaches.

ALDO RAY and CHARLES BRONSON are among the Sadie admirers in uniform and both of them do splendid jobs. Rita has a nice chemistry in all her scenes with Aldo Ray but her scenes with Ferrer never quite have the impact they're supposed to. She handles all the dramatic moments well, but there's a tired look about her face that is most noticeable during the latter half of the film.

Not exactly an upbeat tale, but Rita does make a believable Sadie Thompson.

This adaptation of Somerset Maugham's sordid tale about an alluring woman who gets progressively judged and berated and then lusted upon by a Christian missionary is less about moral hypocrisy and more about Evolution since, from the moment Rita Hayworth lands on a Samoan island full of marines, the biggest and toughest jarhead in Aldo Ray has her number, and won't let go...

None of his underlings, not even a more muscular Charles Bronson, harmonica-playing Henry Slate or goofball Rudy Bond has a chance; and most of MISS SADIE THOMPSON seems like PR for the noticeably-aged Rita Hayworth to still be a relevant sex symbol... for a young male audience...

And she looks great despite overacting the 'good time girl' routine, singing her lines while speaking her songs. But that experienced countenance neatly blends into a free-spirited yet enigmatic character that hypocritical bible-belting Jose Ferrer realizes could have been a prostitute, forcing our marooned goddess in bright red (intentionally contrasting with the grainy-dull browns and greens for what was originally 3D) into a sudden guilty change of conscience. And this 11th hour melancholy-Hayworth, although turning in a far more subtle, natural performance, is but a means to an extremely rushed ending: Instead of building a hate/love/lust relationship between leads Hayworth and Ferrer, the latter simply frowns then screams and then explodes, leading back to that rushed romance with Ray, an infatuation as equally empty and hollow - but on HER terms.