Faiblesse humaine

What a performance - Swanson bursts out of the screen, as Somerset Maugham's prostitute heroine trapped on a tropical island with a crusading parson and a sexy sergeant. And Lionel Barrymore as the parson and the director Raoul Walsh as the sergeant are her match. This is silent acting at its best.

Yes the piece is a little stagey and the action too confined for a silent picture, but when the photography is as brilliant as it is here - who cares? It deservedly won the first ever Oscar for cinematography.

This is a passionate and beautiful production. What a tragedy that the last few minutes have been lost. They have been reconstructed using titles and stills - but how I would have loved to have seen the scene when Barrymore rapes Swanson. It must have been breathtaking. Don't miss this film.

Unfortunately, the final reel of "Sadie Thompson" has been partially lost due to the ravages of time on nitrate stock. Because of this, the final portion often uses stills to fill in the blanks. It's a less than desirable way to do the film, but there simply is no other choice unless a final reel is one day discovered and the film is pieced back together. In addition, some other portions of the film are pretty rough, but not so much that it seriously impacts watching the film.

I have already seen this story two other times, though this is the first time I've seen the silent version. While it's obvious that Gloria Swanson plays a prostitute (Sadie Thompson), like other films of the day, it's strongly implied but they never called her that or said exactly what she was--just that she was a woman of 'ill-repute' or was 'undesirable'. But, unless you are really, really young or really, really naive, it's very clear what the film is implying in this adaptation of the W. Somerset Maugham story.

The story begins with Sadie arriving on the island of Pago-Pago. On board the ship are also some moralistic reformers, the Davidsons (Lionel Barrymore and Blanche Friderici). Unfortunately for Sadie, these reformers seem to spend almost every waking moment worrying about Sadie's sex life and work hard to have her thrown off the island. At first, Sadie is contemptuous of them but later when it looks like they are about to become successful, things change very quickly. Where all this ends up you'll need to see for yourself.

I liked the acting of this film--especially Swanson's. It was rather bawdy yet very restrained (except for when it called for lots of emotion near the end)--and it easily could have been over the top. Also, although the film's in rough shape, what you do see is quite good--with a good reproduction of the tropical locale and nice camera-work. All in all, a very high quality film from start to finish. Too bad about the missing footage.

By the way, Sadie's ruggedly handsome love interest, Sgt. O'Hara, is played by the film's director, Raoul Walsh! He actually gave up acting for directing full-time after he lost an eye in an accident--shortly after completing this film.

It's sad that we don't have on film Jeanne Eagels and her performance from Broadway of the classic Rain. I'm told there was something truly special about it. But having said that Gloria Swanson has given us one riveting performance as Sadie Thompson, the girl that gets everyone thinking from below decks in the South Seas.

With the exception of Rita Hayworth's version, I have something nice to say about all the screen Sadies. You've got to be both one sexy dish and an extraordinary actress to pull this role off. In Gloria Swanson and Joan Crawford we've had both.

W. Somerset Maugham long before Tennessee Williams was writing about taboo sexual subjects and people bought his books and saw the plays and movies from them. Rain is the granddaddy of them all. Maugham as a gay man just asks a simple question, why don't people just let people alone to do their thing if it doesn't harm anyone?

That's the attitude in rollicking Marine sergeant Raoul Walsh who is stationed on the tropical south sea paradise that Sadie Thompson finds herself stranded. Walsh who directed also gives us an opportunity to see him before he lost an eye a couple of years later.

Also there is Lionel Barrymore and his wife Blanche Frederici, the Reverend Davidson. One of the most uptight people in literature it's like he's got to destroy the thing he lusts for, but can't have because of convention and the beliefs drummed into him. In a nutshell you have a ton of religious and political figures, closeted gays who are outwardly rightwing homophobes. Maugham knew them well.

So with one look, Barrymore takes a most personal interest in the 'salvation' of Sadie Thompson. But it's all a cover and in the end when his world is exposed it's the end for him.

Rain will be getting productions ad infinitum although they might be underground productions as per the local mores until the end of time. Sadie Thompson got two Oscar nominations in the first Oscar ceremony, one for Gloria Swanson as Best Actress and one for cinematography.

Not a film to be missed.

After watching this silent film i began to realize how large of a roll the music production contributed to the film industry through out America's cinema history. With all the flashy yet realistic effects that are produced now a days its hard to notice what makes a good movie good, and to me a lot of that has to do with the music. The audio of a silent film really helps you understand the language, emotion, and even gestures of a setting for a particular scene. The other portion of this film that i found interesting was the language and slang of the late 1920's. Words like "brazen" "boodwar" "brothel" "scarlet" and even "blood thirsty blizzard" are words were never hear now a days. I guess it just helps with the understanding of the era of silent films.

This was the first version of the W. Somerset Maugham novel "Rain," which was remade in 1932 by the original title and again in 1953 as "Miss Sadie Thompson." Gloria Swanson is amazing in the title role as a prostitute who becomes stranded on the remote Island of Pago Pago. She flirts with a soldier (Raoul Walsh, who was the director), then seduces a respected preacher played by Lionel Barrymore. This certainly can be called one of the "pre-code" films of the 1920s/1930s, before the Hays Code was in effect. For many years the final scenes were lost, so now the restored versions use still photos and new title cards to complete the picture.