This 1953 film was adapted from a W. Somerset Maugham story. It was the third time the story had been adapted for the screen (it was made into a silent film named Sadie Thompson in 1928, and Joan Crawford starred in Rain in 1932, which was also an adaptation of the same story). Here, the lives of a group of Marines on an island in American Samoa, are shaken up by the arrival of sexy singer Sadie Thompson (Rita Hayworth). One of the Marines, Phil O’Hara (Aldo Ray) falls for her, but missionary Alfred Davidson (Jose Ferrer) believes that Sadie is a corrupting influence upon the people living on the island, and is determined to make her leave.
After watching this film, I read some reviews of it, which were largely critical; I have to say that I can see why. The film itself was an enjoyable enough story, and Rita Hayworth and Jose Ferrer in particular played their parts very well (Davidson was an odious and hypocritical character, adn Rita Hayworth embodied the sexy siren Sadie brilliantly).
Where the film falls short is that it doesn’t even seem to know what genre it’s supposed to be. When it started, I thought it was going to be a comedy, then a few songs from Rita Hayworth made me wonder if it was in fact a musical, but it then descends into drama. Hayworth and Ferrer run through the change of genres with relative ease, but I thought Aldo Ray was a bit wooden.
Overall, I would not say that it was a dreadul film, and it was a reasonable enough to fill up a couple of hours. However, it just isn’t very memorable, and doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. I would be interested in seeing Joan Crawford in the role of Sadie (in Rain, as mentioned above), for comparison. I doubt that I would recommend this film, but I also wouldn’t run away from it screaming!
Year of release: 1953
Director: Curtis Bernhardt
Producer: Jerry Wald
Writers: W. Somertset Maugham (short story), Harry Kleiner
Main cast: Rita Hayworth, Aldo Ray, Jose Ferrer, Russell Collins
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