Sadie Thompson (1927-28)

 

The central conflict in Sadie Thompson is between the title character (a reported prostitute) and a pious busybody trying to clean up the morals of the island of Pago Pago. They’ve arrived on the island at the same time, and thanks to a ten-day quarantine due to a smallpox outbreak, they wind up staying at the same inn. Sadie (gloriously played by Gloria Swanson) flirts with the Marines there, tells off-color jokes, smokes, chews gum… forcefully, plays jazz records, and hangs out with men in her room. None of this pleases Davidson (Lionel Barrymore, going for overwrought pomposity in his acting) or his wife. Sadie is supposed to go to another island for a new job when a ship is next available, but Davidson wants her to repent her sins and return to San Francisco to face criminal prosecution and punishment. He claims to be a “reformer” (read: Christian zealot, someone who disapproves of the natives dancing) and says he wants to help her reform herself. It’s quite the dispute. She says she’s a singer; he says she’s from “the disreputable district in San Francisco.” (I don’t know which district, in particular, he refers to, but it would be interesting to find out. The film could have boosted tourism for the area.) One of the Marines (played by the film’s director, the great Raoul Walsh) falls in love with Sadie and gives her a pin as a token of his feelings. Sadie already has quite a collection of pins, to be honest, but Swanson plays her as though she returns his affections. Davidson attempts to punish them both, getting the governor of the island to demand that she return to San Francisco as soon as a boat is available. He even attempts to subdue her physically at one point, demonstrating just what a bully he truly is. Barrymore is rather stoic and dull, but perhaps he chose that approach to fit the role; he doesn’t seem to have modulated his performance for a film audience. The film features lots of rain, torrential amounts, a clear homage to “Rain,” the story by W. Somerset Maugham that served as the source material, and the rain works both metaphorically and narratively. Sadie Thompson also makes very effective use of the inn as the primary location for much of the film’s action. The art direction on the film is masterful. Unfortunately, the film is a product of its time, stereotyping the indigenous people like the innkeeper’s wife. She’s fat and lazy and smokes all the time, and she’s the primary representation of the native people of the island. Their only other substantial appearance is at the end of the film pulling in fishing nets, a moment pivotal to the plot but perhaps not even the original sequence shot for the film. Sadly, portions of the (reportedly) only remaining print of the film are damaged, making the Oscar-nominated cinematography difficult to appreciate at times. It’s also incomplete, the last reel having been reconstructed using stills from the film and some repeated images and even shots from other movies. This tragic loss doesn’t really diminish the power of Swanson’s performance, justifiably nominated for an Oscar. It’s still the primary reason one would enjoy seeing Sadie Thompson, especially in its truncated form.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress (Gloria Swanson) and Best Cinematography