Miss Sadie Thompson
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| Miss Sadie Thompson | |
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 Film poster |
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| Directed by | Curtis Bernhardt |
| Produced by | Jerry Wald |
| Written by | Story: W. Somerset Maugham Screenplay: Harry Kleiner |
| Starring | Rita Hayworth Jose Ferrer Aldo Ray Russell Collins Diosa Costello Peggy Converse Charles Bronson |
| Music by | Morris Stoloff |
| Cinematography | Charles Lawton Jr. |
| Editing by | Viola Lawrence |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures Corporation |
| Release date(s) |  December 23, 1953 |
| Running time | 91 min. |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Miss Sadie Thompson is a musical drama 3-d film starring Rita Hayworth, Aldo Ray, Jose Ferrer released in 1953. It is based on the Somerset Maugham short story Miss Thompson. Previous versions include "Sadie Thompson" (1928) starring Gloria Swanson and "Rain" (1932) starring Joan Crawford.
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[edit] Plot
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".
[edit] Production
This was Rita Hayworth's 3rd 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. 3D-films had been drawing crowds 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 musicals 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 minus the 3-D.
[edit] The Heat is On
During The Production Code review of the story a summary of problems stated "The essence of the discussion consisted in our emphasis once more that Sadie should not be a prostitute" so Columbia altered the character of Sadie Thompson from a prostitute to a nightclub singer with a past. Alfred Davidson was changed from a morally corrupt and sadistic Reverand into an unaffiiated religious zealot to avoid offense to any specific religious group. Even with the changes and the watered down script the film still drew criticism. Lloyd T. Binford, the 85 year old head of the Memphis Board of Censors was not amused. He said 'It's rotten, lewd, immoral, just a plain raw dirty picture". He thought it should be banned even if they did snip the "filthy dance scene ("The Heat is On")". Several state censorship boards banned the film outright.
[edit] 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".
[edit] Trivia
- Jane Russell was the original choice to play Miss Sadie Thompson in the 1950s remake.
- Cecil B. DeMille approached Columbia in 1940 to borrow Rita Hayworth for a proposed epic of Salome. Harry Cohn refused to loan her out. Cecil B. DeMille did not proceed with the project.
- Rita Hayworth was the producers first choice for Casablanca. Harry Cohn would not loan her out.
- A young Charles Bronson is listed as Charles Buchinsky in the film credits.
- Somerset Maugham said of Rita's performance. "I couldn't be more delighted that it was in a screen version of one of my stories that she proved just how superb an actress she really is."
[edit] Availability
- A dual projection polarized 3-D print of "Miss Sadie Thompson" was screened at The World 3-D Expo 2006 September 10th, 2006 at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, Ca.
- The trailer (2D version can be seen here courtesy of Sabu Cat Productions.
- A VHS full screen edition of "Miss Sadie Thompson" was released in 1994 but is no longer available.
- A DVD full screen edition of "Miss Sadie Thompson" was released in 2001 but is no longer available.
