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Post by Andrea Doria on Jan 3, 2024 13:14:00 GMT
This month we'll feature movies based on works by W Somerset Maugham, beginning with "Rain" based on a short story by Maugham called "Miss Thompson."
With Joan Crawford and Walter Houston, 1932 pre-code, 92 minutes.
The story is set over a few days of constant rain as passengers from a temporarily stranded ship meet and clash.
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Post by Andrea Doria on Jan 3, 2024 14:40:32 GMT
Sadie Thompson as portrayed by:Joan Crawford
Gloria Swanson (1928 silent)
Rita Hayworth
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Post by topbilled on Jan 4, 2024 0:57:40 GMT
I find it interesting how much they made Crawford up to look like Swanson in the talkie version. But with Hayworth, there is a different look and a musical vibe.
Incidentally, Swanson and Crawford were around the same age playing the role of Sadie Thompson...Swanson was 27 and Crawford was probably 28 (there are conflicting reports on her year of birth). Meanwhile Hayworth was 35 and seems a bit longer in the tooth. Personally, I think it works better with Hayworth being older in the role, because it increases the pathos and tragedy that she's heading past her prime and doesn't have much to show for her life.
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Post by topbilled on Jan 5, 2024 17:33:31 GMT
RAIN '32 is in the public domain. Has anyone found a decent looking print?
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Post by jamesjazzguitar on Jan 5, 2024 18:19:26 GMT
I find it interesting how much they made Crawford up to look like Swanson in the talkie version. But with Hayworth, there is a different look and a musical vibe.
Incidentally, Swanson and Crawford were around the same age playing the role of Sadie Thompson...Swanson was 27 and Crawford was probably 28 (there are conflicting reports on her year of birth). Meanwhile Hayworth was 35 and seems a bit longer in the tooth. Personally, I think it works better with Hayworth being older in the role, because it increases the pathos and tragedy that she's heading past her prime and doesn't have much to show for her life. Is the Hayworth version set in the same general time period? (20s). I ask because if it is set in the 20s, Hayworth has a 40s look and not that of the 20s. |
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Post by Fading Fast on Jan 5, 2024 18:54:03 GMT
RAIN '32 is in the public domain. Has anyone found a decent looking print?
We might have to watch a just okayish one this Sunday. |
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Post by topbilled on Jan 5, 2024 20:06:32 GMT
I find it interesting how much they made Crawford up to look like Swanson in the talkie version. But with Hayworth, there is a different look and a musical vibe.
Incidentally, Swanson and Crawford were around the same age playing the role of Sadie Thompson...Swanson was 27 and Crawford was probably 28 (there are conflicting reports on her year of birth). Meanwhile Hayworth was 35 and seems a bit longer in the tooth. Personally, I think it works better with Hayworth being older in the role, because it increases the pathos and tragedy that she's heading past her prime and doesn't have much to show for her life. Is the Hayworth version set in the same general time period? (20s). I ask because if it is set in the 20s, Hayworth has a 40s look and not that of the 20s. |
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Post by jamesjazzguitar on Jan 5, 2024 20:46:17 GMT
Is the Hayworth version set in the same general time period? (20s). I ask because if it is set in the 20s, Hayworth has a 40s look and not that of the 20s. Thanks. I wonder if the producers of the Crawford version based your look on Swanson, instead of just basing the look on the look of the character as depicted in the Broadway play. I.e. that was the look of the character, as well as a look of that type of gal in the early 20s. I.e. a post WW-I look. Hayworth's look was updated to fit the revised WWII\40s look. As for Hayworth being older: great point about how that "increases the pathos and tragedy". |
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Post by topbilled on Jan 5, 2024 21:07:20 GMT
According to the AFI website, the 1953 version takes place at the end of the Second World War on a military base on a small South Pacific island. Thanks. I wonder if the producers of the Crawford version based your look on Swanson, instead of just basing the look on the look of the character as depicted in the Broadway play. I.e. that was the look of the character, as well as a look of that type of gal in the early 20s. I.e. a post WW-I look. Hayworth's look was updated to fit the revised WWII\40s look. As for Hayworth being older: great point about how that "increases the pathos and tragedy".
As for Hayworth, I am sure part of the musical vibe is because Columbia knew she had scored a success with films like COVER GIRL, GILDA, THE LOVES OF CARMEN and AFFAIR IN TRINIDAD. She was known for musical type roles, and even when she playing in a drama or noir, she still had scenes dancing or singing. So they grafted that on to the Sadie Thompson character for her version of Maugham's story.
I haven't read Mauham's story, so I wonder how he in fact described the character in his prose. |
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Post by topbilled on Jan 6, 2024 1:02:16 GMT
This print on YouTube is the best/sharpest one I have found...
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Post by topbilled on Jan 6, 2024 1:07:08 GMT
Here are some comments from viewers on YouTube:
Historic film is in perfect condition! Joan is smoking hot at first appearance!
The opening minutes are stupendous. Really. Such unrefined passion. The cinematic vision emerging from silent film film and its melodrama cannot be overstated. This film repeatedly refuses to submerse itself. Thankfully, there were no censors.
I see Joan Crawford movie, I click.
Crawford definitely should have gotten her first Best Actress Oscar nomination for this role.
This was the second JC movie I ever watched (after 'Sudden Fear') and I was hooked. She was magnetic in this role and certainly Oscar-worthy, and Walter Huston was just as memorable. Their chemistry on screen was incandescent.
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Post by Fading Fast on Jan 6, 2024 12:30:24 GMT
While we've rightfully give Joan Crawford a lot of attention, the supporting cast, which includes Walter Huston, Guy Kibbee, William Gargan and Beulah Bondi, is impressive too. It is, IMO, one of Kibbee's best performances showing that he was much more than just a "character actor."
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Post by topbilled on Jan 6, 2024 13:37:24 GMT
Yes, I'd forgotten Kibbee was in the movie until I looked at some clips and stills yesterday.
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Post by Andrea Doria on Jan 7, 2024 19:26:12 GMT
 Beware the white ermine of despair! (Mae Clark in Waterloo Bridge) Thanks for finding a copy of Rain for me, Topbilled! |
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Post by Fading Fast on Jan 7, 2024 19:32:24 GMT
Beware the white ermine of despair! (Mae Clark in Waterloo Bridge) Thanks for finding a copy of Rain for me, Topbilled! |
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