Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

fredrock-08169 I had only seen Gloria Swanson in her more mature role in Sunset Boulevard and not in her heyday. She is gorgeous downright hot and very convincing as Sadie Thompson. The version of the W. Somerset Maugham story is superior to the better know Joan Crawford version Rain. Lionel Barrymore does a fantastic job as the self serving preacher. Raoul Walsh the well know director appears here as the serviceman who is in love with Sadie.

evanston_dad Gloria Swanson takes hold of the screen and does not for one minute let it go in this adaptation of a W. Somerset Maugham novella about a free-wheeling firecracker (read: prostitute) who comes under the tyranny of a self-appointed reformer (a frightening Lionel Barrymore) in a battle of wills over her salvation. Swanson received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her work in the very first year of Oscar's existence. She lost to Janet Gaynor, who was nominated for a trio of performances that first year, but I'm not so sure she shouldn't have won. Raoul Walsh, tough-guy director of later films like James Cagney's "White Heat" (1949), directed "Sadie Thompson" and stars in the film as Sadie's love interest. The whole thing unfolds in a tropical location during a downpour, and it captures the over-heated exotic atmosphere perfectly.The film's impact is somewhat blunted because of its missing last moments. The version I saw reconstructed the final 10 minutes or so using still shots and title cards; one can only imagine what the actual footage was like. The film has a rather startling conclusion, not because I don't agree with it but rather because a mere ten years later (after enforcement of the Production Code) and for decades after, it wouldn't have been allowed to end the way it does, with Sadie exposing religion as a hypocritical sham and not changing her own racy tendencies one bit.Grade: B+

wes-connors Gloria Swanson (as Sadie Thompson) is a prostitute bound for Pago Pago, "in the sultry South Seas, where there is no need for bed clothes" as "the rain comes down in sheets." Ms. Swanson is contemplating a change in lifestyle, but has her thinking derailed by hypocritical preacher Lionel Barrymore (as Alfred Davidson). The two are among those quarantined together, due to an outbreak of small-pox. Watch for Swanson's exclamation after being told she's quarantined! It isn't, "Oh, sugar!" AND, that's only the beginning. Gloria Swanson is Sadie Thompson. This is one of her best performances, and it certainly surpasses the Sadies essayed by Joan Crawford and Rita Hayworth. Swanson creates a marvelous Sadie - clear, precise, and believable. Her eye-to-eye contact with Blanche Friderici (as Mrs. Davidson) is the first sign you have that a truly riveting characterization is in the works. Swanson uses her eyes magnificently throughout, but is also skillful chewing gum, wiping her hands, and striking a pose… she inhabits the character.Director Raoul Walsh does double duty by playing Swanson's "Handsome" love interest Tim O'Hara. The photography and sets are superior, though the film is damaged in some places. The symbolism is just right - watch how Swanson gets into a TIGHT black negligee and gets caught in a web. Subtle. Yet, the heavy-handed, rain drenched symbolism is easier to take in a "silent" rather than a "talking" picture. The characters to watch are Swanson and Barrymore, as the film progresses; they have a psychological war, which offers some dramatic surprises. Barrymore is, perhaps, less captivating than Walter Huston in the Crawford re-make, which was re-titled "Rain" (1932); it would have been nice to see a version with Swanson and Huston.Sadly, the very end of "Sadie Thompson" is lost. There is a relatively well-done "reconstruction". Most of the missing footage is successfully imagined with stills; this might have been an interesting way to end the film, anyway. However, there is one lost scene, essential to the story, sorely missed; but, you will have no trouble figuring out what has happened. ********* Sadie Thompson (1/7/28) Raoul Walsh ~ Gloria Swanson, Lionel Barrymore, Raoul Walsh, Blanche Friderici

David Atfield 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.