Lies has very kindly provided the following introduction:<\/p>\n
Joan Crawford and Rain<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n Rain<\/i>, based on W. Somerset Maugham\u2019s short story Miss Sadie Thompson<\/i>, deals with the adventures of a group of travelers who are temporarily stranded on the South Pacific island of Pago Pago. As young prostitute Sadie Thompson (Joan Crawford), wanted in America for a crime that is never named, spends her time socializing with the US marines posted on the island, she becomes a thorn in the eye of fanatical preacher Alfred Davidson (Walter Huston), who decides she needs salvation.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Crawford herself appears to have been on Variety<\/i>\u2019s side, and said in later years that she hoped \u201cthey burn every print of this turkey that is in existence\u201d. She blamed the film\u2019s issues on its writer and director, as well as on her younger self, who \u201ctook the bull by the horns and did my own Sadie Thompson. I was wrong every scene of the way\u201d[1]<\/a>. Despite this judgment even by its star, however, the film is one of Joan Crawford\u2019s better-remembered early performances today.<\/p>\n Since both Of Human Bondage <\/i>and Rain<\/i> were written by the same author and made, as films, around the same time, they lend themselves quite well to a comparison of the performances and stardom of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. These two stars have frequently been grouped together as similar types \u2013 both often playing, as Basinger puts it, \u201cexaggerated\u201d, extraordinary women, particularly in their later careers[2]<\/a> – yet have also often been contrasted with each other as \u201cthe actress\u201d (Davis) and \u201cthe star\u201d (Crawford).<\/p>\n To watch (or re-watch) Crawford in Rain<\/em>: http:\/\/archive.org\/details\/rain1932<\/a><\/p>\n Link to the original short story:<\/p>\n http:\/\/maugham.classicauthors.net\/Rain\/<\/a><\/p>\n Link to the Swanson film:<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qWtW_RqSwAk&list=PL272B5585907AB161<\/a><\/p>\n Connected to last week\u2019s question on radio versus film melodrama, how might melodramatic performance differ from silent to sound film? Is silent film, with its reliance on gesture and facial expression, particularly suited to the genre?<\/p>\n \n [1]<\/a> Roy Newquist, Conversations with Joan Crawford<\/i>, p. 76<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [2]<\/a> Jeanine Basinger, A Woman\u2019s View: How Hollywood Spoke to Women 1930-1960<\/i>, p. 167<\/p>\n \n Do join us if you can, for what promises to be a very interesting and enjoyable film.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Posted by Sarah All are welcome to attend the\u00a0second of this term\u2019s screening and discussion\u00a0sessions which will take place on the\u00a016th of\u00a0October in Keynes Seminar Room 6,\u00a0from 4pm to 7pm. We will be screening Lies’ choice: Rain (1932, Lewis Milestone, … Continue reading ![\"Rain](\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/melodramaresearchgroup\/files\/2013\/10\/Rain-Crawford.png\")
<\/a>\u00a0Although Joan Crawford was one of the key box office stars for the year 1932, the film was not a major hit at the time; Variety<\/i> wrote that \u201cIt turns out to be a mistake to have assigned the Sadie Thompson role to Miss Crawford. It shows her off unfavorably. The dramatic significance of it all is beyond her range.\u201d Motion Picture<\/i> was kinder and pointed out that \u201ca picture with such a long stage and screen history behind it starts with a handicap of inevitable comparisons\u201d, calling Crawford \u201cneither the greatest \u2018Sadie Thompson\u2019 of theatrical history, nor the worst by any means\u201d. This review touches upon an important consideration in terms of Rain<\/i> as a film, which is the fact that the story had previously been made into a play (1923) and into a silent film (1928, as Sadie Thompson<\/i>). It would also be remade in 1953 with Rita Hayworth in the title role as Miss Sadie Thompson<\/i>.<\/p>\n
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