I must congratulate St Clair Vision on the superb 10/10 quality of Rain (1932). For years, I've prayed to see a print that not only did full justice to Oliver Marsh's superb cinematography, but allowed us to appreciate not only every nuance in the dialogue but even every atmospheric effect in Alfred Newman's evocative music score. Joan Crawford, of course, does full justice to the Sadie Thompson role, although Walter Huston is perhaps a little too stiff and theatrical as the misguided, self-inflated preacher. Beulah Bondi has a field day as his loathsome spouse and the lovely Kendall Lee can be glimpsed as the doctor's wife. Lewis Milestone's direction is so forceful and consistently inventive that it's not until the movie is over that we realize how closely Maxwell Anderson has adhered to the stage play.

I love how the ending is open to interpretation. When the jazz music is pouring from the room after the death one assumes her religious conversion was planned and faked all along to entice and entrap the missionary on his own terms and she was gloating in her success at sticking it to him. But we see that her reversion to her old ways overnight could just be manifest from an attempted rape and resulting disgust. But can her wiles really be discounted entirely? She was a worldly woman and most likely knew quite well how to really get to the perv and could easily have planned what she did. Her shock and remorse at hearing the news of the death itself could be a further act or reaction to the way the news was delivered. "Oh, yeah, I should show some shock and remorse here, for their benefit." Both interpretations are possible: Her sincere religious conversion instantly cast off due to an attempted rape; or her faking the conversion and then toning down her display of successful revenge a bit.My main quibble with this movie was the portrayal by Walter Houston. I think we should have seen more suppressed and sublimated desire for her as time went on. But we see him coldly spouting off his brain-washing propaganda with pure hard ice in the same continuous way until that drum scene where he, too suddenly in my opinion, turned all penile imperative.His wife seemed to have understood all too well without our knowing why. Could she see his escalating obsession in the past few days? Did she hear love screams that final night? A battle repelling an attempted rape? Loud verbal abuse from Sadie castigating him for his vile hypocrisy?Personally, I like to think her conversion was faked. "I am alright in the daytime but I suffer so much at night, and need and wish for you to be there with me to support me with your comforting strength which I so need and want," as it were. You know, that wanting him, not so much in the daytime, but at night business.She might not have taken the Sydney escape route (via local boat transfers) the night before the death because her revenge was not yet complete. And chances are the ship would not be going directly to San Francisco from Pago Pago but would stop off in Honolulu where she could get off and meet up with old friends and maybe work old jobs. Or simply not get on the boat in Pago Pago in the morning. If she missed that boat from Pago Pago to S.F. neither she nor the governor could do anything until the next boat came - the one to Sydney. I felt that her reversion to the good-time girl was too complete and easily returned to not to have been there all along. And it just makes for a more satisfying story to think that she had such depth, acting skill, and knowledge of male psychology.

Joan Crawford Hated this one, most Likely because it Bombed at the Box Office and got some Bad Reviews. But it Speaks for Itself. Predictably Talky, but not without some Effective and sometimes Impressive Visuals. From a Painted Up and Garishly Decorated Tainted "Lady of the Night" (Sexy Sadie) to some Fluid Camera-Work for the Time, and an Atmosphere Drenched in God's Nectar, the Movie is a Pre-Code Sermon on Religious Hypocrisy with a Plea for a "Live and Let Live" Society. Walter Huston gives an Acerbic Stiff Performance. But at Their Worst, these Types of Bible-Thumpers are Acerbic, although some can be Charming and Suave. There's an Added Treat of the Inn Keeper Reciting Friedrich Nietzsche (the "God is Dead" Philosopher).Overall, it is Definitely Worth a Watch for Joan Crawford's Iconic Entrance and overall Look and Her sometimes Effective and sometimes Not so Effective Performance, the Direction of Lewis Milestone, and the Pre-Code Freedom to Take On the Subject of Religion that would become a Blasphemous NO NO in the Post Code Years.Reformers were Successful in Bringing about Prohibition and were also Highly Influential in Establishing the Motion Picture Production Code.Right Wing Religious Evangelicals were as Powerful in the Twenties and Thirties as They are Today and Have and Had a Heavy Hand in Directing Political Figures. The Breen Office and Hays Code would Silence the Artistic Opposition on Screen for Decades.

Interesting well-directed adaptation of Somerset Maugham story about a prostitute and a missionary out to reform her. I was surprised to discover this was a box office flop when it was released as I enjoyed it very much. Joan Crawford and Walter Huston are great as the two leads. Beulah Bondi and Guy Kibbee offer solid support. But the real star is Lewis Milestone's wonderful direction. He takes what would otherwise have been a very stagey film, especially for 1932, and keeps the camera moving and lively. Milestone not only directed but produced Rain as well. He was one of the best directors of the 1930s and I don't feel like he gets anywhere near enough credit. Try to catch this if you can but beware of bad prints.