Sadie Thompson

4/16/2025

Gloria Swanson pretty much owned this production - on and off screen - as she depicts the eponymous character. A charming lady of dubious repute, she finds herself on a small Pacific island that’s populated by a squad of American marines and a fairly zealous Scottish minister. She is a bit skint, so she is relying on a degree of good will to sustain her until she can make her way on to Apia and to her job aboard a steamship. The aforementioned preacher “Davidson” (Lionel Barrymore) immediately reckons she’s a bad ‘un and starts pouring poison in the ears of anyone who will listen. Rapidly running out of allies, she finds that it’s only the “Sgt. O’Hara” (Raoul Walsh) who is prepared to give her the time of day. With the pressures mounting to repatriate “Sadie” to an equally unwelcoming San