Sadie Thompson is an American silent film that tells the story of a "fallen woman" who comes to Pago Pago on the island of Tutuila to start a new life, but encounters a zealous missionary who wants to force her back to her former life in San Francisco. The film stars Gloria Swanson, Lionel Barrymore, and Raoul Walsh, and was one of Swanson's better known silent films. The making of the film was extremely controversial. However, it was a financial and critical success for Swanson, one of her last. The film was based on the short story "Rain" by author W. Somerset Maugham and the 1923 play of... the same name by John Colton and Clemence Randolph. On the island of Tutuila , a smoking, drinking, jazz listening, young prostitute named Sadie Thompson arrives, claiming she is waiting for employment upon a ship. At the same time, 'moralists' arrive, including Mr. Davidson and Mrs. Davidson . The characters all end up staying in the same hotel, where the Davidsons plot to teach the natives about sin and Sadie entertains a bunch of marines.
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| Release date: | January 7, 1928 |
| Directed by: | Raoul Walsh |
| Runtime: | 91 Minutes |
| Producer: | Gloria Swanson |
| Editor: | C. Gardner Sullivan |
| Cinematography: | George Barnes |
| Screenplay by: | Raoul Walsh, C. Gardner Sullivan |
| Adapted from: | Rain |