a missionary who smokes?
Barbara Stanwyck's character, Megan Davis, smokes quite a bit in this film. That's very typical of movies of the time, but is not typical of most missionaries, even for the present time, much less for those times.
shareMormon missionaries don't smoke. However, until recently, Roman Catholic and Anglican missionaries used tobacco products as much as anyone. The Jesuits even owned many tobacco plantations throughout Latin America. They also introduced tobacco usage in Beijing... so much so that non-converts came to call Catholic Chinese snuff-dippers. So, yes it was typical of missionaries for those times.
shareUntil recently? If a Catholic doesn't smoke it's due to health or simply don't like it. I know plenty of priests who smoke today so there's no change in that.
Stanwyck otoh seems like a protestant and see smoking and drinking as evil.