Strange movie doesn't know what it is

My thoughts exactly.

That's what I liked about it.

--I would rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

Ever heard of spoiler warnings, jackass?

The more likely explanation is that you do not know how to read this film.

There are no elements of romantic comedy in it at all. There are no jokes in the film to speak of, and no madcap antics. Strike romantic comedy from your list entirely.

The film does offer musical numbers, but it is not trying to be a musical. The songs, performed exclusively by Hayworth's character, are central to the narrative. Sadie Thompson claims to have worked as a chanteuse in some pretty shady places, and there is some question as to whether she has also at times been a prostitute. The musical numbers in the film establish that Sadie has a good singing voice and can perform in front of a rowdy audience, making her unverified claim to have been a nightclub singer credible. "The Heat Is On" establishes Sadie as an earthy woman, aware of her effect on men and largely comfortable with her own sexuality. It also explains how Sadie could catch the attention of the Marine brass, the village elders, and the island's governor without engaging in paid sex: Practically the entire contingent of enlisted Marines on the island must be in that one room watching her sing! "Hear No Evil, See No Evil" creates an added layer of sympathy for Sadie, and sets up an ironic moment later in the film, when the children perform the song to the delight of the otherwise faultfinding Mr. Davidson, who has no idea it originated with Sadie. The songs are important, but the film is not a musical.

The film does not >become< a harsh and dark morality play; it is a morality play, start to finish. Its target is not Christianity, nor even religious fundamentalism in particular; the villain is a bully, a moral do-gooder who has forgotten several key components of his own faith, like tolerance, charity, and agape love. His inability to deal in himself with the sins he so diligently points out in others leads to his destruction, and almost destroys Sadie in the bargain.

Although I dearly, dearly love Miss Sadie Thompson, I will acknowledge that Sadie's emotional journey in act three is not altogether convincing. I am not sure that a woman who has suffered the crime she has could recover so quickly. But I will give the filmmakers the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they were trying to communicate the idea that, after everything life had handed her so far, Sadie had become extraordinarily resilient.


Miss Sadie Thompson is one of the finest 3-D films of the 1950s and a shining moment for Rita Hayworth. It was made by smart professionals, doing their best to tell a morally complex story while negotiating the stiff restrictions of the Production Code and potential censorship. You didn't like it, and I did. But it is not a mess, not by a long shot.

The title of this thread is almost exactly what I said about this film when I finished watching it. I'm not sure yet if it's one I'd want to watch again.


Mag, Darling, you're being a bore.