This first version of W. Somerset Maugham’s novel
Rain stars Gloria Swanson as San Francisco prostitute Sadie Thompson who’s waylaid on the remote tropical island Pago Pago with a sexy sergeant (Raoul Walsh) and a crusading moralist (Lionel Barrymore). The film project was beset by problems from the beginning—the censors were dubious and the studios were reluctant. It was Swanson’s perseverance that won the day. She negotiated with the censors, put up $200,000 of her own money, and handpicked the cast. The film marks Swanson’s greatest performance, and happily for all, it was an enormous success at the box office. Sadly, the last reel of the film is missing. The search is on, but in the meantime the film’s end has been reconstructed with production stills and footage from a 1932 adaptation. Thanks to Dennis Doros, who reconstructed the missing reel, and Kino Lorber, who funded the reconstruction.
35mm print from Kino Lorber
Introduced by Bevan Dufty
Copresented by
California Film Institute and
MiDNiTES for MANiACSASL interpretation