Miss Sadie Thompson (ViaVision) (1953) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Introduction-by Patricia Clarkson Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1953
Running Time	90:23
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Curtis Bernhardt
Studio Distributor	ViaVision	Starring	Rita Hayworth Jose Ferrer Aldo Ray Russell Collins
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video (NTSC)		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Soon after the end of WW2 the blood pressure of a group of US Marines on American Samoa, especially Sergeant Phil O’Hara (Aldo Ray), is increased substantially by the arrival on the island on a freighter that stops for a couple of hours of Miss Sadie Thompson (Rita Hayworth). Sadie, who is free spirited, brash and brassy, quickly gets a party going with the Marines, much to the ire of missionary Alfred Davidson (Jose Ferrer) who was also on the freighter making an inspection tour of the islands. Davidson, whose missionary father had established the church and hospital on the island, is an uptight religious zealot who comments to the island’s Doctor MacPhail (Russell Collins) that tropical diseases are easier to fight than immorality and evil. And he has his sights on Sadie, for he is sure that she had worked in a well-known red light bar in Hawaii and had fled the island when that establishment was closed down by the Police.

     When a crewman on the freighter is diagnosed with typhus everyone is quarantined on Samoa for at least a week. There is only one hotel, that owned by ex-Marine Joe Horn (Harry Bellaver) and his Samoan wife Ameena (Diosa Costello), so the proximity forced on Sadie and Davidson can only create trouble, especially as Sadie is determined to have a good party with the Marines. O’Hara starts to fall in love with Sadie but Davidson is determined to eradicate evil, as he sees it, from the island so he forces the Governor to issue an order for Sadie’s deportation. In the tropical heat, and the tropical rain, feelings are inflamed and something has to give.

     Miss Sadie Thompson was based on a story by W. Somerset Maugham. The story had been filmed twice before, a 1928 silent directed by Raoul Walsh that starred Gloria Swanson and Lionel Barrymore and a 1932 version with Joan Crawford and Walter Huston. This 1953 Technicolor version was directed by Curtis Bernhardt and shot in Hawaii by cinematographer Charles Lawton Jr. in 3D and released in 3D and flat screen versions, although the 3D version was withdrawn after two weeks.

     Charles Lawton Jr. had filmed the Orson Welles / Rita Hayworth The Lady from Shanghai (1947) and who later would film the original 3:10 to Yuma (1957). Miss Sadie Thompson often feels like a travelogue with lingering shots of the sea, surf, lush vegetation and the islanders’ grass huts and exotic costumes. There are also lingering shots of Rita; she has put on some weight about her face and in Miss Sadie Thompson looks less out and out glamorous than usual, befitting her role Sadie, a women who has witnessed a fair bit of life. However, she is still a very beautiful and sexy woman; no more so than in another of her signature song and dance numbers, this one, The Heat is On performed in a tight orange dress in the middle of a mass of appreciative Marines, got Miss Sadie Thompson banned in a number of US States!

     As well as her usual dance and song numbers (this time Rita is dubbed by Jo Ann Greer - suggestions she was dubbed by India Adams seem generally to have been refuted) Miss Sadie Thompson gives Hayworth a role in which to produce one of her strongest, most dramatic and compelling performances, one that Maugham reportedly approved of. As a woman running from her past, given a chance of a possible better future but being hounded by a religious zealot, Rita is very good, and her performance should be watched by those who say her acting talent is limited to her beauty and dancing. Jose Ferrer, as a man with strongly held beliefs and hidden passions, is also strong, giving depth to what could have been a one note character. Also of interest is the unmistakably craggy features of a younger Charles Bronson, credited as Charles Buchinsky, as one of the Marines.

     Miss Sadie Thompson is a rather overheated melodrama, toned down because of the Hayes Code that was still in place in Hollywood but still sufficiently raunchy for its time to be banned in several US States. Rita certainly stretched the rules, and looks stunning, and the film is worth watching for her, some good performances and the Technicolor tour of some beautiful island scenery.

Video

     Miss Sadie Thompson is presented in the 1.85:1 original aspect ratio, in NTSC and16x9 enhanced.

     Shot in Technicolor on location in Hawaii, close-ups show strong detail and deep colours; Rita’s orange Jean Louis gown, the green of the palm leaves and vegetation but many of the wider shots of the sea with the freighter in the distance, the palm trees, the beach and the island buildings look soft, with sometimes obvious grain and muted colours. The opening red titles are glary and again grain is obvious. Skin tones are however good, blacks are solid, shadow detail very good (the night scenes were shot day for night) and brightness and contrast consistent. There was some motion blur and minor artefacts but nothing serious.

     English subtitles for the hearing impaired are provided.

Video Ratings Summary

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Audio

     The audio is English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono at 192 Kbps.

     The dialogue is easy to hear. There are not a lot of effects; some rain and thunder, whistles and calls during the main song sequence, an Islander song/ dance. There is no credit for the score as such; the musical director is Morris Stoloff, background music by George Duning and songs written by an uncredited Lester Lee / Allan Roberts. Some of the music is lush, some jazzy, which works fine in the context of the film.

     There was no hiss or crackle.

    Lip synchronisation is good except for an occasional lapse during the songs.

Audio Ratings Summary

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Introducing Miss Sadie Thompson with Patricia Clarkson (4:23)

     Clarkson touches on the source story, censorship and Rita Hayworth’s life.

Original Theatrical Trailer (3:00)

     Miss Sadie Thompson is available in Region 1 as part of a DVD collection of the films of Rita Hayworth which has the same extras as this release. Also available is a US Region A Blu-ray that has an audio commentary by film historians David Del Valle and Steven Peros and an isolated music track as well as the above extras. I cannot find any record of a stand-alone DVD with those extras however. This release here of the film is as part of The Films of Rita Hayworth Collection Two which collection itself forms part of The Films of Rita Hayworth Platinum Collection. See the summary section below.

     Miss Sadie Thompson is a colourful, if overheated, melodrama which feels dated. Rita is starting to look more her age but she is still as seductive and beguiling on screen as ever. She can still dance up a storm to raise blood pressures and in addition Miss Sadie Thompson is one of her strongest, most dramatic performances, worth watching for her alone.

     The Technicolor video is muted in places, the audio is fine. A short feature and the film’s trailer are the only extras.

     Miss Sadie Thompson is included in the 12 disc / 12 film set The Films of Rita Hayworth Platinum Collection. The Films of Rita Hayworth Platinum Collection itself comprises the The Films of Rita Hayworth Collection and the The Films of Rita Hayworth Collection Two. Both of these individual Collection packs have been released previously.

     The Films of Rita Hayworth Platinum Collection was supplied for review by ViaVision Entertainment. Check out their Facebook page for the latest releases, giveaways, deals and more.

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