Rain

Released Oct 12, 1932

1h 33m

Drama

List

90%

10 Reviews

Tomatometer

67%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

In the South Pacific, the passengers of a boat must disembark prematurely at the island of Pago Pago due to a cholera scare. Among them are missionaries Alfred Davidson (Walter Huston) and his wife (Beulah Bondi), and a spirited prostitute, Sadie Thompson (Joan Crawford). On the island, Thompson lives it up with the American soldiers stationed in the village, and captures the heart of Sgt. Tim O'Hara (William Gargan). But Thompson's wild ways are too much for Davidson, who tries to convert her.

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Sep 13

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Rent Rain on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

Steve D

Not the best vision but a really good one.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/27/23

Full Review

56music

SPOILER ALERT: One of Joan's best performances. I own this DVD and watched it again last night. I like that I noticed some nuances I missed previously. Obviously all humans can be tempted by the flesh, but I came to a possiblity in the storyline I may have missed previously, perhaps Sadie knew there was one sure way to get the missionary off her back, perhaps she set a trap and was not as innocent as I previously thought? Perhaps she outsmarted everyone. An oldie but a goodie

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

Full Review

georgan g

This old movie was surprisingly good. Crawford played the prostitute perfectly. The truth about who was "bad" shows in the end.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The rain falls incessantly in this movie, bringing to mind Matthew 5:45, "he sendeth rain on the just and the unjust alike". In this case, it seems clear that the 'unjust' are actually the devout Christians (Walter Huston and Beulah Bondi), as they sanctimoniously judge Joan Crawford's character and cruelly use their influence to get orders for her immediate deportation from Pago Pago, where this film is set. She is likely a prostitute, but the reason for his action stems from her (gasp) moral crime of listening to music and dancing with some soldiers on the Sabbath. As a more tolerant man observes, "we've all crossed thresholds we don't brag about", but Huston is relentless in cross-examining her about her past, and demanding that she get on the right side of the Lord, even though they've just met. It's interesting to see Crawford stand up to him in what are the best scenes of the film. "You keep yellin' at me to go back and be punished, to suffer - how do you know what I've suffered? You don't know, you don't care, and you don't even ask - and you call yourself a Christian!", she yells, and "Your God and me will never be shipmates, and the next time you talk to him you can tell him this for me - that Sadie Thompson is on her way to hell!" However, she is eventually cowed and resigned to be repentant, which is the first unbelievable part of an unbelievable ending, which I won't spoil. The movie is a little hard to watch because the main characters are so unlikeable. Huston and Bondi are righteous prigs. Crawford is heavily made up and often over-acts her part. There are a few good scenes, however, and it may be of interest to see this adaptation of the short story by W. Somerset Maugham, which spurred several other movies and plays.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A beautifully-shot, well-acted train wreck with a holier-than-thou, carrot-and-stick approach and a confusing ending which renders it pointless.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

a first strong roles of Joan Crawford, and indeed she looks like gloria. wasnt she?

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Lewis Milestone

Director

Joan Crawford

Sadie Thompson

Walter Huston

Alfred Davidson

William Gargan

Sergeant Tim O'Hara

Guy Kibbee

Joe Horn

Walter Catlett

Quartermaster Bates

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

96%

79%

Shanghai Express

86%

75%

Sadie Thompson

100%

100%

Broken Lullaby

100%

46%

The Lost Squadron

86%

65%

The Bitter Tea of General Yen

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Derek Smith

Slant Magazine

Rain’s sometimes blunt portrait of a familiar conflict is complicated by a milieu that is indifferent to demands for piety.

Sep 18, 2022

Full Review

TIME Staff

TIME Magazine

Director Lewis Milestone has made semi-respectable, unexciting, the old sure-fire melodrama.

Apr 14, 2020

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Its pre-Code standing means that it doesn't pull many punches in its portrayal of religious hypocrisy.

Rated: 3/4

Sep 25, 2022

Full Review

Jason Shawhan

Nashville Scene

If you only know her work from the Golden Age of Hollywood, or from her later career adventures in exploitation films and the infamy brought by Mommie Dearest, you are in for quite a surprise.

Sep 9, 2021

Full Review

Pare Lorentz

Vanity Fair

Joan Crawford gives an amiable and shrewd characterization: a performance, in fact, which is not so much deep or tender as it is a facile demonstration of how to work before a camera.

Jun 5, 2019

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Its shocking sensationalism has lost its punch.

Rated: B-

Jan 30, 2010

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

In the South Pacific, the passengers of a boat must disembark prematurely at the island of Pago Pago due to a cholera scare. Among them are missionaries Alfred Davidson (Walter Huston) and his wife (Beulah Bondi), and a spirited prostitute, Sadie Thompson (Joan Crawford). On the island, Thompson lives it up with the American soldiers stationed in the village, and captures the heart of Sgt. Tim O'Hara (William Gargan). But Thompson's wild ways are too much for Davidson, who tries to convert her.

Director: Lewis Milestone
Distributor: Reel Media International [us], United Artists, The Roan Group
Production Co: Feature Productions, Lewis Milestone Productions Inc.
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 12, 1932, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 12, 2016
Runtime: 1h 33m

Most Popular at Home Now