Joan Crawford
Sadie Thompson
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Synopsis
A health alert strands a ship's passengers in Pago Pago. Sadie Thompson's convivial life among American servicemen provokes a missionary determined to change her. Their conflict turns a temporary stop into an increasingly coercive struggle over morality and freedom.
Cast
DirectorsLewis Milestone (uncredited)
Inspirations
The film adapts the stage treatment of W. Somerset Maugham's story about Sadie Thompson. Its confrontation with religious hypocrisy and Joan Crawford's departure from glamorous roles met a difficult initial reception.
Sources and availability
The synopsis and editorial text were written for this collection. The references below were cross-checked to identify the film and its copy; each editorial section identifies its reference.
Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.
The reference concerns the original work. Restorations, colorization, translations and other territories may have different conditions. This site uses the player enabled by the channel.
Availability checked on September 10, 2026.
Photograph credit
Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.
- Joan Crawford — Studio Publicity · Public domain
- Walter Huston — studio · Public domain
- William Gargan — NBC Radio · Public domain
- Guy Kibbee — Unknown author · Public domain
