Purgatory (1953)

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Movie
German title purgatory
Original title Miss Sadie Thompson
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1953
length 91 minutes
Age rating FSK 18
Rod
Director Curtis Bernhardt
script Harry Little
production Jerry Woods
music George Duning ,
Lester Lee
camera Charles Lawton Jr.
cut Viola Lawrence
occupation
synchronization

Purgatory (original title: Miss Sadie Thompson ) is an American film adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's short story Miss Thompson from 1953. Directed by Curtis Bernhardt 's Rita Hayworth seen in the lead role.

action

The ship that is supposed to bring the titian blonde Sadie Thompson from Honolulu to New Caledonia is being quarantined . Finally we anchor in front of a hot and humid South Sea island. The marines stationed there are more than pleased when the attractive Sadie steps onto the landing stage. Immediately they offer her to take her to the next village and see to it that she can find accommodation there. Passengers who have also arrived are indignant at Sadie's frivolous behavior when dealing with the soldiers. The Reverend Alfred Davidson gets most excited. As the son of a former missionary , he enjoys the role of a religious fanatic who sees all pleasure as a sin. He sees Sadie as a downright danger to custom and order. However, the former nightclub singer vigorously rejects his allusions to her dubious past.

Sadie is still concerned about Davidson's allegations, since she has grown closer to Sergeant O'Hara and wants to start a new life with him in Sydney . She fears that O'Hara might believe Davidson too much and therefore end the relationship. Meanwhile, Davidson has been investigating and found that Sadie is wanted by the police in San Francisco , where she witnessed a knife fight. Now he incites the governor of the island against them. After O'Hara found out about it, he and Sadie got into an argument. In response to his reproaches, Sadie becomes hysterical and begins to exaggerate the way she used to live.

In the following time, Sadie seems to have become a completely different person. She complies with Davidson's demands for modest clothing and reserved, repentant behavior. O'Hara, however, does not recognize her and now confesses that he has never been an angel. When he suggests to Sadie that she be smuggled into freedom on a cargo steamer, she refuses with thanks. She no longer wants to run from her fate since Davidson converted her with the help of the Bible. He is obsessed with the idea of ​​having saved Sadie's soul. But at the same time he is fascinated by her beauty. Contrary to his own moral standards, he lets his instincts run free when he assaults Sadie. When he becomes aware of his terrible act, he takes refuge in suicide. Before Sadie gets the news of Davidson's death, she is back to normal: cheeky, cynical and not at a loss for a word. Still, Davidson's death makes her think. She leaves the island and wants to start a new life at the side of O'Hara.

background

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Purgatory is based on W. Somerset Maugham's short story Miss Thompson ( Rain , 1921). The originally provocative story about sin and redemption was defused for the film due to censorship and provided with music and dance interludes. In the course of this, the character of Sadie was transformed from a prostitute into a nightclub singer, while the immoral, sadistic priest Alfred Davidson was turned into a religious hypocrite and fanatic. Nevertheless, many conservative voices in the United States said that the film and especially the dance scene for the song The Heat Is On were too offensive and immoral and should therefore be withdrawn from circulation. Author Maugham, however, was taken with Rita Hayworth's Sadie and certified her to have played the role best up to then. The story of Sadie Thompson was previously staged on stage with Jeanne Eagels and filmed with Gloria Swanson ( ... but the meat is weak , 1928) and Joan Crawford ( Rain , 1932).

Filming in 3D

The Hanalei Pier on Kaua'i, the filming location of Sadie Thompson's arrival and departure

In the early 1950s, when television became a major competitor to cinema, 3D films became very fashionable, with which US film studios tried to counter declining sales. When Rita Hayworth returned to Hollywood after a four-year absence from the big screen through her marriage to Prince Aly Khan and made two financially very successful films with Affair in Trinidad (1952) and Salome (1953), her studio Columbia Pictures decided her next project Rotate in both Technicolor and 3D. While the indoor shots were filmed in the Columbia studios, the outdoor shots were shot in Kaua'i , Hawaii .

Purgatory premiered as a 3D film on December 23, 1953 in New York's Capitol Theater. At that time, however, the interest in 3D films had already declined, so that after two weeks only the normal two-dimensional version of the film was shown in theaters. However, the film appealed to both the critics and the audience even without 3D, although it could not match the financial success of the affair in Trinidad and Salome . On September 10, 2006, the film was shown publicly in 3D for the first time in many years at the World 3-D Expo in Grauman's Egyptian Theater in Hollywood . In Germany, the film, in which Charles Bronson appeared in a small supporting role under his original name Charles Buchinsky, was released for the first time on August 13, 1954. It was released on DVD in 2003.

Music and dance numbers

As in all of her films, Hayworth was dubbed the vocals in Purgatory , in this case by Jo Ann Greer .

Reviews

The critics were primarily positively surprised by Rita Hayworth's interpretation of Sadie Thompson. “I never thought I'd see the day when Rita Hayworth played José Ferrer on the wall,” said Jesse Zunser from Cue Magazine . But that is exactly what Hayworth is doing "in this defused version of Somerset Maugham's classic short story." She shows "probably her best acting performance here". The Technicolor colors are also "stunning". According to Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times , Rita Hayworth "undoubtedly delivered her most striking portrayal" in Purgatory . Some of it is "very good acting that outshines previous performances of the star with serious dialogue".

Variety said that Hayworth captured the spirit of her role “well” and that not even the lack of glamor in terms of make-up, costumes and camera work stood in the way of what it took to “make her appearance to adapt the depraved and disreputable figure of Sadie Thompson ”. Also, The Hollywood Reporter praised the "surprisingly good performance by Rita Hayworth, which makes full of fire and conviction Sadie and very credible."

Craig Butler of the All Movie Guide found in retrospect that José Ferrer in the film "doesn't seem to be fully involved" and Aldo Ray is "just unbelievable". So it is left to the "great" Rita Hayworth to "carry the film with her attraction, personality and sensuality". This comes to the fore best with the music and dance numbers, especially The Heat Is On , "one of the most erotic dance interludes" that can be shown on screen. If you gave Hayworth as a viewer the chance to "set the screen on fire," she would "certainly" do it. That doesn't elevate the film as “too great an art”, but makes it “unforgettable”. The film critic Leonard Maltin attested Hayworth "a provocative performance". For the lexicon of international films , purgatory was a “passion melodrama with musical interludes, masterfully designed in terms of color and atmosphere”.

Awards

At the 1954 Academy Awards , Lester Lee and Allan Roberts were nominated for an Oscar in the Best Song category with Blue Pacific Blues . However, they had to admit defeat to Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster , who were awarded for the song Secret Love from Heavy Colts in Tender Hands .

German version

The German dubbed version was created in Berlin in 1954 .

role actor Voice actor
Sadie Thompson Rita Hayworth Gisela Trowe
Alfred Davidson José Ferrer OE Hasse
Sgt. Phil O'Hara Aldo Ray Horst Niendorf
Pvt. Edwards Charles Bronson Harald Juhnke

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Jeff Stafford on tcm.com
  2. ↑ John Kobal: Rita Hayworth: The Time, The Place and the Woman . W. W. Norton, New York 1977, ISBN 0-393-07526-5 , p. 253.
  3. ^ Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 197.
  4. ↑ cf. Miss Sadie Thompson on jeffjoseph.com ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ “I never thought I'd live to see the day when Rita Hayworth would steal acting honors from José Ferrer. But that's exactly what she does in this sanitary version of Somerset Maugham's classic short story […]. Miss Hayworth gives what is probably her best performance. [...] Its Technicolor is dazzling. " Jesse Zunser quoted in Cue Magazine . after Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 197.
  6. ↑ “Rita Hayworth does her flashiest portrayal, bar none, in Miss Sadie Thompson . Some of it is very good acting, too, outshining the star's prior efforts along more serious lines. " Edwin Schallert quoted in Los Angeles Times . after Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 196.
  7. ↑ "She catches the feel of the title character well, even to braving completely deglamorizing makeup, costuming and photography to fit her physical appearance to that of the bawdy, shady lady that was Sadie Thompson." See Miss Sadie Thompson . In: Variety , 1953.
  8. ↑ "A strikingly good performance by Rita Hayworth who plays with fire and conviction, making a thoroughly believable Sadie." The Hollywood Reporter quoted. after Gene Ringgold: The Films of Rita Hayworth . Citadel Press, Secaucus 1974, p. 196.
  9. ^ “José Ferrer doesn't seem to have his heart in his work, and Aldo Ray is simply unbelievable. That leaves Hayworth, in great form, to carry the picture with her magnetism, personality, and sensuality. These come through most effectively in the handful of musical numbers, especially the incredible The Heat Is On , one of the most blazingly erotic dance segments to be put on the screen. Give Hayworth the chance to set the screen on fire and she certainly delivers; it can't raise Miss Sadie Thompson to great art, but it does make it memorable. " Craig Butler, cf. omovie.com
  10. ↑ "Rita gives a provocative performance." Leonard Maltin : Leonard Maltin's 2015 Movie Guide . Penguin Books, New York 2014, ISBN 978-0-698-18361-2 .
  11. ↑ Purgatory. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 27, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  12. ↑ cf. synchrondatenbank.de