Fascinatingly mannered early talkie adaptation of a semi-classic Somerset Maugham story, Rain starts wonderfully, with a rainstorm, then declines into a lurid drama of the sort that was considered shocking at the time (1932), and scarcely raises an eyebrow today. Lewis Milestone does a reasonable job under the circumstances, directing the movie in a manner as to suggest that he was for a while a student of the avant garde, as there are aspects of this film that seem almost experimental.<br /><br />The story concerns a displaced woman, Sadie Thompson, living on a south sea island, independent and yet depressed, a prostitute by trade, and her relationships with two men, one a handsome Marine, the other a minister as messed up as she is. As Sadie, the legendary Joan Crawford chews the scenery, with her wide-eyed expression at times seeming to burn two holes in the screen. She is at all times artificial, not credible in the least, and yet mesmerizing. Miss Crawford may not have been a great actress, but by God she was a star. As the erring Rev. Davidson, Walter Huston serves up his usual dish of poker faced ham, and is scarcely more believable than Crawford. In smaller roles, Beulah Bondi, and especially Guy Kibbee, perform nicely.<br /><br />For those interested in what early talkies were like this one is a must. It's very watchable, and Milestone and cinematographer Oliver Marsh work wonders with the camera. Hollywood generally did south seas stories fairly well, excitingly anyway, but failed to pull this one off in the appropriate manner. The constant rain is almost as much a downer for the viewer as for the characters; and there's no sense of why anyone would want to travel to this particular island, much less live there.<br /><br />