Rain (DVD)

On the South Pacific island of Pago Pago, Sadie Thompson (Joan Crawford) is a tough-talking plaything for American G.I.s. Missionary Alfred Davidson (Walter Huston) frowns upon her provocative flaunting. He warns her to repent or risk being deported to San Francisco where Sadie will face her dark past. Terrified and overwhelmed by his charisma, she is seduced into redemption and reborn, but in a shocking twist learns that temptation is hard to resist. The legendary director Lewis Milestone (All Quiet On The Western Front) uses an endless rain storm as a metaphor for Sadie's moral purification in this social commentary on the hypocrisy and sexual mores of the day. A young and beautiful Crawford, on loan from MGM, turns in a commanding performance alongside the stoic righteousness of Huston's Davidson in this cult favorite.

• drama