Miss Sadie Thompson and Rita
Posted: April 26th, 2007, 10:37 am
How sad that a part like this didn't come along to Rita earlier in her career. It may have changed the way people (men in general) looked at her. The lady had substance as an actress, but most of her roles never allowed her to show that.
I've always avoided this movie because as I've stated, I've never been a big fan of Rita, and Aldo Ray was fine as a supporting actor, but never struck me as a lead, or romantic. From the first scene with Jose Ferrer, I knew he would harm Sadie in some way as I'm sure most everybody else did when watching the movie.
Back to Rita though. She pulled out all the stops in this one. When called upon she was flighty, serious, remorseful, and attractive as the story played out, often within a scene going from one emotion to another. She WAS Sadie and after seeing her, I doubt anyone else could have done the part justice. As the soon to be aging glamour girl, she was fantastic with a great make-up man who really knew his stuff. When she first made her appearance she delivered her lines so normally and fluidly, I barely knew she was acting, and later in her self-examination scenes with Jose, she was subdued to almost comatose.
In Pal Joey and Separate Tables she continued her awakened acting ability, but I think Miss Sadie Thompson was her very best role - much better than Gilda, Lady from Shanghai or any other part she played.
Previous to Sadie, she was nothing but a sex symbol, sliding through the movies, but with Sadie, she became an actress.
Anne
[/b]
I've always avoided this movie because as I've stated, I've never been a big fan of Rita, and Aldo Ray was fine as a supporting actor, but never struck me as a lead, or romantic. From the first scene with Jose Ferrer, I knew he would harm Sadie in some way as I'm sure most everybody else did when watching the movie.
Back to Rita though. She pulled out all the stops in this one. When called upon she was flighty, serious, remorseful, and attractive as the story played out, often within a scene going from one emotion to another. She WAS Sadie and after seeing her, I doubt anyone else could have done the part justice. As the soon to be aging glamour girl, she was fantastic with a great make-up man who really knew his stuff. When she first made her appearance she delivered her lines so normally and fluidly, I barely knew she was acting, and later in her self-examination scenes with Jose, she was subdued to almost comatose.
In Pal Joey and Separate Tables she continued her awakened acting ability, but I think Miss Sadie Thompson was her very best role - much better than Gilda, Lady from Shanghai or any other part she played.
Previous to Sadie, she was nothing but a sex symbol, sliding through the movies, but with Sadie, she became an actress.
Anne
[/b]