In Rain (1932), Joan Crawford played Sadie Thompson, a woman travelling in the South Pacific who clashes with a missionary determined to reform her. Directed by Lewis Milestone and based on W. Somerset Maugham’s story, the film was one of Crawford’s most ambitious early sound roles.
Sadie is defiant, funny and vulnerable, and Crawford played her with a force that made the character’s struggle feel real. Her famous scenes, including a dance to the gramophone, showed a performer who could command a film with presence alone.
Rain was not a commercial success at the time, but it has since been recognised as a key Crawford performance — a brave, unglamorous role that showed her range beyond the flapper and shopgirl parts.