Honest working girl (Joan Crawford), the daughter of a cook who's employed by a high society family, is jilted at the altar by her no-good fiancé and decides not to go home (despite an apparently warm relationship with her mother); instead, she takes a job as a hoochie-koochie dancer, catching the eye of an alcoholic, millionaire playboy. The young Joan Crawford practically developed the patent for roles such as this--yet, the film is just as masochistic and sudsy as her later, more womanly soapers. Despite a solid M-G-M production, "Sadie" creaks and groans under the weight of improbabilities and half-baked dramatics, and the heroine's initial circumstance (living poor vs. living back home) is just shrugged off. There are some good ideas and scenes, and fascinating musical asides (check out that incredible all-male trio at the nightclub--whew!!). Joan, dressed for the most part in black, scowls, cries, and gets socked in the face, though her finest moments are all near the end (particularly when she puts herself in-cahoots with the millionaire's staff). The script, based on the short story "Pretty Sadie McKee" by Vina Delmar, is no great shakes, but it should satisfy those in the mood for a torrent of grand emoting. ** from ****
Review of Sadie McKee
