User reviews

In Richley, New York, Sadie McKee (Joan Crawford) works as a maid in the Alderson mansion where her mother is the cook. When the son of their employee, the successful lawyer Michael Alderson (Franchot Tone) that was raised with her, returns from New York after two years, his family offers a dinner party to family and friends. While serving soup, Sadie hears the comments made by Michael about her boyfriend Tommy Wallace (Gene Raymond), who was fired from the Alderson factory accused of being a dishonest person. Sadie reacts and tells that they are insensitive. Sadie decides to flee with Tommy to New York to get married and find job. They befriend Opal (Jean Dixon) and she takes them to the low- budget boardinghouse where she lives. On the next morning, Sadie leaves the boardinghouse to seek a job and marry her beloved Tommy. But his next room neighbor Dolly Merrick (Esther Ralston) overhears him singing and seduces Tommy to travel with her in an itinerant show business. Sadie prepares to return home, but Opal convinces her to stay and finds a job of dancer in a nightclub. Ten days later, Sadie is helped by an alcoholic costumer to get rid of an abusive one and he invites her to join him at his table. She learns that he is the millionaire Jack Brennan (Edward Arnold) and his friend is Michael Alderson. When Michael patronizes her telling to leave Jack, she is still angry with Michael and stays with Jack that proposes to marry her. She accepts and is seen by the society as a gold-digger. But Sadie is still in love with Tommy. What will happen to her?

"Sadie McKee" is a Pre-Code drama with the story of a working girl in love with a rascal that marries a wealthy girl. The role is perfect for Joan Crawford. The amoral story has a great open conclusion where the viewer needs to guess the birthday wish of Michael. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Três Amores" ("Three Loves")

Joan Crawford acts up a storm in this well done, interesting soap opera like story of working girl Sadie, daughter of a cook, who is madly in love with a loser named Tommy (played by Gene Raymond). Sadie and Tommy run off together to NYC where they soon take up residence in this shabby, one-room apartment. The next day, big plans for job hunting and a noon appointment at the city hall to get married, but unfortunately for Sadie, Tommy the Rat is thrown in the path of a bad blonde/singer named Dolly who hires him on the spot to sing in her act, they kiss and run off together leaving poor Sadie waiting at the so-called altar. But Sadie pulls herself up by her boot straps, gets a job as a dancer, and meets a multi-millionaire (Edward Arnold) with a big drinking problem, while still holding the torch for her beloved Tommy.

This film is quite a good one, the story completely held my interest, and the acting is top-notch with Joan Crawford giving out her full emotional range, Edward Arnold is excellent playing drunk for the majority of his scenes, and Esther Ralston does a good job as Dolly, the loose hipped, barely able to sing man-snatcher. Franchot Tone plays a lawyer, the son of the well-to-do home where Sadie was raised - he isn't given as much to do here as I would have liked but still gives a satisfying performance, and he certainly looks handsome enough, as usual. The film includes a few fun to watch musical numbers, plus some interesting scenes filmed in diners and a neat old-time Automat.

I'd have to describe Sadie McKee as both the typical Joan Crawford vehicle and the typical Franchot Tone vehicle. The two of them who were husband and wife when the film was made are perfectly cast in roles that typified their images in the Thirties.

Crawford is the daughter of a cook on the sumptuous palatial Long Island estate where Tone is the young heir and a lawyer by trade. To earn a few extra bucks Crawford occasionally helps mom out serving at formal meals.

At one of those meals she hears Tone disparaging her sweetheart Gene Raymond who was caught in a petty theft. Tone makes a big point in saying we can't give people like these help because they're no good. Crawford throws a fit and runs to Raymond.

She almost marries Raymond, but he runs out on her for Esther Ralston. In New York working as a nightclub cigarette girl she runs into Edward Arnold who is a millionaire with a severe drinking problem. No doubt caused by drinking a lot of rotgut liquor during recently repealed Prohibition. And wouldn't you know it, Tone is his lawyer.

So Sadie has her three men, give you one guess who she winds up with in the end. You'd probably guess right, but let's say it's a character altering experience for all.

Sadie McKee is probably a good example of the Joan Crawford shop girl before she became a hardened creature like Crystal Allen in The Women. As for Franchot Tone, MGM just loved casting him as rich men in a tuxedo, probably because he looked so darn good in them. The only way either of them escaped type casting was as they got older they varied their parts due to age. Crawford was ever the film star, even in some of the horror flicks she did in the sixties. Tone went right into television and worked steady right up to his death.

Sadie McKee however is a good opportunity to see them both young and at the height of their fame. Also note the Nacio Herb Brown-Arthur Freed ballad All I Do Is Dream Of You comes from Sadie McKee.

Clarence Brown was an above average director and his pictures with Joan Crawford in the early and mid '30s are better than those she did with others. Brown had an eye and a sense of detail and he favors long takes with two or more performers interacting, which creates a certain tension where there might otherwise be none. Certainly this improbable script is not noticeably better than others Joan did around that time, but everything about this picture works perfectly.

Having finally found her best 'look,' Crawford is undeniably gorgeous, the ravishing epitome of glamor. And Adrian does some of his best work for her in this, putting her in one stunning and flattering gown after another. She is also given a talented and varied supporting cast and all of the big set pieces work, though Edward Arnold's drunk scenes go on for too long.

And there are a couple of fantastic sets, one of Arnold's mansion and the other of a glass sanitarium in the snow. Though the whole cast is more than adequate, a few players stand out: Jean Dixon is delightfully world weary in a leopard coat, Esther Ralston makes a perfect amoral siren, and it's a bit of a revelation to see how much Leo G. Carroll accomplishes by doing very little in his role as a nasty butler. There's also a fantastic jazz version of "After You've Gone" performed by Gene Austin, Candy Candido and Otto Heimel. As for the main players, Crawford, Franchot Tone and Gene Raymond don't dig very deep in their performances, but with a plucky, luscious Crawford at full tilt and with everything else about this movie clicking so well, it doesn't matter. It works.

This is often forgotten in Joan Crawford's filmography. It has lots of the ingredients of precode Hollywood, released a couple of month before the inception of the Production Code. It also has lots of the components of the films that Crawford made for MGM of the 1930s, but this one came relatively early in her career and thus seems fresh compared to later similar entries.

Sadie is the daughter of the cook in the home of the wealthy Alderson family. One night when helping out with the serving at dinner, she listens to the son and lawyer of the family (Franchot Tone as Michael) talking about how her boyfriend, Tommy Wallace, is a thief and should get no second chance from the community now that he's been fired from his job. Sadie tells them off and takes off with Tommy (Gene Raymond) to New York City. They have about twenty dollars between them, and pretend to be married to the landlady, planning to be married the next day. Sadie has a job interview, so she and Tommy agree to meet at city hall at noon and be married. He never shows. But this is not an Affair to Remember. Instead, it's exactly what you'd suspect. Brassy nightclub singer Dolly Merrick hears Tommy singing in the boarding house bathroom and offers him a job singing in her act. But the audition would conflict with his wedding. Tommy picks the audition over the wedding, clears out his clothes, and doesn't even leave a note behind.

Sadie, now a hardened jaded woman, gets a job dancing in a night club act where she meets the very wealthy Jack Brennan ( Edward Arnold). He's drunk when he meets her, drunk when he marries her, in fact the guy is perpetually drunk to the point I get tired of him, and it is so hard to get tired of the talented Edward Arnold. The complicating factor is that Michael Alderson is Brennan's lawyer, thinks the worst of Sadie, and is still a pompous glass bowl, although he was right about Tommy having no character. Sadie can't forgive him for that either.

Then comes the day when Sadie is told Brennan will die if he doesn't quit drinking, Sadie sees Tommy again and the old feelings surface, and Michael AND all of the servants think she is just a scheming tramp trying to let Brennan die drinking so she can become the rich widow. Complications ensue.

This film had lots of precode moments. There is the insinuation that Tommy and Sadie, in spite of their promises to each other to wait, do share a bed that one night they are in the rooming house. And there is the delightful Jean Dixon as Sadie's hard boiled friend who looks at the bedroom arrangements after Sadie marries Brennan and says "I've done a lot more for a lot less".

Recommended if it ever comes your way. It packs a lot of plot into its running time.

Joan Crawford is "Sadie McKee" in this 1934 film also starring Gene Raymond, Edward Arnold, Franchot Tone, and Jean Dixon. Crawford is the daughter of the cook for the wealthy Alderson family. The young man of the family, Michael (Tone) has obviously fallen for Sadie, but her heart belongs to loser Tommy Wallace (Raymond), who has just been fired for a malfeasance. Sadie runs off to New York with Tommy, and the two wind up in the rooming house of Mrs. Craney. The next day, they are to be married at City Hall at noon. But showgirl Dolly Merrick (Esther Ralston) who also lives at the rooming house, hears Tommy's dulcet tones and convinces him to forget marriage, leave town, and take a job in her traveling show.

Another women rooming at Mrs. Craney's is Opal, who gets Sadie a job at her club. There Sadie meets the filthy rich, drunken Jack Brennan, whom she marries. It turns out that Jack's drinking has all but destroyed his health. Though Sadie can't stop thinking about Tommy, she is determined to help Jack quit drinking and regain his health.

Pretty good melodrama, with Crawford wearing some fabulous outfits. Esther Ralston was a gorgeous blonde and is a lively Dolly Merrick, and Jean Dixon gives a good performance as Opal.

The debonair Franchot Tone gives a smooth performance as Michael, and Gene Raymond sings and acts pleasantly enough as Tommy, who manages to be likable though he walked out on Sadie.

Crawford made a lot of this type of film -- the working girl who moves up in class -- and they were very popular. She gives an appealing performance, and she was one actress who could look and act like a hard-working girl who came from a slum and also pull off being glamorous and wealthy.

Worth seeing.

Another poster has mentioned that this film was released a couple of months before the Hayes Code was being strictly enforced. Nevertheless it has to go through some amazing "story gymnastics" to get several points across.

I don't want to spoil the story for anyone, but observe the incredibly indirect way Sadie's friend has to ask if she is sleeping with her wealthy husband, and the almost as indirect answer Sadie gives. Perhaps even this much wouldn't have been allowed under full enforcement of the Hayes Code.

Alcoholism was another touchy subject. It's very clear that Sadie's husband is an alcoholic, but the words "alcoholism" is never used; the disease is simply called "it," and you have to infer what "it" is from the surrounding material.

I'm trying to not give too much of the story away, but another rule movie makers had to follow was that divorced people aren't supposed to be happy. So what to do after Sadie and her wealthy husband are amicably divorced? For the answer, I guess people will have to watch the movie!

Well-made Clarence Brown pre-Code soaper with Joan Crawford (Brown directs Joan 5 times) costumed by Adrian (he does this a total of 28 times) and photographed by Oliver T. Marsh (he did a total of 15 films with Joan). First class production crew yields a first class film.

Joan plays a `shopgirl' character that could have had no heart (Barbara Stanwyck would have excelled at such an interpretation) but the writers gave her an innate goodness that warms Sadie McKee to her audience. Edward Arnold stands out as the drunken millionaire that must have served as a role model for Dudley Moore years later in `Arthur.' His sock in the jaw to Joan is unexpected and looks very real. Gene Raymond does well as the love interest and if that was he singing – he did it well. His final scene is very good and somewhat unusual. Franchot Tone does not appear to have had the opportunity to develop his character sufficiently to make him more effective. It must have been good enough, because he got Joan after the film was completed. A somewhat zaftig Esther Ralston still manages to demonstrate why she was `The American Venus' and why Raymond spent so much of his time smiling. Why her character does not react to Raymond singing a love song to Joan in the Apollo Theater is beyond me. Leo G. Carroll does a superb job as the butler – his distain for the lower class Joan is great.

Joan's character has many choices in this film and she generally comes out ahead with some short deviations into taking what she can get when she can get it. She gives great looks at Arnold when she realizes she must be his lover now that they are married and later to her friend when she exclaims, `So I've got everything, huh?' and while reflecting what she has done after throwing Tone out of her house. Arnold also has choices and responds well to the outcome of the marriage. Although the two policemen in the film do not take the `tip' offered by Joan, they run out after the taxicab man who gets their share presumably to get their cut out outside the presence of Joan.

This is excellent movie making and a must see for Joan Crawford fans (or anyone else that wants to see a good movie). Highly recommended.

I'm a big fan of the Crawford oeuvre, in all its permutations and occasional excesses. That said, her Sadie is refreshingly underplayed and sincere. The mid-Atlantic accent that she tended to is at a minimum here, and there is a fluidity that is in much contrast to the Greek tragic masks, riveting though they are, of some of her later performances. The wonderful Jean Dixon is on hand in a role that is a precursor to Eve Arden's pal of "Mildred Pierce" and "Goodbye My Fancy"--worldly, rueful, self-denigrating. (Mary Phillips took on a similar part in "The Bride Wore Red" several years later.) Esther Ralston does a fine job as the blowsy, sensuous man-stealer--at one point she practically does a Mae West with her intonations and stance. Solid performances also from Franchot Tone and Gene Raymond and the always-reliable, under-appreciated Edward Arnold. The very engaging Earl Oxford appears as "the Stooge" and one wonders why this charmer did not have a film career.

The story is serviceable, and there is a motif of characters' taking responsibility for their lives, and, as best they can, making amends for wrongs. Note that at the start and end of the film there are scenes in which the camera follows a character from one room to the next in such a way that you realize that there is not any real partition between the two rooms--an enjoyable little breaking of the "fourth wall" premise of theater.

I've said the same thing about so many of her movies, but Sadie McKee would have been better if it starred another actress besides Joan Crawford. She plays a poor young woman, the daughter of a cook, and through her quest to achieve high society and wealth, she learns about the real struggles of life. However, through her entire performance, all I felt was entitlement and a conceit that she knew where the camera was and thought she was doing a good job acting. If you don't get that vibe from Joan Crawford's performances, you might like this movie. I would have preferred Barbara Stanwyck.

The supporting cast of Sadie McKee is very good, helping to balance out their leading lady. Gene Raymond is the poor scoundrel who ruins Joan's reputation but keeps her heart, and he's very believable in all his scenes. Franchot Tone knew Joan when she worked in his house, and while he was fond of her in her youth, when she hardens, he tries to stop her from hurting anyone else along the way. They're very antagonistic towards each other in this film; no one would ever guess they'd get married in real life two years later! Edward Arnold is fantastic, as Franchot's friend who unknowingly walks into Joan's trap. Edward is extremely rich and extremely fond of alcohol, and while he picks up a chorus girl for a good time, he winds up getting much more than he bargained for. If he were unlikable, the story wouldn't work. Thankfully, he's likable and pitiable, despite his drunken foolishness, and everyone else can work off of him and create a good movie.

Unlike a lot of pre-code movies this doesn't really convey a genuine feel of the early 30s. It's primarily just a Joan Crawford vehicle so fans of Miss C should enjoy this but as an actual film, it's synthetic, a little flat and predictable.

OK, it's well made but possibly too well made to be authentic. It feels like it was written by a committee based on recommendations from a focus group. Joan Crawford plays the Joan Crawford character that her fans expected her to play. There's no originality involved, you can guess exactly what will happen next and you feel like you've seen this before even though you haven't. Surely even Joan Crawford fans must get bored with seeing her in the same tired old stuff? Give me the craziness her character in RAIN any day - at least she was different in that.

During The Depression, Viña Delmar wrote lots of great stories about struggling working class women, several of which evolved into films. BAD GIRL was one of the best. Their appeal was that they were believable stories about real down to earth people. Her original story for this, serialised in a 5c per magazine was apparently quite gritty, salacious and scathingly critical of the male patriarchal unfair society of America in the 1930s. This polished MGM product however feels just like a polished MGM product. It's the equivalent to one of those commercialised manufactured pop bands!

Funny how tastes change, back in the 1930s Gene Raymond was considered to be a bit of a hunk, a pin-up for the ladies. I can't too many women swooning over him today but what do I know? He's certainly not the most naturalistic actor but to be fair, he's got a reasonable singing voice as he demonstrates a few times with 'All I Do Is Dream Of You.' On another music related note, it's interesting to hear a rare guitar solo in the band's rendition of 'After You've Gone.' Not quite Jimmy Page but still something you don't often hear.

"Sadie McKee" was made just before Hollywood got serious about sanitizing its content, and the movie is set squarely in what we now call the pre-Code world. In this world, men are on the make, cops are on the take, rich people do pretty much as they please and prostitution is just another job option.

But while many other pre-Code film can leave you with a bleak feeling about human nature, this one is stocked with basically decent characters. Bribe-takers are just ordinary folks trying to get by. A clever seducer can't silence his own conscience. And when an aging, drunken millionaire orders up a young girl and takes her home for the night, the relationship quickly blossoms from exploitation into an odd kind of love.

Joan Crawford plays the title role, a plucky survivor whose ups and downs would have broken a lesser person. Gene Raymond, Franchot Tone and Edward Arnold play the three very different men in her life. The story is improbable at times, moving from flophouse to sleazy nightclub to mansion. But it's never gets so unrealistic that you stop caring. The ending is somewhat enigmatic, at least to me. I'm still wondering exactly where everyone stood at the end, and where things were headed. That's OK. I like a movie that leaves a little something nagging at you.

If the story is improbable, there's nothing unbelievable about how Joan Crawford's character turns men's heads. A lot of people still view Crawford through a "campy" lens, remembering her long years as a fading star with a lot of personal baggage (real and reputed). Forget all that stuff. In 1934 she was young and lithe and simply gorgeous. She carries this movie, and she carries it well.

This Joan Crawford tearjerker shows her at her peak at MGM and she displays why as she takes on more than one challenge dealing with difficult men in this tastefully directed work by Clarence Brown.

Cook's daughter, Sadie McKee (Crawford) on impulse runs off to the big city with her boyfriend, Ray (Gene Raymond) who desserts her for a singer (Esther Ralston). A cynical Sadie then hooks up with a millionaire alcoholic (Edward Arnold) and marries him. The ex remains in the background though while child hood friend played by Franchot Tone shows interest.

Crawford has her hands full with a variety of men from the outset and she juggles them with aplomb like only a major star of Crawford's status could. Flatteringly lensed by Oliver Marsh capturing both her beauty and tears as she opens the floodgates more than once. The supporting cast is excellent with Arnold turning in one of his best performances over a lengthy career.

But make no doubt about it, this is a Joan Crawford vehicle with her at the wheel from start to finish.

I had never heard of "Sadie McKee" before I saw it on Turner Classic's schedule and decided to Tivo it even though I'm not much of a Joan Crawford fan. I'm so glad I did. I think of 1934 as the start of the "code" period, but this is clearly pre-Code material. Not realistic in the modern sense, but more complex and human than I expected.

The real revelation to me was Franchot Tone as Michael, in whose aristocratic home Sadie grew up as the daughter of the cook. I have seen Tone in a number of other films -- "Mutiny on the Bounty" and "Lives of a Bengal Lancer" come to mind -- but I think I need to seek out some more of his films. In "Sadie McKee," he displayed more emotional range and acting technique than I had ever before seen from him. I understand that he and Crawford were married for awhile after this film was completed. It's easy to imagine the attraction.

This boxoffice hit from 1934 is a joy to behold for its lack of dripping syrup or treacle as is often the case with these female melodramas, even the best of them. Joan Crawford plays a role she basically had a patent on in the late twenties through the thirties. * Note, Joan Crawford when photographed rightly, looks like the most beautiful woman in the world. The role is that of a servant girl who is in love with one of her fellow workers. He gets fired by the family for something they know he did not do, but to make an example of him, still let him go. This obviously gets Joan riled up and she quits to the chagrain of the master's son, Franchot Tone who loves her. They move together, take the hard knocks together and I'll never forget a scene where a guy puts a cigarette into a hardly eaten cream cake: the look on Sadie/Joan's face is priceless. Will Joan keep her man? Will she survive and escape the claws of poverty? We all know what will happen and Joan to her credit gives one of her best and enduring performances. Check it out whenever it is on Turner Classic Movies.

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 ****

It's easy to see why films like this made Crawford the idol of millions of young women across the country. It's the epitome of a "vehicle".....a film designed to display all the talents of a star and make audiences fall for them. As in many of her early films, she begins at the bottom...the daughter of the cook for a wealthy family including Tone. She gets a hot scene right off the bat when she angrily defends her boyfriend, who is being derided by the aristocrats at the table, by telling them all off (this moment actually brings to mind Emily Watson's similar, yet much more subdued, scene in "Gosford Park".) Soon she and lover Raymond are off to NYC. This section is fascinating as it portrays the way diners were in that era. There's an astonishing coffee dispenser that is shown in one scene and the Automat is quite interesting to behold (not to mention the corned beef hash and 2 poached eggs for $0.35!) Circumstances progress to where she is working in a dance hall (and showing some positively scary legs! It amazing how times have changed in that, today, a similar dancer would have to have sticks for legs and breasts out to there, etc....) Here she becomes associated with a drunken millionaire (Arnold) who takes a major shine to her. Fortunately, for the viewer, she sticks with him, so she can wear an array of dazzling Adrien gowns and furs. Ultimately, each of the men in her life (Tone, Raymond, Arnold) presents her with a variety of conflicts and decisions....all of which she handles with the utmost nobility and grace. She is photographed magnificently throughout with her amazing profile and luminescent eyes featured repeatedly. It's a good thing the film is in black and white because she'd be too much to deal with in color! Everyone knows that Hurrell retouched his amazing portraits of her, but here she looks quite wonderful with just make up and good lighting. The plot is creaky and contrived and the film is just plain out of date, but it's great to see Joan in action in her quintessential role and there's a decent performance from Arnold and nice work by several other supporting players including Hitchcock favorite Carroll. One fun thing to watch for: As a precursor of the later, more antagonistic Crawford, Joan gets fed up with a nightclub singer, barks at her to "Shut up!" and shoves her backwards into a trunk! Fun stuff.

This Joan Crawford Film from MGM was Straddling the Line Between Pre-Post Code. A Few Things are Sanitized and Most of the Heavier Stuff is Implied Rather than Shown. But there is Alcoholism, Street Walkers, Some Disrobing, Violence Against Women, and a Few Others that are More than Implied.

Crawford is Enjoyable and Plays to Her Fan Base as a Rags-to-Riches Gal with a Moral Compass that Never Goes Fully Off Center, and is a Likable Protagonist in the Cut-Throat Depression Era.

She is Supported by a Fine Film Production with Art Deco Sets and Gowns, a Very Good Supporting Cast Including Edward Arnold, Francois Tone, Jean Dixon, Leo G. Carroll (debut), and the Always Bland and Forgettable Gene Raymond.

The Musical Numbers are Excellent Introducing "All I Do is Dream of You" and a Jazzy Rendition of "After You've Gone". The Other Tunes are Non Intrusive. The Heavy Soap-Opera Plot is More Engaging than Usual with Arnold's Irritating Drunk Character the Center of the Somewhat Tragic Story.

The Ending is Pure Hollywood Sap and Designed to Wring the Emotions and Bring the Tears and is the Most Heavy Handed of the Piece, but What Comes Before is Engaging and Interesting. Overall a Way Above Average Movie of its Type, and a Slightly Above Average Joan Crawford from Her Early Period.

Joan Crawford has some awesome roles. If she were to have starred in movies as a young lady in the 1990's, she may have been in action movies. The last role of hers that I really loved was, coincidentally, her role as Sadie Thompson in the movie "Rain."

In the movie "Sadie McKee" Joan played the eponymous character. Her life took some twists and turns largely because of her love for her sweetheart Tommy Wallace (Gene Raymond). Her love for Tommy was her only weakness, if she had any. Barring that, she was as tough, smart, and principled as they come.

In the beginning I didn't know how I'd feel about Sadie McKee. Was she going to be a typical sap, twisting herself into knots for a man she was in love with, or was she going to be a gold digger. Unfortunately, many women fell into one of those two categories back then.

It was when Sadie met the wealthy drunkard, Jack Brennan (Edward Arnold), that I was sold on her.

Sadie was working for a restaurant that provided entertainment and sexily clad women for the enjoyment of the male guests. Brennan saw Sadie and wanted to have a drink with her. Sadie's boss urged the meeting because he knew Brennan would spend considerable money at his restaurant, and it also meant a 10% cut for Sadie, so she obliged.

As she was sitting with the sloppily drunk Brennan she was getting an earful from Brennan's lawyer who also happened to be Sadie's childhood friend, Michael Alderson (Franchot Tone).

Michael was the impetus behind Tommy and Sadie running away to NYC. Just by happenstance Sadie encountered Michael again. Michael tried his best to be a savior to Sadie by telling Brennan he's drunk and that he'd give Sadie a ride home, etc. His chivalry was on full display.

When Sadie rejected every effort of Michael to break up the party, he turned on her. He went from being a chivalrous gentleman to being a moralistic blowhard. Now, he was intent on protecting the vulnerable Brennan from a "chiseler" like Sadie. Michael huffed and puffed until he was blue, but he couldn't move Sadie or Brennan. She didn't want to hear any part of his preaching. If Brennan wanted to marry her and spend money on her, that was her business. And that's exactly what happened. I knew then that I liked her. It wasn't so much that I was looking for her to take advantage of a rich sap, it was that I wanted her to do what she felt was right regardless of the chastising from Michael. I didn't want her to get bullied or browbeaten into a decision by some wannabe morally superior man, and she didn't.

Sadie McKee was a strong woman. She reminded me of a Blondie Johnson (played by Joan Blondell), a Frisco Jenny (played by Ruth Chatterton), or a Babyface (played by Barbara Stanwyck), except Sadie didn't do anything illegal. Sadie McKee was a superb woman who had the wonderful combination of toughness and integrity. Only if there were more Sadie McKees back then.

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SADIE MCKEE (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1934), directed by Clarence Brown, based on the story by Vina Delmar, stars Joan Crawford in one of her top movie roles for the studio. Once more playing a Sadie character named McKee, as opposed to Sadie Thompson from RAIN (United Artists, 1932), Crawford's role here is as a devoted and self-sacrificing woman with three men to consider.

Sadie McKee (Joan Crawford) is introduced as the daughter of a cook (Helen Ware) for the Alderson estate in Richley, New York. Though she has known Michael Alderson (Franchot Tone) since childhood, she has been in love with Tommy Wallace since she was 17. After overhearing Michael discussing Tommy (who has been fired for stealing from the neighborhood factory) in a negative manner, Sadie denouces her employers and quits. She goes away with Tommy (Gene Raymond) by train to New York City where he hopes for a better life. Thanks to the kindness of Opal (Jean Dixon), a stranger, Tommy and Sadie acquire a walk up flat with bathroom in hallway. With intentions on getting married the next day, Sadie goes off looking for a job. While singing in the bathroom, Tommy's voice catches the attention of Dolly Merrick (Esther Ralston), who immediately hires him for an act in Connecticut. Not wanting to lose his opportunity, Tommy leaves Sadie a farewell note. Opal then arranges the embittered Sadie a dancing job in a nightclub where she encounters Jack Brennan (Edward Arnold), an alcoholic millionaire, accompanied by his lawyer, Michael. Before the night of over, Brennan proposes marriage to Sadie, and accepts, against the wishes of Michael. Though Brennan's servants think Sadie is a tramp after Brennan's millions, she is, in fact, helping her husband from his alcoholism in order to save his life. In spite of her devotion to Brennan, whom she does not love, she still cannot stop thinking about Tommy. Co-starring Leo G. Carroll (Finnigan, the Butler); Akim Tamiroff, Zelda Sears, Frank Conroy, Samuel S. Hinds and Walter Walker.

Though essentially a drama, song numbers featured include: "All I Do Is Dream of You," "When I Look In Your Eyes," "After You've Gone" (performed by Gene Austin and Candy Candido)," "All I Do Is Dream of You" (reprise) and "Your Kiss Can Leave Me Weak and Willing." Of the tunes, "All I Do is Dream of You" has become a song standard.

Not quite as iconic as Crawford's Academy Award winning performance as MILDRED PIERCE (Warner Brothers, 1934), SADIE MCKEE is an interesting commodity. It must have been one of Crawford's favorites since it was clipped in her latter work of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (WB, 1961) in which her character watches her old movie on television with much admiration. Working for the third movie in a row opposite Franchot Tone, and only time with Gene Raymond and Edward Arnold, Arnold comes off second best as the alcoholic who refuses to give up the bottle. His drunken scenes are believably played, and even more agreeable when sober and sensible. Raymond proves to be a good singer during his song interludes along with some nice dramatic touches, while Jean Dixon, in a manner of character actress, Cecil Cunningham, plays amusingly as the wisecracking best friend.

Distributed to home video in the 1990s, and later DVD, SADIE MCKEE was resurrected after years of obscurity on Turner Network Television (1988-1991) and Turner Classic Movies cable channels for a new generation to enjoy. Good job, Sadie. (***)