This 1953 version of "Rain" cannot hope to compare with the 1928 or 1932 versions, main;y due to its inability to pick a tone and stick with it. Is it a musical romp about a free-spirited woman? A drama about her conflict with a hypocritical missionary? A comedy? What is it?
The look of the film is garish and ugly. The songs barely make a mark on the memory, and not only because there are so few of them.
Rita Hayworth does her best, but she cannot hope to compete with Gloria Swanson or Joan Crawford, who both communicated world-weariness and inner fire in their performances. Jose Ferrer is monotone throughout. The missionary man is supposed to be disciplined and elitist, true, but he does have, you know, feelings. I'm sure he's not a robot.
Overall, this is not worth your time. Watch the earlier versions instead.
The look of the film is garish and ugly. The songs barely make a mark on the memory, and not only because there are so few of them.
Rita Hayworth does her best, but she cannot hope to compete with Gloria Swanson or Joan Crawford, who both communicated world-weariness and inner fire in their performances. Jose Ferrer is monotone throughout. The missionary man is supposed to be disciplined and elitist, true, but he does have, you know, feelings. I'm sure he's not a robot.
Overall, this is not worth your time. Watch the earlier versions instead.