UPDATED IN 2025--CROTON'S GLORIA SWANSON AS SADIE THOMPSON 1928

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Updated in 2025---click on the photos and links.

As many of you know, Gloria Swanson lived in Croton-on-Hudson.  You can see photos from her Croton home here.  We are delighted to update this post on Swanson in one of her best films, "Sadie Thompson".

For those who don't know, Sadie Thompson is a 1928 American silent drama film that tells the story of a "fallen woman" who comes to Pago Pago on the island of Tutuila to start a new life, but encounters a zealous missionary who wants to force her back to her former life in San Francisco.  The film stars Gloria Swanson, Lionel Barrymore, and Raoul Walsh, and was one of Swanson's better known silent films. (It was a big hit on Broadway but the Hays Office had banned it.)

Due to the subject matter, the making of the film was extremely controversial. However, it was a financial and critical success for Swanson.

The film was based on the short story "Rain" by W. Somerset Maugham. (A few years later Joan Crawford would assume the role as Sadie in a film entitled RAIN.  Click on the link to see the 1932 ad for Crawford in the part http://bit.ly/2kxXbKh)

Our friends at European Film Star Postcards have a wonderful post with lots of extraordinary images of Swanson---and some additional info on SADIE THOMPSON at European Film Star Postcards: Imported from the USA: Gloria Swanson

Read more about Swanson and the 1928 film here, courtesy of Wikipedia.