Sadie McKee

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Total Count: N/A

71%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 201

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Movie Info

In this '30s Joan Crawford vehicle, Crawford plays the heroine Sadie McKee, who climbs up the lover's ladder from a drifter/loser, to a millionaire lush, to a hard-working successful businessman who falls for her and, as she finally realizes, she for him.

Rating:

NR
Genre:

Classics, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Romance
Directed By:

Clarence Brown
Written By:

John Meehan
In Theaters:

May 9, 1934 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Feb 12, 2008
Runtime:

90 minutes
Studio:

MGM

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Cast

Joan Crawford
as Sadie McKee Brennan

Gene Raymond
as Tommy Wallace

Edward Arnold
as Jack Brennan

Franchot Tone
as Michael `Mike' Alderson

Esther Ralston
as Dolly

Earl Oxford
as Stooge

Jean Dixon
as Opal

Leo G Carroll
as Phelps

Akim Tamiroff
as Riccori

Zelda Sears
as Mrs. Craney

Helen Ware
as Mrs. McKee

Gene Austin
as Cafe Entertainer

Charles Williams
as Cafe Pest

Mary Forbes
as Mrs. Alderson

Francis McDonald
as Chauffeur

Lee Phelps
as Chauffeur

Harry C. Bradley
as Dr. Taylor

Wyndham Standing
as Butler at Alderson House

Minerva Urecal
as Cook's Assistant at Brennon Home

Ethel Griffies
as Woman in Subway

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Critic Reviews for Sadie McKee

All Critics (3)

Miss Crawford suffers with elegant gallantry.

Jun 6, 2019 | Full Review…

Helen Brown Norden
Vanity Fair
Even with its many flaws this is a gem of a film.

Nov 7, 2018 | Full Review…

Raquel Stecher
Out of the Past
A quintessential Joan Crawford vehicle of the Depression era, this melodrama centers on a working-class femme (cook's daughter) and the three men in her life: bad boy lover Gene Raymond, rich boy Franchot Tone, and drunken millionaire Edward Arnold.

Mar 2, 2008 | Rating: B- | Full Review…

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

View All Critic Reviews (3)

Audience Reviews for Sadie McKee

Jan 13, 2012

It's so strange that almost no one today knows about the extraordinary early career of Joan Crawford. She was America's leading lady in the 1930s and made an incredible number of wonderful little movies in that decade -- several gems per year, many with Clark Gable. I stumbled upon movies like 1934's "Sadie McKee" while in the process of exploring Bette Davis's early movies. Now I know why Davis had such a bee in her bonnet when it came to Crawford: Davis was envious of Crawford all through the early 1930s. Crawford was the legend that Davis so wanted to become. It's sad today that while Davis's movies are still seen, most of Crawford's aren't even available on disc! Tragic. Everyone remembers Crawford, but more for the sideshow that her personal life became and for the performances she gave after her rediscovery in "Mildred Pierce" (1945). No one watches her early movies. There's so little demand for them that most aren't even pressed on disc. "Sadie McKee" has some problems, particularly when it comes to story structure. While it's a bit jumbled and tries to be too many things, it's also entertaining as hell and has some sublime moments that seem to stop time. I kept imagining myself in a theater in 1934 watching this gem flickering in the dark. Imagine going back in time to see movies in theaters in the 1930s, when cinema was still so fresh and new, still being invented. It gives me goosebumps. Watching Joan Crawford's early work has made me fall in love with the movies all over again.

William D Super Reviewer
Aug 28, 2008

Rags to riches with Joan, the clothes are phenomenal the film dated.

jay n Super Reviewer