Why so much hype?

That was an excellent one.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Old Willie Maugham got a lot of mileage out of one short story. Under it's original title, Rain, it was produced on Broadway with Jeanne Eagels, and filmed twice, once with Gloria Swanson and once with Joan Crawford. They even had a shot at a Broadway musical version with a fine score by Vernon Duke but June Havoc (the real 'Baby June' from Gypsy) couldn't draw flies at the box office. Now Rita Hayworth has a stab at it, opposite Jose Ferrer as the religious zealot who has the hots for her. Director Curtis Bernhardt squanders a good five minutes of film getting over the fact that we're on a hot, humid and boring island in the Pacific, before bringing on the two leads. Rita Hayworth was a finer actress than she was given credit for, more or less trapped as sex on legs she was always able to project the vulnerable, insecure child just below the surface but though she does her considerable best she is manacled hand and foot to a dull, portentous, unimaginative script, matched in every detail by the direction. Catch it on TV or perhaps as a freebie with a newspaper but don't go out of your way.

Personally, I almost wish the Hayworth, Ferrer movie had never been filmed, as it allows no opportunities through scripting or direction for these talented actors to perform. I shall avoid any discussion of RAIN, the Summerset Maughm novel upon which this dismal, disappointing screen play was based. There is no legitimate justification for so doing.Ferrer performance seemed self-conscious, rigid and unbelievable. T here was no preparation for his transition from self-righteous clergyman to impassioned, sexual attacker.While I am well aware that MISS SADY THOMPSON was made back in the 1950s, I still find Rita Hayworth's costuming inappropriate and rather distracting. Red is definitely a useful and effective cultural symbol, suggesting far more than mere prostitution. Red also symbolizes anger, blood, and aggression, elements readily apparent within the actions and behavior of Hayworth's character.Having said this, Hayworth's continuous use of red clothing became stridently obvious and,therefore, rather silly and insipid. I would never identify this movie as the worst film I have ever seen. Nevertheless, I would not, under any circumstances, regard this failed effort as worthy of recommendation.

I was so excited to find this movie...two of my favorite actors together! But the movie just doesn't work. It can't get the spirit of its author (and what a sour spirit) because of censorship, nor does it try to get into the minds of fundamentalist Christians (I don't think the filmmakers could). It's very sad because you see glimpses of greatness. Ferrer and Hayworth seem to be struggling without a director to deliver, but the soundstagey mess of a film overtakes them. The supporting actors aren't very good. If this film had been made with some grittiness, maybe it would have succeeded. But as it is, it's a messy hodgepodge.(the story is definitely not obsolete. we can see versions of it with Jessica Hahn and Jim Bakker, etc.)

I was very surprised to find that Rita Hayworth was very much better than Joan Crawford in the same role (in "Rain"). Crawford always played Crawford, and had a lot of baggage she brought to the role. Hayworth was able to be flirty and vivacious with a "don't cross this line" under it that was very well done. And her changes of feeling over the course of the movie were as convincing as the script would allow, I think.Jose Ferrar was also great in his part... he also had to undergo change, and did it well.Aldo Ray was the weak point, convincing at the beginning as an eager Marine, but not really someone she could spend the rest of her life with... she way outclassed him.Overall, though, an excellent movie, and definitely better in 3D!