Joan Crawford was one of Warner Brothers leading ladies in the thirties and forties, starring in some of the greatest melodrama films out there. Throughout her career, the iconic actress was in a plethora of great films with parts that displayed her superior acting abilities. One of her main roles she would play was that of a restless middle-class to poor woman who worked her way up to become a wealthy lady. In Sadie McKee, a pre-code drama romance from 1934 she is the star in such a of role.
In this film Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce, The Damned Don’t Cry, Berserk) is the title character Sadie McKee who is living in poverty and is fed up with it. Along with her boyfriend Tommy Wallace (Gene Raymond, Mr. and Mrs. Smith) they go to New York to seek their fortune. Tommy, a musician gets noticed by another female who steals him away from poor Sadie. Heartbroken but still determined, she goes to a nightclub where her childhood friend Michael “Mike” Alderson (screen legend Franchot Tone, Reckless, Jigsaw, Mutiny on the Bounty) is there with his friends including a drunken Jack Brennan (Edward Arnold, The Devil and Daniel Webster, Meet John Doe, You Can’t Take It with You). Completely intoxicated not in a clear state of mind due to the copious amounts alcohol he has consumed, Jack winds up marrying her! Sadie is later accused by Alderson that she married him for money and to live the life of luxury that she always wanted. Sadie doesn’t deny any of it! But being wealthy, as Sadie soon learns, isn’t everything as Jack has severe drinking problems which leads to some unforeseen situations. And of course, that’s when Tommy returns to her life to complicate things even further!
Sadie McKee is one of my favorite Joan Crawford movies with excellent performances by the cast which includes Leo G. Carroll as Finnegan Phelps, Brennan’s butler and Akim Tamiroff as Riccori, the headwaiter as the cafe where Jack, Sadie and company are hanging out at and having a great time! Edward Arnold is unforgettable as the often-intoxicated Jack! The song “All I Do Is Dream of You” which is heard during the opening title credits and in certain scenes, was mainly sung by Gene Raymond. I admit I am not really a fan of the song and found it to be annoying at times due to overexposure! Outside of that, to me this is one of Joan Crawford’s best films from the thirties.
Sadie McKee arrives on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection sporting a new 2025 1080p HD Master with 4K scans of the best preservation elements. Unquestionably, this is the best Sadie McKee has ever looked on home video. The picture quality is sharper and much cleaner than the previous DVD versions. This movie was part of the Joan Crawford Volume 2 DVD set, where the disc stopped playing due to disc rot and was re-released as a DVDr, which was through the Warner Archive Collection. This Blu-ray offers a nearly pristine image with a strong greyscale, a wealth of detail shown in various shots. Blacks and whites look marvelous and balanced. Textures look fantastic in this new Blu-ray release. Grain is prevalent throughout the presentation and no DNR or other artificial enhancements were used. There was maybe a couple of shots where the image was a bit softer for whatever reason. It was nothing major to me and was an absolute joy to watch Sadie McKee in HD!
The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono soundtrack was also fine with crisp easy to understand dialogue which has been mixed perfectly with the songs, musical numbers and sound effects. None of the audio for this feature was overbearing or did not drown out other sound effects. On a few scenes a small hissing sound that can be heard but it was nothing distracting. Other age-old anomalies such as crackle, pops were absent on this Blu-ray. English subtitles are available for this release.
Special Features for this release are three classic1934 cartoons that are all in HD:
Pop Goes Your Heart
Shae Your Powder Puff
Why Do I Dream These Dreams?
This release includes an original theatrical trailer.
After years of hoping Sadie McKee would be released on Blu-ray, that day has finally come, and I am quite pleased with it. Even though the release has few extras, it doesn’t really matter to me that much as it has superior audio and video, looking and sounding the best that it ever has, which is more important than the extras because I watch the movie more often. This Blu-ray is easily highly recommended!
Sadie Mckee
Director – Clarence Brown
Cast- Joan Crawford, Edward Arnold, Franchot Tone
Country of Origin-USA
Distributor – Warner Archive/ Warner Home Video
Number of Discs –1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date- 3/27/2025