An adaptation of Faulkner's grim and fascinating “Sanctuary.” Miriam Hopkins is excellently cast as Temple Drake, the daughter of a prominent Southern family, who chooses a more rebellious life than that of the sober belle and moves to the city to live in a brothel run by her bootlegging assailant-turned-lover. Film historian William K. Everson comments:
“Together with Warner's ‘blue' comedy, Convention City (also 1933), The Story of Temple Drake has the dubious distinction of being the last straw that almost single-handedly brought about the Code crackdown. Vitriolically attacked by the press even before its completion - trade papers even urged that it be abandoned, in view of the notoriety of the novel - the film emerged as a curious hybrid. The obvious depravities were removed, the stress on melodrama and horror somewhat expanded.... Despite its gloss and style, it's still quite a queasy little work. (In its seedy and nasty way, a precursor of film noir.) Its major asset is the superbly atmospheric camerawork of Karl Struss, who at one point even manages the ultimate in suggesting everything while showing nothing by showing a rape scene solely by the pin-point glow of a cigarette in a pitch-black room! There is some bright and brittle dialogue, but the overall effect is decidedly downbeat and intrinsically faithful Faulkner.”