In this 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 (Jack LaRue). “The Story of Temple Drake has the dubious distinction of being (a) last straw...that almost single-handedly brought about the Production 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 way a precurser to 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.”
William K. Everson