Operatic melodrama of the 1950s
When first released, “Written on the Wind” received unenthusiastic reviews but was adored by moviegoers. Its critical fortunes have improved through the years as director Douglas Sirk has been rediscovered and re-evaluated by modern reviewers who have given his 1950s pictures more scrutiny. The film is an artifact of its repressive time, yet flirts with taboos while never addressing them head on.<br /><br />Mitch Wayne (Rock Hudson) grew up poor on the Texas ranch owned by oil millionaire Jasper Hadley (Robert Keith) but was brought up with Jasper’s son, Kyle (Robert Stack), and daughter, Marylee (Dorothy Malone). Now Mitch works for the Hadleys as a geologist and is high in Jasper’s esteem, while Kyle has become a drunken playboy and Marylee has turned to booze and one-night stands and is known as the town tramp.<br /><br />Mitch and Kyle are in New York on business and both become attracted to Lucy Moore (Lauren Bacall) from the firm handling the Hadley’s advertising. Kyle whisks Lucy off to the airport, leaving Mitch alone. Knowing how Kyle operates, Mitch reaches the plane before they do and they all fly to Miami Beach together.<br /><br />We soon learn that Marylee has had a crush on Mitch since childhood, while he regards her more as a sister than a romantic partner. This is what led her to the bottle and trysts with male strangers.<br /><br />Director Sirk provides a look at a wealthy family while interweaving twisted romantic relationships — the stuff of classic melodrama. The screenplay deals with nymphomania, alcoholism, impotence, unrequited love, betrayal, lies, jealousy, and familial dysfunction in a grand, operatic fashion that’s part of the film’s appeal.<br /><br />Sirk elicited showy, over-the-top performances from Stack and Malone and more tempered, down-to-earth portrayals from Hudson and Bacall to keep the picture from becoming entirely manic. The visual style of the film, like its characters, is extravagant, with mansions, luxurious interiors, beautiful costumes, fancy cars, and wealth dripping from every frame.<br /><br />Hudson is surprisingly subdued amid the family drama. The script leaves it to Hudson to show Mitch’s love for Lucy in subtle, non-verbal ways, which is not the actor’s forte, so the character’s emotions are awkwardly registered. Hudson is wonderfully wooden as always, and comes off looking stiff rather than rapturous. The one scene in which Mitch and Lucy kiss is long in coming and unconvincing.<br /><br />Bacall’s Lucy is an enigma. She willingly goes with Kyle to Florida yet decides, once there, to return because she finally realizes he has brought her there to be seduced. Lucy is kind of a doormat, and since we’re used to seeing Bacall in roles as intelligent women, Lucy’s cluelessness is a letdown.<br /><br />Malone, driving a red sports car, dancing the mambo with a photo of Mitch, and seducing a gas station attendant, has few quiet scenes and constantly is on the move. Marylee has never stopped trying to get Mitch to reciprocate her affection. Frustrated and deeply unhappy, she disguises her disappointment with a self-destructive lifestyle. Her pent-up emotion has its outlet in constant, furious and frantic movement that is so exaggerated as to become ludicrous.<br /><br />Stack, who a year later would assume the role that brought him his greatest fame, as Elliot Ness in TV’s “The Untouchables,” has been allowed to do the worst, stereotypical drunk scenes. Whether staggering, picking fights, exhibiting cruelty, physically abusing Lucy, or feeling sorry for himself, his Kyle is nearly comical in his unrestrained performance.<br /><br />“Written on the Wind,” though campy and with more than its share of trashiness, is nonetheless quite watchable. We get caught up in the machinations of these people even as we feel sorry for them. Their humanity shines through a veil of wealth and privilege, and we realize that huge sums of money alone cannot buy true happiness.<br /><br />The Criterion Collection Region A Blu-ray release contains 30 chapters for easy access to scenes. Bonus materials include the following:<br /><br />Acting For Douglas Sirk featurette (23:23)<br />Patricia White Interview (20:40)<br />Original theatrical Trailer (2:47)<br />Booklet<br /><br />Though coming years before TV’s “Dallas,” “Written on the Wind” has many of the same elements, particularly a dysfunctional family that made its fortune in oil. Director Sirk has filled every moment of the film with simmering tension, from Kyle’s initial appearance trying to seduce Lucy in their first meeting to the alcoholic stupor of his downfall.
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 {"Genre": "Drama", "Format": "Blu-ray", "Contributor": "Harry Shannon, Robert Stack, Edward Platt, Rock Hudson, Robert Keith, Dorothy Malone, Douglas Sirk, John Larch, Grant Williams, Robert J. Wilke, Lauren BacallHarry Shannon, Robert Stack, Edward Platt, Rock Hudson, Robert Keith, Dorothy Malone, Douglas Sirk, John Larch, Grant Williams, Robert J. Wilke, Lauren Bacall  See more", "Language": "English", "Studio": "The Criterion Collection", "MPAA rating": "NR (Not Rated)", "Package Dimensions": "6.8 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches; 5.92 Ounces", "Director": "Douglas Sirk", "Media Format": "Blu-ray", "Release date": "February 1, 2022", "Actors": "Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, Robert Keith", "Country of Origin": "USA", "Number of discs": "1"}

Here is a brief synopsis of the title : The Technicolor expressionism of Douglas Sirk reached a fever pitch with this operatic tragedy, which finds the director pushing his florid visuals and his critiques of American culture to their subversive extremes. Alcoholism, nymphomania, impotence, and deadly jealousy—these are just some of the toxins coursing through a massively wealthy, degenerate Texan oil family. When a sensible secretary (Lauren Bacall) has the misfortune of marrying the clan’s neurotic scion (Robert Stack), it drives a wedge between him and his lifelong best friend (Rock Hudson) that unleashes a maelstrom of psychosexual angst and fury. Featuring an unforgettably debauched, Oscar-winning supporting performance by Dorothy Malone and some of Sirk’s most eye-popping mise-en-scène,.