Film Review
Douglas Sirk's second best film - after his superlative
Imitation of Life (1959) - is one
that contains possibly his most damning critique of the well-heeled
American family. With its trashy plot, kitsch design and
exaggerated characterisation,
Written
on the Wind may resemble the primetime American soaps that would
be made in the 1970s and '80s (
Dallas,
Dynasty, etc.), but if you
look beneath the surface, a much darker, far more profound film becomes
apparent. This is a bitterly ironic depiction of how wealth,
privilege and complacency can destroy our humanity and cause what is
best in ourselves - our trust, compassion and integrity - to be
consumed in a conflagration of baser passions. The film is based on Robert Wilder's
novel of the same title, which was inspired by a real-life scandal
involving the tobacco heir Zachary Smith Reynolds and singer Libby Holman.
Written on the Wind's most
obvious attraction is its stellar cast. Rock Hudson and Lauren
Bacall bring star quality to the film, but it is the contributions from
Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone that make it so memorable. Malone
won an Oscar for her portrayal of the manipulative nymphomaniac sister
Marylee, which made her the prototype for every conniving soap bitch
since. Stack gives the performance of his life, convincingly
playing a man who is tortured by inner demons which, in the best
tradition of Greek tragedy, drive him to an ignominious self-inflicted
doom. To quote one line in the film, what is there not to like?
Sirk brought the winning team of Hudson, Malone and Stack back together
for a later film,
The Tarnished Angels (1957).
Like much of Sirk's work,
Written on
the Wind is a film that requires at least two or three viewings
for its subtle messages to have their full impact. Even then,
some viewers will find it hard to see beyond the slick surface artifice
which Sirk uses with such a delicious sense of irony. Here, Sirk
is simultaneously capitalising on the enormous popularity of a genre of
vacuous, lowbrow cinema (which he personally had little regard for) and
exploiting its form to craft a merciless satire on the failings of a
stratum of American society. Was there ever a filmmaker for whom
the phrase "there is more to this than meets the eye" is more appropriate?
© James Travers 2008
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Douglas Sirk film:
The Tarnished Angels (1958)
Film Synopsis
Kyle Hadley, the son of one of America's wealthiest oil magnates, is
used to getting what he wants. As soon as he meets Lucy Moore,
the secretary of an advertising executive, he is determined to take her
as his wife. Lucy is at first suspicious of Kyle's motives but,
after a whirlwind romance, they marry and, to the outside world, they
appear to be the perfect wedded couple. However, Lucy has another
admirer - Kyle's friend and business partner Mitch Wayne. Mitch
is so in love with Lucy that he no longer has any interest in his
childhood sweetheart, Kyle's sister Marylee. The latter is
obsessively attached to Mitch and is determined to win him at any price
- even if it means destroying her own brother...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.