WRITTEN ON THE WIND

If you dismiss Douglas Sirk's WRITTEN ON THE WIND (1955), as merely an overblown, soap opera melodrama (which it most certainly is), you're denying yourself one helluva movie watching experience.

To put it bluntly, I flat out love this film which I watched for the second time this afternoon. German émigré director Douglas Sirk made several films in a variety of genres in the United States after coming to Hollywood in 1937. But it's the string of melodramas that he helmed for Universal International in the 1950s that secured his place in the pantheon of great 20th century directors.

The Sirk melodramas include ALL I DESIRE (1953), MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION (1954), ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS (1955), THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW (1956), TARNISHED ANGELS (1957) and his final film, IMITATION OF LIFE (1959). It was in these films that Sirk found his greatest canvas on which to showcase subversive entertainments that, while ultra slick and glossy on the surface, dared to reveal the darkness that lurked in the corners of mid-century American life. And WRITTEN ON THE WIND is a fine of example of Sirk at the peak of his creative genius.

To start with, the film is drop dead gorgeous to look at. The super-saturated Technicolor cinematography of Russell Metty practically explodes off of the screen, while the art direction, sets, clothes and period cars, make you wish you could step into this full to bursting, overripe fantasy world that depicts the 1950s as they should have been. 

Rock Hudson, who worked with Sirk on a total of four films (MAGNIFICENT OBSESSEION, ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS, WRITTEN and TARNISHED ANGELS), stars as Mitch Wayne, a geologist employed by the Texas based Hadley Oil Company (the headquarters of which is located in, where else, Hadley, Texas). He's best friends with Kyle Hadley (Robert Stack), an alcoholic playboy overflowing with self loathing. Friends since childhood, Mitch has always stood up for Kyle, even at his worst.

Mitch has eyes early in the film for Lucy Moore (Lauren Bacall), who works in an advertising company. But when Mitch introduces Lucy to Kyle, Kyle sets his cap for the young woman and before you know it, they're married.

Poor Mitch burns a long smoldering torch for Lucy while fending of the overly aggressive advances of Kyle's sister, Marylee Hadley (Dorothy Malone), a tramp whose horniness meter goes to 11.

Add all of these ingredients together, throw in some father issues, stir in some heaping helpings of sexual impotency, and top it all off with a fatal shooting and a dramatic final act inquest and you've got one deliriously intoxicating cinematic experience.

The supporting cast includes Edward (GET SMART) Platt as a sympathetic doctor, Robert Keith as Jasper Handley, the father of the dysfunctional Kyle and Marylee, John (DIRTY HARRY) Larch as one of Marylee's many admirers and Grant (INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN) Williams as a hapless gas jockey seduced by the volcanic Marylee. Oh, and look fast for the appearance of veteran character actor William Schallert who plays a reporter in one scene. 

And just to make sure there's no doubt about the subtext of this film (which is SEX), Sirk sets his players and their twisted lives amidst a veritable wilderness of oil derricks, giant erector set structures that throb and pulse with phallic symbolism in every shot in which they appear. Hell, the next to last scene in the film shows Marylee sitting at her dead father's desk, stroking and caressing a golden oil derrick model, the same object which her father is fondling in the portrait hanging above her. 

Sirk also includes a ton of mirrors throughout the film. There are multiple shots that feature a mirror and mirror images, visuals that underline the duality of the characters and the hidden depths of their true selves. 

WRITTEN ON THE WIND received three Academy Award nominations including Best Supporting Actor (Stack), Best Supporting Actress (Malone, winner) and Best Original Song. Malone, who practically burns a hole in the screen with her voracious carnality, clearly deserved her Oscar.

A clear inspiration for the long running television soap opera DALLAS, WRITTEN ON THE WIND would make a great double bill (albeit a lengthy one) with GIANT (1956), another Rock Hudson starring film about the Texas oil business .

I've watched a lot of films so far this summer and while I've enjoyed the majority of them, WRITTEN just knocked me out with it's audacity, daring and can-you-believe-this situations and characters.  

Highest recommendation.