All That Heaven Allows (1955) [Criterion Collection]

Jane Wyman is a repressed wealthy widow and Rock Hudson is the hunky Thoreau-following gardener who loves her in Douglas Sirk’s heartbreakingly beautiful indictment of 1950s small-town America. Sirk utilizes expressionist colors, reflective surfaces, and frames-within-frames to convey the loneliness and isolation of a matriarch trapped by the snobbery of her children and the gossip of her social-climbing country club chums. Criterion is proud to present this subversive Hollywood tearjerker in a special edition.

Amazingly fantastic film that I went gaga over today. I had never seen any of Douglas Sirk's movies up til today, and boy, was "All That Heaven Allows" a great introduction! The film follows the romance of Cary (played by Jane Wyman) and Ron (Rock Hudson). Cary is a well-off widower who somehow falls in love with her gardener much to her surprise. The problem that she has to overcome of course, is What Will The Neighbors Think? Yes, boys and girls, we have the classic 50's scandal. An older woman being with a younger man!! OK, let it be known that I LOVED this movie. Jane Wyman is fantastic here, and Rock Hudson? Well, what can I say? I can fully understand why he was considered a hug heartthrob in his day. Sure the plot is totally overblown and melodramatic, but I don't care, because Wyman and Hudson make it work so well, and have so much chemistry together.

It's so easy to watch this film and see how much Sirk influenced other directors, even though he was quite ridiculed for the same influences, his camera work, and especially his lighting choices you can see in a myriad of other movies since (see of course, the ultimate salute to him, Far From Heaven as an excellent example).

A simply fantastic piece of film-making here!

5% recovery record included
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