Robert Merrick (Rock Hudson) is afraid of nothing, and is constantly putting himself in jeopardy. When he finally manages to crack up his speedboat, his life is saved with the personal respirator of Dr. Wayne Phillips. But while Bob's life is being saved, Dr. Phillips suffers a heart attack, and there is no way to resuscitate him. Widow Helen (Jane Wyman) and daughter Joyce (Barbara Rush) are left to deal with the aftermath, with Helen forced to fend off the unwelcome attentions of the ever-on-the-prowl Bob. Our film for this week is Magnificent Obsession (1954). If you don't like melodrama, you won't like this film. But, we do enjoy a good weeper and this is an excellent one. In his first major role, Rock Hudson is outstanding as the callow youth who needs a good kick to make him grow up (TCM article). Early in the film, we are told that Bob attended medical school, only to drop out and assume the life of a dilettante in the wake of his father's sudden death. We get no more information than that, but the way Mr. Hudson plays the scene speaks volumes about Bob's bitterness; a bitterness that resulted in his decision to devote his life to pleasure - something it seems his father never got to do. It is important that Mr. Hudson slowly grow his character, and he does so. With subtle allusions to the passing of time by director Douglas Sirk, we watch as Bob Merrick changes from a heel into an admirable human being.
Equally, Jane Wyman is terrific as a woman who loses her husband, only to find her entire life upended by the actions of one irresponsible human being. Like Mr. Hudson, Ms. Wyman's character has to change, but the changes are more subtle. We need to understand why she is attracted to Bob Merrill (sure, she doesn't know who he is at first, but she is recently widowed, and was very much in love with her husband. Any new man should be a hard sell.). More importantly, we need to see her sacrifices as well thought out and not self-pitying. Ms. Wyman does that convincingly. Ms. Wyman was nominated for an Oscar for the part (losing to Grace Kelly in The Country Girl). Agnes Moorehead (Nancy Ashford) is one of the great character actresses of her generation, and she gives a fine performance. Especially notable is her early scene with Rock Hudson, in which she lets him know that he is acting like a complete moron, but does it with professionalism. Ms. Moorehead started her career in radio; her later involvement with Orson Welles Mercury Players led to her casting as Charles Foster Kane's mother in Citizen Kane (1940). She would go on to play nearly every kind of character - Humphrey Bogart's nemesis in Dark Passage (1947), Jane Wyman's rough-hewn Aunt Aggie in Johnny Belinda, Edward G. Robinson's loving wife in Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945), and the abused Madame Fosco in The Woman in White (1948). She did Broadway and regional theatre, but it was on television where she would finally make an indelible mark. A generation of viewers can't forget her memorable performance as a farm woman threatened by minature "Invaders" in The Twilight Zone. And then there is Endora on Bewitched. Take a look at
her performance in the fourth episode of the series, "Mother, Meets What's His Name"
When she asks Darrin (the ultimate idiot) "Why do you object to my daughter being herself?" you want to cheer. Her delivery is spot on (and you really want to shake Samantha for submitting to Darrin's domestic tyranny). Ms. Moorehead continued acting until her death of cancer in 1974 at the age of 73.
Also in the cast (and happily still with us) are Barbara Rush (who plays Joyce Phillips). Ms. Rush is 91. She was working until 2007, and since seems to have retired. Judy Nugent, who plays Helen's young friend, Judy, continued acting on film and television until 1978. Around the time she retired, she, husband Buck Taylor, and their three sons moved to Montana. They were divorced in 1983. In an interview for Western Clippings, Ms. Nugent stated this film was her favorite role. Jane Wyman was not the first choice for Helen - Olivia de Havilland, Eleanor Parker, and Joan Crawford were considered for the part. Jeff Chandler was in the running for the role of Bob Merrick, and Charles Bickford was considered for the role of Edgar Randolph (the role would go to Otto Kruger). (AFI catalog)
The film is a remake of a 1935 film with Robert Taylor and Irene Dunne (which was aired on Lux Radio Theatre in April of 1937, starring the film's leads). The New York Times did an excellentDVD review of 1935 and 1954 versions when Criterion released them as a set. The film was such a success that the cast we reunited in All That Heaven Allows the following year. This is a film that becomes richer with each viewing, and we encourage you to give it a try. We'll leave you with a trailer:
All That Heaven Allows (1955) introduces us to Cary Scott (Jane Wyman), a widow with two grown children, Kay (Gloria Talbott) and Ned (William Reynolds). Cary essentially lives alone now - both children are away at school - and Cary is finding herself at loose ends. Unlike her best friend, Sara Warren (Agnes Moorehead), Cary is not a "club woman" and her days seem endless. So, when Sara has to renege on a luncheon date, Cary invites her gardener, Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson) in for a cup of coffee. Cary becomes fascinated with Ron's life goals - a life within nature, growing trees. Ron's invitation to visit his nursery leads to a relationship between the two, one that is ridiculed by Cary's supposed friends (represented by the vindictive Mona Plash (played with relish by Jacqueline de Wit)) and rejected by her appalled children. Let's just get it out of the way - All That Heaven Allows is a melodrama - but WHAT a melodrama! With excellent performances from the two leads, reunited after their successful teaming in Magnificent Obsession (1954) along with Agnes Moorehead and most of the production cast (AFI catalog), and with support from the likes of Virginia Grey (Alida Anderson), and Hayden Rorke (Dr. Dan Hennessy), the film goes beyond its melodramatic roots to something much grander. But what really elevates the film is the cinematography by Russell Metty and costume design by Rose Brandi. The film glows with color and texture - you can see every leaf on the trees and the colors are sumptuous. It is very much like watching an exquisite painting, but one with a story and acting that keeps you involved with the characters. The script is tight, providing just enough information about the characters to keep you involved, but avoids having backstory that overwhelms the movie.
Douglas Sirk, the film's director, is the architect. Sirk built on a novel by Edna and Harry Lee (see this TCM article for more on Sirk and the film's creation); it's a wonder that this film got past the censors, since it is really about sexuality. Oh, sure, there is only a hint that Cary and Ron are intimate, but the attitude of the Peyton Place-ish town and of the Scott children is all about the fact that Cary, an "older woman." She's actually only just 40 - we are told she married at 17, and her son is about 22 (Criterion Collection discussion of the film and Jane Wyman) and Ron is about 30.
The film makes it clear that Cary is both attractive and interested in being sexually active. All of the reactions from family and supposed friends revolve around that point. Ned, for example, is offended by Cary's attractive evening gown (you can see it below) but is fine with the idea that she marry Harvey (Conrad Nagel), who has is interested only in a companionable marriage (translation - no sex). Kay is horrified at the thought of her mother marrying someone young and attractive, until she herself marries Freddie North (David Janssen), at which point she understand her mother's desires and acknowledges that her mother should follow her heart (and libido). The townspeople wink at Howard Hoffer's (Donald Curtis) womanizing, but start rumors that Cary and Ron were having an affair while Cary's husband was still living. It's a misogynistic, small-minded mess of an environment.
The middle-aged, upper middle-class, Anglo-Saxon Protestant gathering given by Sara (who really is the only person open to Cary's relationship with Ron) is juxtaposed against the party given by Mick (Charles Drake) and Alida Anderson. A mix of people of different ages and socioeconomic status, the Anderson party is the only place where Cary and Ron are totally welcomed and completely comfortable together. These are the people who abjure riches, and live with nature. Mick and Alida were from the social strata of the town, but Thoreau's Walden has become Mick's bible, and he now lives apart from society and the economic pressures of that life. It is a life that ultimately attracts Cary to Ron and the Andersons.
The chemistry between Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman, which was so apparent in Magnificent Obsession continues in this film. Though we are told there is an age gap (Ms. Wyman was actually about 8 years older than Mr. Hudson), it's really not all that noticeable - their relationship is so solid that they seem made for each other. It's a shame they never made any other films together. Virginia Grey also stood out as Alida; we found her quite engaging as the woman who gives up the rat race for her husband. Ms. Grey had a lengthy career - she started as a child in silent films (she played Little Eva in the 1927 Uncle Tom's Cabin). As an adult, she was a supporting player (as in this film) in A movies, and the lead in many B pictures. In the 1940s, after Carole Lombard's death, she began dating Clark Gable, but his sudden marriage to Lady Sylvia Ashley ended their relationship. After Robert Taylor's separation from Barbara Stanwyck, she also dated Mr. Taylor for a time (you can see a 1952 letter which he wrote to her here. Ms. Grey would later relate that Ms. Stanwyck despised her because of the relationship). Ms. Grey never married (it's been surmised she never got over Clark Gable); she would work in films and television until 1976. She died in 2004 at the age of 87. A note of interest - Gloria Talbott was not the first choice for the role of Kay. Producer Ross Hunter initially wanted to cast Jane Wyman's daughter, Maureen Reagan in the role, but finally decided she was too young (she was about 13 at the time).
The New York Timesreview was rather ho-hum (though reviewer Bosley Crowther really liked Jane Wyman). For a more recent observation, take a look at this brief analysis (including many scenes from the film) by Richard Brody that appeared in The New Yorker. Another tribute came by way of the filmmaker Todd Haynes in Far From Heaven (2002), which he modeled, both in plot and cinematic style, after All That Heaven Allows. We'll leave you with the trailer from the film, and a recommendation that you give it a viewing.
