Rent Written on the Wind (1956)

All Hat and No Cattle - Written on the Wind review by CH

Essentially, Written on the Wind is a small-scale drama, about a discordant quartet of characters, set against the large background that is Texas. Despite being much-troubled and choleric in temper, oil tycoon Robert Stack meets and soon marries Lauren Bacall - to the chagrin of his poorer friend Rock Hudson who is beset upon her but tries to do the decent thing. Meanwhile Stack's man-hungry sister is at large, and testoterone can almost be heard pumping its way along the soundtrack. Some might call it a soap opera but it is all far from clean living; the riches which oil can bring does nothing but soil them. All of this is filmed with the glossy colours which mark out most of Sirk's work in the Fifties, and this distinguihes it from many a melodrama. That said, it feels more of a cartoon this time around, if not much less enjoyable for that.

To reveal anything about the way in which all this resolves itself would be unfair.

A charming and relaxing watch - Written on the Wind review by JK

The last thing we want to watch during Covid 19 lockdown is a lot of miserable forensic police murder films so this was a soothing bandage on the wounds of current life.

Yes - the plot moves at a ridiculous pace: Man meets woman: Man takes woman on plane trip: Man proposes more or less mid-flight...... but the films in those days were MUCH shorter than a lot of the turgid stuff we have to wade through today. The mainstay is that this film has a very moral message - Too much money isn't good for you basically. It's difficult to say where exactly Rock H fits in other than his being the thwarted lurve interest.

There isn't time to do a lot of character disection or all the psychological profiling of today's films - but who cares? The sets and costumes of 1950's USA with fabulous cars, fabulous hats, and fabulous suspension of belief. It's a winner all round!

Bad Seeds - Written on the Wind review by Steve

Characteristically lavish/febrile Southern Melodrama from Douglas Sirk's classic period at Universal Studios. This is the 1950s of Eisenhower's America shot in gorgeous Technicolor with huge stars and exaggerated emotions... It is adapted from a novel based on a real life murder, but this is like a photographed airport blockbuster.

It brings together a few of Sirk's stalwart leading actors with Robert Stack as a crazy drunk/Texas oil tycoon who marries a classy Madison Avenue business secretary- played by Lauren Bacall- and goes on the wagon, for a while. Rock Hudson is the buttoned up adopted brother who holds everything together... but wants her even more!

Dorothy Malone steals the picture and won an Oscar as the younger sister, a volatile nymphomaniac who blows the family apart! There is more sex chat than usual for the period, though the attitudes are dated. And there's a chic production with Bacall in particular wearing some cool outfits, plus the sports cars and sumptuous set decor...

Sirk directs with his usual elegance including some eye-catching crane shots. And there's the Latin rhythms of the big band jazz. Everything is overstated and glossy and superficial and that's the main attraction. Once more, the director implies there is a sickness in US capitalism. But naturally, the postwar excess is the reason we're watching!