Quite a contrast to grow up with Robert Stack as an older guy in a trenchcoat walking out of the night to host Unsolved Mysteries on TV and to see him young as the alcoholic, suicidal son of a Texas oil baron in Written On The Wind (1956) with the most intense eyes ever. Directed by Douglas Sirk, the opening sequence sets the tone with Stack as Kyle Hadley tearing through the night in a yellow sports car while necking a bottle of booze as the Four Aces sing the movie’s theme. Then we get introduced to the quartet of main characters, actor’s names listed on each meaningful close-up of the stars, all in a lofty mansion on this fateful night and as the blowing leaves trail through the opened door, Sirk’s style is in full tilt; this is Melodrama with a capital M. Rock Hudson plays Mitch Wayne, best friend to Kyle, also working for Kyle’s father, Jasper Hadley (Robert Keith) but from a lower class upbringing, and thus also more capable, a rugged saint. While keeping Kyle company in New York City, Mitch introduces him to a secretary Lucy (Lauren Bacall). There’s an intensity to Stack’s performance as he courts Bacall’s character and seems like an immediate red flag, taking her in his plane to Miami while Hudson hangs back as a third wheel, already in love with Bacall and jealous of this developing, impossible relationship. Meanwhile, Kyle’s sister, Marylee (Dorothy Malone) is a blonde nymphet who makes reckless moves all over town even though she is besotted with Hudson who views her more as a sister. This is prime 1950s soap opera in gorgeous technicolor. The film even prefigures Red Desert with the colour contrast between Marylee’s pink convertible in the foreground with the grey oil drills and powerlines in the background. A model oil tower also becomes a prop in certain scenes and ends on some clear symbolism with the way a character handles it. There’s a split between the pure souls who care about others (Hudson, Bacall) and the spoiled brats who take others down with them in their self-destructive passions (Stack, Malone); all the actors are great, but Stack and Malone make the most impact with their showy, scenery-chewing performances. Complete archetypes with memorable lines of dialogue and dramatic actions. Much like All That Heaven Allows, with the fact that it’s set in the 1950s and the era’s interests in masculinity and virility, and how they are portrayed and amplified, it feels like a projection from another universe; another place, another time. I really enjoyed its overheated quality and the continual strife inflicted down this chain of family relations and secret loves. Available to stream on Binge in Australia. Recommended.
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