Written on the Wind
Directed by Douglas Sirk • 1956 • United States
Starring Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack
The Technicolor expressionism of Douglas Sirk reached a fever pitch with this operatic tragedy, which finds the director pushing his florid visuals and his critiques of American culture to their subversive extremes. Alcoholism, nymphomania, impotence, and deadly jealousy—these are just some of the toxins coursing through a massively wealthy, degenerate Texan oil family. When a sensible secretary (Lauren Bacall) has the misfortune of marrying the clan’s neurotic scion (Robert Stack), it drives a wedge between him and his lifelong best friend (Rock Hudson) that unleashes a maelstrom of psychosexual angst and fury. Featuring an unforgettably debauched, Oscar-winning supporting performance by Dorothy Malone and some of Sirk’s most eye-popping mise-en-scène, WRITTEN ON THE WIND is as perverse a family portrait as has ever been splashed across the screen.
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Written on the Wind
Directed by Douglas Sirk • 1956 • United States
Starring Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert StackThe Technicolor expressionism of Douglas Sirk reached a fever pitch with this operatic tragedy, which finds the director pushing his florid visuals and his critiques of American culture to their sub...
Extras
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Patricia White on WRITTEN ON THE WIND
In this interview, shot in 2021, film scholar Patricia White discusses the complicated interplay of gender, sexuality, and class on display in the melodrama of WRITTEN ON THE WIND.
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Cast and Crew on Douglas Sirk
This 2008 program discusses two of director Douglas Sirk’s films, WRITTEN ON THE WIND (1956) and THE TARNISHED ANGELS (1957). The two films shared a number of collaborators, including actors Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, and Dorothy Malone and producer Albert Zugsmith—all of whom are featured here i...
