I’m going to make a rather bold statement: WRITTEN ON THE WIND is Douglas Sirk’s masterpiece. The themes he explored throughout his career like class, family, and sex are interwoven seamlessly to create a film bursting with too much. As a director of some of the finest melodramas, Sirk understood the appeal of an idyllic upper-class setting, refined costumes and a beautiful cast of characters. Using the new development of Technicolor, he created bold palettes to mirror the interior worlds of his heroes and heroines. But WRITTEN ON THE WIND’s excesses almost spill out of the screen. The film is visually and viscerally affecting in a way that few movies have been since.
The freewheeling epic narrates the disintegration of an oil-rich Texas family — The Hadleys. The film begins with a love triangle: Kyle (Robert Stack) and Mitch (Rock Hudson) both love Lucy (Lauren Bacall); Marylee (Dorothy Malone), Kyle’s sister, has loved Mitch since childhood, but Mitch has no interest in her. Lucy ends up marrying Kyle, but Marylee is determined to sabotage their happiness and convinces her brother that Lucy is having an affair with Kyle.
If you’re confused, that’s fine. The plot is second to the amazing performances in the film. Mitch and Lucy — performed wonderfully by two compelling actors — are possibly the least interesting characters in a world where everything is over the top. In this film, the two more unstable characters shine amidst subplots of alcoholism, Oedipal desires, and killer dancing.
The qualities that make the film great also make it difficult to love uncritically. The hit TV series DALLAS (1978–91) and DYNASTY (1981–89) were inspired by the film. In those gawdy soap operas, you can see traces of what makes a show like reality series KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS so fascinating… or worthy of disdain. Sirk’s melodramatic successors buried the social commentary so deep within their texts we have forgotten how to read the subversiveness beneath the glamour. Going back to Sirk reminds us melodrama is built on irony and ridiculousness — it’s viewers who take it too seriously.
— Diana Martinez, Film Streams Education Director
