Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Armand more than a good film, it is a splendid puzzle. not only for cast or themes. but for the science to not be a melodrama like many others. a film who seduce different genre of public. and a high level of performance. sure, it is not out of recipes of genre. but it seems be different and that is the good part. in same measure, it use in wise manner the images,music and symbols and recreate the atmosphere of a lovely classic story. but the cast makes the difference. this fact is so clear. and not for acting itself but for the choice of director for one or other. so, the duty of each is to be himself. and the show is running.

jarrodmcdonald-1 Written on the Wind is on par with Douglas Sirk's other cinematic experiments and is aided considerably by a most skilled cast. Particularly, the entire film hinges on Dorothy Malone's performance. She is the one who sells us the bill of goods at the end. And if she happened to be unconvincing, then we would feel that the entire 99 minutes was lost. But she does save the film at the end. And it is not surprising that for her efforts, she did receive the Oscar for a best supporting performance. Her scenes in the courtroom make it clear to us that not only is her brother Kyle (Robert Stack in an Oscar-nominated performance) a sad waste of a life, but they all are living a nothing existence-- except those who manage to get away (which is what Lauren Bacall and Rock Hudson must do in the last shots). Malone's character will never get away, having been forced to take over the family business at the end. It's a very sobering conclusion. In the meanwhile, Sirk fills the earlier portions of the film with inspired mise-en-scene which continues to build the tension and suggest the inevitable outcome for these characters. At every turn, the director is offering motifs and manipulating them carefully, often without our noticing. The scene where Stack throws the drink into the mirror is not only played for dramatic effect but is rich with symbolism. Another important moment occurs when the father (Robert Keith) is experiencing a heart attack on the stairs. Sirk does not allow the camera to linger on the old man during this display like most directors might be tempted to do. Instead he inserts quick cuts to other members of the household, experiencing their own mini-attacks of anguish at the same time. As a result, Sirk provides quite a searing tale about the so-called lives of the spoiled rich in a desolate oil town. He brings us into the world of its interconnected destinies and the smoldering passions of its inhabitants. He holds us hostage and doesn't let us go.

MartinHafer Kyle Hadley (Robert Stack) is an obnoxious, spoiled and selfish playboy. He and his assistant, Mitch (Rock Hudson) fall for the same woman (Lauren Bacall) but Kyle somehow wins her with his charming personality. I say 'somehow' because after this, you see very little of his charm--mostly the actions of a boorish, sulking jerk. He immediately takes his wife for granted and you feel for the lady. As for Mitch, he can't stay--as he is carrying a torch for this now married woman. And then there's Marylee (Dorothy Malone), Kyle's rather obnoxious sister. She's in love with Mitch but Mitch tells her he's not interested. When Mitch doesn't reciprocate, she decides to destroy herself and everyone around her. And then, there's Kyles 'man problem'*...what's to become of that? Does this all sound like a bit of fluff--like just another soap opera? Well, yes, but it is a very glossy and pretty soaper--thanks to director Douglas Sirk, who made a name for himself by making what was essentially high-quality trash. Films like "Magnificent Obsession**", "All That Heaven Allows" and "Imitation of Life**" were all about rich, bored and screwed up pretty folks. In many ways, these films are a lot like forerunners of shows like "Dallas" and "Dynasty". In other words, they appeal to a certain niche--and if you like this sort of thing, Sirk was great in creating them. He did, however, make MANY films that did not fit this mold--though today he is most known for the soaps. As for me, I am not a huge fans of soaps. This doesn't mean they are bad--just not the sort of genre that usually appeals to me. Additionally, there wasn't any subtlety about this film (except in what I mention below*)--it was loud, crass and bigger than life (particularly in regard to Malone's character). I also think it plays better if you see it as a comedy and not a drama--especially since Malone's and Stack's characters are so ridiculous and over-done! But, in an odd way, it IS entertaining...I will give it that!Oddly, despite all this, Sirk and his melodramas have been adored by the French New Wave writers and directors--and perhaps that is why the film has been released as part of the much-heralded Criterion Collection. For me, I just cannot see what they see in this--it's just a soaper...and a rather trashy one at that for its time. *Because it was the 1950s, the script really didn't know what to do with Kyle. Sirk envisioned the man as a closeted homosexual. However, they couldn't put that in American films at that time due to the Production Code, so they talked about him having some 'problem' that prevented the couple from having kids. Talk about cryptic and silly! The viewers might have thought he was impotent or had poor sperm motility or was chronically constipated or had major Freudian issues or goodness knows what!! Having him being clearly gay would have improved the film tremendously and made sense of some of the plot.**These were remakes and especially in the case of "Imitation of Life", the original was much better. However, I am a guy who almost never likes remakes.

basilisksamuk Lives up to everything you'd expect in a Sirk movie and the super-saturated colours, stirring musical score and immaculate costumes are all present. On the basis of these factors alone this film is very watchable. Everything looks so real you want to live there even though your brain also knows that it's all a fantasy that bears only a passing resemblance to how the world really looks.On the down side, for me, was the utter lack of interest I had in most of the characters and their spoilt rich lives. I never felt emotionally involved as there was no point of identification for me. (I felt the same about Dallas when it came along on TV many years later - who cares?) This contrasted strongly for me with All That Heaven Allows which did engage me. The only identification for me was when the bartender tells a man that Marylee Hadley is out of his class - I remember my grandma saying the same to me when I once dated a doctor's daughter! All the interesting people in this film lived on the other side of the tracks but they were only treated as stereotypes and ciphers.My score is entirely for the style of the film. A worthwhile watch but emotionally uninvolving.