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All That Heaven Allows [1955]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman were so successful in Douglas Sirk's Magnificent Obsession that they reteamed for this, his first melodrama masterpiece. Young hunk Rock is a strapping son of mother nature, a gardener who woos middle-aged, middle class widow Wyman to the snooty disapproval of her conservative social circle and embarrassment of her self-centered children. Wyman discovers a new life with his open-armed friends and back-to-nature lifestyle, but struggles with life-changing decisions in the face of social pressure and vicious gossip. Living the Henry Thoreau dream, Rock inhabits his personal Walden in a rustic country cabin by a bubbling brook, a dream house lit by a giant picture window overlooking an idyllic countryside where deer pose just outside the window. Wyman's elegant but sterile suburban home transforms into a tomb when she sacrifices her love for the "good name" of her children, and the lonely widow sees her future in the pale, colorless reflection of her TV screen. But don't despair just yet: Sirk's heroines are dynamic and resourceful and no Sirk melodrama ends without a heart-tugging, over-the-top twist. German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who championed Sirk as a master and a mentor, remade the film as Ali: Fear Eats the Soul decades later. --Sean Axmaker


exquisite and excruciating truth
Review date: 2008-07-16 Rating: 10 out of 10


this is a dramatic masterpiece on so -called critics of social values and custodians of superfluous values ,a widow with teenage kids has to deny love but she is masterfully brought to realise that her sacrifice is of in vain to everyone except leaving herself forlorn and miserable ,the movie is about being true to yourself and states only then can you bring happiness to all around you as well as find contentment within yourself .

rock hudson is really great as the non -pretentious man who believes in simplicity in life as being the eternal truth and the bourgeois values as being bogus and superficial and totally unnecessary,wyman is left to ponder and find the truth in her own way by the great script .

sirk combines style and truth in a manner unique to himself ,he is an absolutely amazing film-maker who fascinates with his observation of social trivia and petty human behaviour ,this movie is an indepth satire on the social gossip and norms which are revealed as truly evil in a beautifully simple emotional exercise where two people can be unconventionally happy ,that others will disapprove is shown as of no consequence to the society as long as it does not affect them .

the line 'you will allow yourself an affair but deny love 'is absolutely amazing and so sums up the social hypocrisy portrayed in this masterpiece in stylish simplicity.- jbz7879


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Reviews


Supra chick movie , especially for the over 40's !
Review date: 2006-11-14 Rating: 10 out of 10

Great film , especially for the Demi Moore's amongst us !! I saw this years ago before acting it out by living openly with a man half my age and even then loved it ! My dream home is in this movie and should be seen if only for that ! Well acted , touching and romantic , perfect for an evening in front of the virtual fire . Note the fabulous Agnes Moorehed later known for her part as Samantha's mother in Bewitched !!

"The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation,"
Review date: 2006-06-07 Rating: 10 out of 10

This gorgeously melodramatic potboiler was made in the mid-50's just as Jane Wyman's star power was waning and Rock Hudson was becoming a superstar. But All That Heaven Allows is most memorable as a study of small town intolerance, and where it's portrayal of a world that is mostly picture perfect - at least for the inhabitants of Stonington, Connecticut where the movie is set - is nothing more than quaint.

These days All That Heaven Allows is most notable for forming the basis for the brilliant Julianne Moore film Far From Heaven, out a few years ago. Both have the same visual look - white churches, nice homes and beautiful trees - and both films attempt to skewer societal narrow-mindedness. Yet there are obvious differences: Far From Heaven dealt with racial and sexual politics, while this film - keeping mindful of the time it was made - mines the effects of class and economic status.

Carey Scott (Wyman) is a middle-aged widow, living a quietly domestic life in Stonington. She has a lovely home and two devoted children, she's also a pillar of society and cares a lot about her standing in the community. Yet Carey is also a fragile and lonely woman, and there's a part of her that aches for some kind of emotional connection.

She has a number of wealthy men, who routinely court her, but it is Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson) who she is ultimately drawn to, he's a tall, muscular and handsome young man who customarily prunes her trees. Ron is not a dolt; he's a college educated, intuitive and sensitive, but over the years, has learnt to spurn the trappings of society. Uncomplicated and trouble-free, he lacks the phony polish and sophistication of Carey's city friends.

An outdoorsman - Ron lives in a picturesque cabin by a bubbling stream in the country and has lots of artists, writers and has lots of fun loving bohemian friends who regularly come to visit him. Carey seems to represent everything, Ron is rebelling against; however, the two soon fall in love, swept up by their mutual attraction. There initial courtship is tempered by Cary's insecurities - it's not so much the class as the age difference - she is older by a decade.

Problems also arise when Carey's prudish and snobbish children (William Reynolds and Gloria Talbott) turn on her for wanting to marry a gardener, some one of a lower class; they see him as some type of gigolo, a big shot who obviously has no real money of his own, and is content to feed off their mother's wealth. Resistance also comes from Carey's oppressive society ladies. Her best friend Sara (Agnes Moorehead) - while staying loyal to Carey - warns her that there are those on the town who will talk.

Carey's friends pretend to be urbane and classy but they lack refinement. In fact, they're all rather petty and shallow. When Carey invites Ron to one of Sara's soirée's, her guests anxiously stare out the window, waiting for Ron to show up so that they can sink their talons into him - he is their quarry, and thing to be ridiculed, especially by Mona, the town gossip (Jacqueline De Witt).

Wyman and Hudson are both standouts as Carey and Ron; Wyman does a great job of playing this damaged, vulnerable women who has been going through life letting other people - mostly her hypocritical and selfish children - make most of the big decisions for her. And the gorgeous Rock is exemplary as the sophisticated, and extremely good-looking muscle stud who sweeps Carey off her feet with his tender and sensitive side.

All That Heaven Allows is absolutely gorgeous to look at, with director Douglas Sirk bathing the film in brilliant primary colours, which highlights the natural beauty of the New England landscape. Sirk shows a bourgeois family in which the children oppress their mother instead of the other way around. Sirk also presents an intimate and quite daring portrait of a woman who gets caught up in unnecessary negativity, her paranoia at what people are saying threatens to engulf her and she needs to learn to just go with the flow.

Carey knows that it is wrong not to marry Ron - after all, she loves him, despite the age difference - but she is far too concerned with honoring the petty social mores of the time, and satisfying her insincere and two-faced children. In the end, this doesn't really mean much, especially when true love is involved.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Conrad Nagel
Agnes Moorehead
Rock Hudson
Jane Wyman
Virginia Grey

Creators:
Jane Wyman (Primary Contributor)
Rock Hudson (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Universal Pictures UK
Manufacturer: Universal Pictures UK
EAN: 5050582545821
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2008-05-05
Audience rating: Universal, suitable for all
Region code: 2
Running time: 85 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1956-06-15

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