Mar. 08, 2003 - 2:54 am
so much better luck today with the movies. i kept seeing references to this one at work, especially in doing my movie search for additions to the collection at the library. it got a couple of nominations in 1956. but we also have two copies of this on dvd for some reason. apparently it was an cataloging goof, or so i've been told. we don't have two copies of very many movies on dvd, so it sort of stands out.
i've also been interested in the films of Douglas Sirk lately and i thought this would be some more good preparation if i'm going to be seeing Far From Heaven (2002) anytime soon. i hope...
but Written on the Wind is about a rich playboy who drinks too much and has a dashing yet very responsible best friend who always looks out for him. Rock Hudson plays Mitch, the friend, and Robert Stack is Kyle, the rich one. then Lauren Bacall comes into the picture and they both fall for her, but surprisingly she becomes interested in the sad story of Kyle and how he feels like the whole world is beating him up. they go ahead and get married after having known each other for only a few days and Mitch decides to hang around just because of his loyalty to the family. but when a personal problem begins to tear a rift between Kyle and his new bride it starts to look like he's going to be hitting the bottle again, and maybe lashing out at those he loves.
man, Robert Stack got nominated for an Oscar for this. who knew he could act? i've never actually seen him in anything quite this serious and dramatic before. he really steals the show in this film though. amazing job.
and the style of Sirk is very interesting. it's very ephemeral i guess. it reminds me of Hitchcock, but it involves more illusiveness. it's like he's trying to convince you that everything that happens in the world is really a dream. i'm really getting into it though.