Written on the Wind
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“To beauty, to truth; which is anything but beautiful”
Overview
A shining achievement from the master of Technicolor melodrama, Written on the Wind is a vibrant Southern Gothic of dynastic turmoil. When hard-drinking playboy Kyle Hadley (Robert Stack) falls head over heels for the aloof secretary Lucy (Lauren Bacall), so too does his best friend Mitch Wayne (Rock Hudson), a reserved geologist at the Hadley Oil Company in Texas. Meanwhile, Kyle’s erratic, self-destructive sister Marylee (Dorothy Malone, in an Academy Award winning performance) yearns for Mitch’s affection. Together their desires, jealousies and insecurities passionately intertwine into violent knots.
Why You Should See This Film
Vivid, operatic, and inspired by a scandalous true story, Written on the Wind is one of Douglas Sirk’s finest orchestrations, driven by an ensemble of career-bests; Robert Stack brings an anxious desperation that bubbles over into mad rage; Lauren Bacall, a cooly defended soul in knots; Dorothy Malone, a potent venom that destabilises all; and Rock Hudson, a quiet, wounded heroism that steels every scene. Sirk spills out the tempestuous drama onto the set; billowing winds sweep a grievous room with autumn leaves, a dappled moonlight blue lures out jealous schemes, hot red liqueurs and sports cars ignite with passion, while the spoils of a patriarchy are monumented by priapic oil rigs and gaping palatial interiors.
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