Written on the Wind (1956)

Director:

Douglas Sirk

Writers:

Robert Wilder (novel)
George Zuckerman (writer)

Release Date:

December 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

This woman in his arms was now the wife of the man he called his best friend!

Plot:

Alcoholic playboy Kyle Hadley marries the woman secretly loved by his poor but hard-working best friend, who in turn is pursued by Kyle's nymphomaniac sister.

Plot Keywords:

Drinking | Oil | Alcoholic | Millionaire | Oil Tycoon

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Rock Hudson	...	Mitch Wayne
Lauren Bacall	...	Lucy Moore Hadley
Robert Stack	...	Kyle Hadley
Dorothy Malone	...	Marylee Hadley
Robert Keith	...	Jasper Hadley
Grant Williams	...	Biff Miley (service station attendant)
Robert J. Wilke	...	Dan Willis (proprietor, The Cove)
Edward Platt	...	Dr. Paul Cochrane (as Edward C. Platt)
Harry Shannon	...	Hoak Wayne
John Larch	...	Roy Carter (with Marylee at The Cove)
Joseph Granby	...	R.J. Courtney (County Solicitor at inquest)
Roy Glenn	...	Sam (butler)
Maidie Norman	...	Bertha (maid)
William Schallert	...	Jack Williams (reporter)
Joanne Jordan	...	Brunette

Runtime:

99 min | UK:100 min (re-release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 (1989) | Finland:K-16 (1956) | USA:Approved (PCA #17932) | Australia:PG | New Zealand:R16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | West Germany:6

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

One of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's favorite films; he referenced it frequently in his own work.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Mitch Wayne (Rock Hudson) takes a phone call in front of Kyle Hadley (Robert Stack) but says nothing about its contents. Kyle immediately jumps up and reacts to the contents of a call he did not hear, even repeating part of the call, saying, "He said 'the Hadley girl', didn't he? Well, I'm the Hadley boy."

Quotes:

Marylee Hadley: That was no lady. That was your wife.
Kyle Hadley: Where are they going?
Marylee Hadley: I don't know. Where would you take your best friends wife?
Kyle Hadley: You're a real sweet kid.
Marylee Hadley: Now, be nice to me brother. One morning, we'll wake up and be all alone together.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)

Soundtrack:

WRITTEN ON THE WIND

A soap opera with passion, seriousness, and intelligence...

It is ironic that during the '50s, when Douglas Sirk was at his most successful in terms of audience appeal, he was virtually ignored by the critics… He is now seen, however, as a director of formidable intellect who achieved his best work in melodrama…

"Written on the Wind" is about the downfall of a Texan oil dynasty surrounded by worthless reputation, alcoholism, and nymphomania… It is about the twisted, fatal connections between sex, power, and money...

Stack draws a compelling portrait of a tormented drunken destroyed by frustration, arrogance, jealousy, insanity, and some deep insecurities…

Dorothy Malone succeeds as an attractive woman with an excessive sexual appetites, degrading herself for Hudson and to other fellows in town… Her best line: "I'm filthy." In one frantic scene, we see her shaking, quivering and sweating to a provocative mambo… In another weeping alone over a model oil-derrick at her father's desk—symbol of excessive wealth and masculine tyranny…

The frenetic atmosphere is both made palatable and intensified by Sirk's magnificent use of colors, lights, and careful use of mirrors…