Written on the Wind (1956)

Director:

Douglas Sirk

Writers:

Robert Wilder (novel)
George Zuckerman (writer)

Release Date:

December 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

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:

Wedding Anniversary | Sports Car | Told In Flashback | Slap In The Face | Physical Abuse

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:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

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

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

Title song is sung by The Four Aces. The song is featured very prominently, and the group is fully credited.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In a few shots over the shoulders of Jasper and Lucy Hadley in Jasper's office we can see out the windows the little smudge pots making the smoke in the "oilfields" outside.

Quotes:

Mitch Wayne: Are you looking for laughs? Or are you soul-searching?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Roma (2004)

Soundtrack:

WRITTEN ON THE WIND

Soap opera Heaven

Another in the they don't make em like that category. This story of a family with some real skeletons in its closet still qualifies as good clean, sometimes over-the-top fun. Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone are at their peak as the troubled Hadley siblings, and they really took the roles and ran with them. Malone won an Oscar and Stack was nominated in the supporting categories, both honors being eminently well-deserved. They counterbalance the somewhat bland leads. Neither Bacall nor Hudson could ever be called bad actors, but they've both had better parts and played them far more convincingly than they do here. It's kind of hard for me to accept Rock Hudson playing such a red-blooded heterosexual as he does here, but that's more of a personal bias than anything else. But that doesn't take away from the movie's overall entertainment value, which is considerable and this movie is extremely watchable. If you're up some night and this movie comes on I'd say watch it. It's well worth it.