Based on the novel by Robert Wilder. Originally released as a motion picture in 1956. Wide screen (1.85:1). Special features: Acting for Douglas Sirk, a 2008 documentary;new interview with film scholar Patricia White; trailer; plus: an essay by filmmaker and critic Blair McClendon. Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, Robert Keith.
Summary:
The Technicolor expressionism of Douglas Sirk reached a fever pitch with this operatic tragedy, which finds the director pushing his florid visuals and his critiques of American culture to their subversive extremes. Alcoholism, nymphomania, impotence, and deadly jealousy; these are just some of the toxins coursing through a massively wealthy, degenerate Texan oil family. When a sensible secretary has the misfortune of marrying the clan's neurotic scion, it drives a wedge between him and his lifelong best friend that unleashes a maelstrom of psychosexual angst and fury. Featuring an unforgettably debauched, Oscar-winning supporting performance by Dorothy Malone and some of Sirk₂s most eye-popping mise-en-scéne, this film is as perverse a family portrait as has ever been splashed across the screen.
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