Written on the Wind (1956) - The Criterion Collection

Synopsis

Bathed in lurid Technicolor, melodrama maestro Douglas Sirk’s Written on the Wind is the stylishly debauched tale of a Texas oil magnate brought down by the excesses of his spoiled offspring. Features an all-star quartet that includes Robert Stack as a pistol-packin’ alcoholic playboy; Lauren Bacall as his long-suffering wife; Rock Hudson as his earthy best friend; and Dorothy Malone (who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance) as his nymphomaniac sister.

Cast

Mitch Wayne	Lauren Bacall
Lucy Moore Hadley	Rock Hudson
Kyle Hadley	Robert Stack
Marylee Hadley	Dorothy Malone
Jasper Hadley	Robert Keith
Biff Miley	Grant Williams
Dan Willis	Robert J. Wilke
Doctor Paul Cochrane	Edward C. Platt
Hoak Wayne	Harry Shannon
Roy Carter	John Larch
RJ Courtney	Joseph Granby

Credits

Director	Douglas Sirk
Producer	Albert Zugsmith
Screenplay	George Zuckerman
Based on the novel by	Robert Wilder
Cinematography	Russell Metty
Art direction	Alexander Golitzen and Robert Clatworthy
Set decoration	Russell A. Gausman and Julia Heron
Editing	Russell J. Schoengarth
Music	Frank Skinner

Disc Features

New widescreen digital transfer, enhanced for 16×9 televisions
The Melodrama Archive: An annotated filmography of director Douglas Sirk with hundreds of behind-the-scenes and production photos, plus vintage lobby cards
Original theatrical trailers for Written on the Wind and All That Heaven Allows
English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
Exclusive liner notes by noted film theorist Laura Mulvey

From the Current

The Sirk-Hudson Connection

by Mark Rappaport Jan 21, 2009

It’s a clichéd truism that moviemaking is a collaborative art. Of course it is, and there are dozens, if not hundreds, of examples of directors working time and again with the same crew members, trusted writers, cameramen, production designers, editors, even costume designers, to prove it. We . . .

The Current Quote: Douglas Sirk

Sep 28, 2008

Written on the Wind

by Laura Mulvey Jun 18, 2001

When its director, Douglas Sirk, said Written on the Wind was “a film about failure,” he hardly did justice to the way pent-up, unfulfilled sexuality spills onto the screen and into the visual excess that has come to be considered his cinematic signature. Failure . . .