All That Heaven Allows

The good folks at Criterion have turned their stellar mastering attention to that King of Melodrama, director Douglas Sirk, who, without a dime to his name, fled to America after the Nazi occupation of Germany to become one of Hollywood's most successful filmmakers during the '50s. This formulaic, three-hankie May-September romance, which reunited Sirk with Magnificent Obsession stars Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman, has Wyman playing upper crust widow Cary Scott, who falls hard for the burly, dozen-years-her-junior landscaper Ron Kirby (Hudson), much to the consternation of her friends, family and country club clique. A mildly entertaining (if instantly forgettable) Sunday afternoon soaper, boasting a lush Technicolor lensing and an hour of rare Sirk interviews from a 1979 BBC documentary, this is an optional purchase. (S. C. Sickles)[Blu-ray/DVD Combo Review—June 17, 2014—Criterion, 89 min., not rated, Blu-ray/DVD Combo: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and first on Blu-ray, 1955's All That Heaven Allows features an excellent transfer and an uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition. Extras include audio commentary by film scholars John Mercer and Tamar Jeffers-McDonald, Mark Rappaport's 1992 film essay “Rock Hudson's Home Movies” (64 min.), the 1979 BBC documentary “Behind the Mirror: A Profile of Douglas Sirk” with the director (58 min.), the 2007 interview “Contract Kid: William Reynolds on Douglas Sirk” with the costar (23 min.), a 1982 French TV interview with Sirk (16 min.), a trailer, and a booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Laura Mulvey, as well as an excerpt from filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1971 essay on Sirk. Bottom line: a welcome Blu-ray debut for a classic film whose reputation has only grown larger over the years.]