Magnificent Obsession

Offering a perfect opportunity for comparison and contrast, the Criterion Collection's two-disc set of Magnificent Obsession demonstrates how a skillful director—in this case German émigré Douglas Sirk, the acknowledged master of 1950s-era women's melodramas—can turn pop culture source material into something resembling a work of art. The centerpiece of Criterion's release is Sirk's 1954 version of Magnificent Obsession, the 1929 bestseller by pastor-turned-novelist Lloyd C. Douglas, but Sirk's film is more directly based on the previous 1935 film adaptation, directed by John M. Stahl, starring Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor, which is included here on a second disc. Sirk's remake, starring Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman, essentially tells the same story, but thanks to the director's florid style, the carefully modulated star power, and just enough psychological gravitas, Magnificent Obsession is transformed from an almost absurdly implausible story into a first-rate tearjerker. Hudson plays Bob Merrick, a spoiled-brat millionaire playboy and failed med-school student whose reckless behavior inadvertently results in the death of a beloved small-town doctor. First selfishly but then sincerely desperate to make amends, Merrick seeks the forgiveness of and then develops affection for the doctor's widow, Helen (Wyman), who is eventually blinded in an accident that compels Merrick (by way of a benevolent Christian advisor) to become a neurosurgeon and cure her blindness. Even this brief synopsis sounds impossibly ludicrous, but Sirk makes it three-hanky-irresistible through a series of twist and turns (the film was a huge hit, prompting a reunion of Hudson, Wyman, and Sirk on 1955's All That Heaven Allows). The 1935 version is a more conventional 'women's picture' from the Depression-era studio system, worth a look if only to see just how much better is Sirk's film. DVD extras include an excellent full-length commentary on the Sirk version by film scholar Thomas Doherty, video interviews with filmmakers (and Sirk devotees) Kathryn Bigelow and Allison Anders, filmmaker Eckhart Schmidt's 1991 feature-length documentary From UFA to Hollywood: Douglas Sirk Remembers (with an extensive archival interview of Sirk, who died in 1987), and an accompanying booklet with an engaging essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien. Highly recommended. (J. Shannon) [Blu-ray Review—Aug. 13, 2019—Criterion, 158 min., not rated, Blu-ray: $39.99—Making its debut on Blu-ray, 1954’s Magnificent Obsession features a great transfer with an uncompressed monaural soundtrack. Extras include audio commentary by film scholar Thomas Doherty, the 1935 version directed by John Stahl (103 min.), a 'From UFA to Hollywood: Douglas Sirk Remembers' documentary (83 min.), interviews with screenwriter Robert Blees (20 min.) and filmmakers Kathryn Bigelow (14 min.) and Allison Anders (10 min.), and an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien. Bottom line: Sirk’s classic melodrama sparkles on Blu-ray.]