Reckless playboy Bob Merrick (Rock Hudson, in his breakthrough
role) ces his speedboat, requiring emergency attention from
the town s only resuscitator at the very moment that beloved
local Dr. Phillips has a heart attack and dies waiting for the
life-saving device. Thus begins one of Douglas Sirk's most
flamboyant master classes in melodrama, a delirious Technicolor
mix of the sudsy and the spiritual in which Bob and the doctor s
widow, Helen (Jane Wyman), find themselves inextricably linked to
one another amid a series of increasingly wild twists, turns,
trials, and tribulations. For this release, Criterion also
presents John M. Stahl's 1935 film version of the Lloyd C.
Douglas novel, starring Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor.
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary featuring film scholar Thomas Doherty
Magnificent Obsession (1935, 102 minutes): a new digital
transfer of John M. Stahl s complete earlier version of the film
Douglas Sirk: From UFA to Hollywood (1991): a rare 80-minute
documentary by German filmmaker Eckhart Schmidt in which Sirk
reflects upon his career
Video interviews with filmmakers Allison Anders and Kathryn
Bigelow, paying tribute to Sirk
Theatrical trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Geoffrey O
Brien
Additional Features
-------------------
Criterion's double-disc edition of Magnificent Obsession shines a
light on two directors, four stars, and one author. In 1935, John
M. Stahl adapted Lloyd C. Douglas's 1929 potboiler with Irene
Dunne as the widowed Helen Hudson and Robert Taylor as Bob
Merrick, the sportsman-turned-doctor who shakes up her world. In
1954, Douglas Sirk filmed the story with Jane Wyman and Rock
Hudson, with whom he would re-team for All That Heaven Allows
(Sirk remade three Stahl pictures, most notably Imitation of
Life). In his wide-ranging commentary track, film scholar Thomas
Doherty describes the former Klaus Detlef Sierck as "the maestro
of the Hollywood soap opera," arguing that his adaptation is
"more firmly grounded in reality and credibility" due to better
plotting and smarter writing (it's clear which one he prefers).
Stahl's black-and-white picture presents a lighter, almost
screwball take on the Douglas novel with Taylor's Merrick acting
more like a petulant schoolboy than a post-collegiate playboy. As
his personal assistant puts it, he's "barmy in the crumpet,"
while Dunne's more down-to-earth turn as Hudson--Phillips in the
later film--anticipates her classic performance in Love Affair,
but it's hard to argue with Doherty: Sirk's Technicolor sensation
is the definitive version.
In their video remembrances, Allison Anders talks about growing
up with his work, while Kathryn Bigelow cites him as an influence
on her first movie, The Loveless. The set concludes with the
theatrical trailer (featuring Wyman as herself), an essay from
film critic Geoffrey O'Brien, and an in-depth 1980 interview with
the director from the German program From UFA to Hollywood:
Douglas Sirk Remembers, in which he discusses Written on the Wind
and The Tarnished Angels, both also starring Rock Hudson.
--Kathleen C. Fennessy
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Review
------
An extraordinary film. --Time Out
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