an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

During the 1950s director Douglas Sirk was noted both for his accomplished use of colour and for the melodramatic nature of his plots in films like "Magnificent Obsession", "Written on the Wind", "All that Heaven Allows" and "Imitation of Life". "Magnificent Obsession" was a remake of a film from 1935, which I have never seen; both films are based upon a novel of the same name by Lloyd C. Douglas. The story is an essentially religious account of one man's redemption. The main character, Bob Merrick, starts off as a spoiled wealthy playboy, but eventually reforms, resumes his medical studies (which he abandoned when inherited his family fortune upon his father's death) and ends up as a brilliant surgeon, widely admired not only for his surgical skills but also for his kindness and philanthropy. A key figure in Merrick's redemption is Wayne Phillips, another brilliant surgeon, widely admired not only for his surgical skills but also for his kindness and philanthropy. In the 1935 film the doctor had the surname "Hudson", but this was changed to "Phillips" when Rock Hudson was cast as Merrick in this film, presumably because the studio felt that it would be confusing to have a character sharing a name with one of the film's stars. The more recent "Margot at the Wedding" is another example of the same phenomenon; it was originally to have been called "Nicole at the Wedding", but the name of the main character was changed when Nicole Kidman was cast in the role. Hudson seems to have been a favourite actor of Sirk, who used him in starring roles not only here but also in "Written on the Wind" and "All that Heaven Allows". Merrick never meets Dr Phillips, who does not actually appear in the film and who dies near the beginning, but both he and the audience hear a lot about the late doctor from his friends and family. According to them Dr. Phillips both preached and practised a philosophy of altruism, believing that to achieve anything worthwhile in life one needs to do good to others without hoping for anything in return, either in terms of financial reward or in terms of reputation. Hollywood may sometimes preach a gospel of altruism, but it has more difficulty practising it, and it has never been entirely comfortable with the doctrine that virtue is its own reward. Surely it must bring some more tangible rewards as well? Although, therefore, we never get to see Dr Phillips, we do get to see his house, and it turns out to be a magnificent lakeside villa, the sort of house I would more readily associate with the Bob Merricks of this world than with a self- sacrificing humanitarian who supposedly died relatively poor because of his generosity to others. An important factor in Merrick's transformation is the romance which develops between him and Phillips's widow Helen. I think that we are supposed to assume that Helen is considerably younger than Phillips, who had an adult daughter by a previous marriage, but nevertheless significantly older than Merrick. Rock Hudson was Hollywood's resident toyboy of the fifties and early sixties. At a time when "boy meets girl" usually meant "older man meets girl young enough to be his daughter", Hudson was regularly cast as the love-interest of actresses older than himself. Sometimes the age difference was only a minor one, as in his series of comedies with Doris Day, but sometimes it was more significant as with Jennifer Jones in "A Farewell to Arms" or with Jane Wyman here. (Hudson and Wyman were also cast together in "All that Heaven Allows"). Sirk's work is characterised by careful composition of his images and his accomplished use of colour. His backgrounds are generally muted and dominated by greys and browns, but there is generally a prominent, brightly-coloured object in the foreground. In "Written on the Wind" this object is normally red, yellow or green, which gives a certain stylistic unity to that film, but here he uses colour more indiscriminately, with blues and purples also much to the fore. Despite Sirk's skill as a director, "Magnificent Obsession" is not a favourite of mine. The plot is excessively melodramatic and sentimental, too heavily reliant on coincidence and at times too improbable to be credible. The worst development comes when Merrick woos Helen, who has been blinded in an accident, under a false name without her (at first) realising his true identity and without any of her friends betraying his secret. Even more improbably she falls in love with a man whom she previously disliked, even though he was partly to blame for her accident. Special mention should be made of Frank Skinner's dreadful musical score, all lushly swooping strings and quasi-angelic choirs chanting "Ah-ah-ah", which intensifies the general atmosphere of corny sentimentality. In some of his films, such as "Written on the Wind" or "Imitation of Life", Sirk showed that he was capable of transforming melodrama into art. But not here. 5/10

dated soap opera with every cliché in the book works best as a look at good production values of the time along with period furnishings, clothes and women's perms; but even if you can stand the plot ploys there are some colossal flaws; one, wyman is a stick, unattractive, prissy, and generally a drip; yet rock falls for her- and wants to date her in the car before she has her accident and he becomes obsessed with guilt; two, he was not responsible for wyman's husband's death; he didn't ask for a respirator, know they had only one, or that someone else might be needing it; three; he didn't cause her accident; he was trying to offer money for the hospital and befriend the cold stick when she bolted out the other door into traffic; four; she could be his mom, and he goes from glamorous girls in the bar to her, again, before he even knows who she is; five, wastrel drunk playboy rock becomes a great doctor; rock, a brain surgeon?; but there is nothing the actors can do about the story; poor agnes moorehead, a firebrand, reduced to head shots with a slight turn and wistful look- no agnes, more wistful than that; it's just dreadful, with score to match

Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman star in Magnificent Obsession, a remake of an Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor film. Both movies in fact catapulted their male stars into stardom. Before their respective films, neither Hudson or Taylor had been a household name. I am not prepared to discuss the differences, as I haven't seen the older version recently. But in this film, Rock plays an obnoxious, rich, and reckless bachelor, known for his frivolous lifestyle and his lack of regard for anyone else. When a skiing accident causes him to need a resuscitator, one is taken from the home of local doctor, who has it for a heart condition, and therefore it is not at the house when the kind doctor has a heart attack. Therefore the life of a self-absorbed bachelor was saved, instead of a doctor who saves lives. This point is brought up 4 or 5 times in the first 30 minutes. When he tries to apologize to the doctor's widow, Jane Wyman, another accident happens. From there on, it swerves into left field and goes beyond the point of no return with developments and contrivances to prolong the film and defy logic. To explain any details would be too exacting. But for all the grade-A production values that producer Ross Hunter and director Douglas Sirk use in retelling this story, basically I just don't buy it, or buy into it. I think the far-fetchedness of it is what I don't buy, plus some of its over-the-top acting and dramatics and corny dialogue in parts. Most of the acting I'm referring to Barbara Rush's performance as Jane's stepdaughter, in the first half of the film. But, Ms. Wyman's performance was very restrained and she was Oscar-nominated for it. And, Rock gives a very earnest try in his performance. In the commentary of this film, they mention that "Written on the Wind," another Hunter/Sirk film, is regarded as the most overblown film of theirs, but I think this has to be the second. Then, there's the philosophy of the kind doctor, in helping his patients and asking nothing in return for it and to keep it secret. While this is basically a Christian attitude that should be more prevalent today, it doesn't come across as real or genuine here; instead it comes across as forced and hokey. Otto Kruger is a believer of it and was a good friend of the deceased, and thought he was a wonderful man. And, character actress Agnes Moorehead's presence gives the film a little more credence. With all these comments thrown in, where are we now? I felt overall that the film was artificial and manipulative and therefore I was not emotionally invested in the characters; in consequence I don't think it's the great film it's purported to be. But I will give it a '7' (I think I'm being kind for doing so) for good actors on the whole who weren't given a very credible story for the viewers to accept.

Because now we've got Technicolor, Widescreen, Ross Hunter, Douglas Sirk, and more importantly, Rock Hudson. He takes on the practically impossible task of playing this sinner-to-saint transformation, and almost makes it work, if not totally. Jane Wyman lacks the youthful effervescence of Irene Dunne from the original, but gives a beautifully restrained performance nonetheless. Otto Kruger expands on Ralph Morgan's role of the artist (here a painter instead of a sculptor) who expresses the film's moral.This being a soap opera like premise, it is more than appropriate that the film focuses on two "Guiding Light's", Kruger and the compassionate nurse, played her by Agnes Moorehead who fortunately gets to be somewhat tough in her duties, yet kindly compassionate under that Endora red hair of hers. Barbara Rush adds some more layers to the sweetness of her stepdaughter character.Hudson and Wyman at first seem an odd couple to be paired with in a spiritual secret storm mean to give the matinée ladies a good cry away from the daily viewings of "Love of Life" and "Search For Tomorrow", and the film rises above the stories clichés. Made on the success of another film version of a Lloyd C. Douglas novel ("The Robe"), this takes the life lesson of being kind and helpful to strangers without expecting anything back in return to a modern level. It utilizes beautiful locations and a lush musical score to flesh out its already melodramatic tale. In an era of exotic beauties like Monroe, Taylor, Loren and Lollobrigida (or down home girls like Doris Day), Wyman's box-office success with this is a nice reflection on the 1950's environment where a box in a living room was sometimes keeping people from going to the movies, except, like in the case of this movie, when they really had something worth going to.