Stars: Agnes Moorehead, Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson

Director: Douglas Sirk

Summary: Cary Scott is a wealthy middle-aged widow in love with a younger man considered by those around her to be far below her social standing. Her torrid affair with Ron Kirby, a handsome, earthy gardener, quickly creates unbearable societal pressure for Cary. Giving in to the scathing criticism of her stodgy neighbours and her materialistic children, Cary severs contact with Ron. She then discovers--perhaps too late--that her heart cannot be so easily caged.

In ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS, Douglas Sirk's haunting suburban morality play, Jane Wyman plays Cary Scott, a wealthy middle-aged widow in love with a younger man considered by those around her to be far below her social standing. Her torrid affair with Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson), a handsome, earthy gardener, quickly creates unbearable societal pressure for Cary. Giving in to the scathing criticism of her stodgy neighbours and her materialistic children, Cary severs contact with Ron. She then discovers--perhaps too late--that her heart cannot be so easily caged.
Wyman delivers a strong, emotive performance, and Hudson smoulders as her feverish romantic interest. ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS, marked by Sirk's distinctive, lavish visual style, stands as a searing example of how materialism can result in alienation from natural feelings. The film was remade in 1974 with additional interracial themes by German director (and unabashed Sirk fan) Rainer Werner Fassbinder as ALI - FEAR EATS THE SOUL; and later paid homage by Todd Haynes in his 2002 reworking FAR FROM HEAVEN.

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Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman were so successful in Douglas Sirk's Magnificent Obsession that they reteamed for this, his first melodrama masterpiece. Young hunk Rock is a strapping son of mother nature, a gardener who woos middle-aged, middle class widow Wyman to the snooty disapproval of her conservative social circle and embarrassment of her self-centered children. Wyman discovers a new life with his open-armed friends and back-to-nature lifestyle, but struggles with life-changing decisions in the face of social pressure and vicious gossip. Living the Henry Thoreau dream, Rock inhabits his personal Walden in a rustic country cabin by a bubbling brook, a dream house lit by a giant picture window overlooking an idyllic countryside where deer pose just outside the window. Wyman's elegant but sterile suburban home transforms into a tomb when she sacrifices her love for the "good name" of her children, and the lonely widow sees her future in the pale, colorless reflection of her TV screen. But don't despair just yet: Sirk's heroines are dynamic and resourceful and no Sirk melodrama ends without a heart-tugging, over-the-top twist. German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who championed Sirk as a master and a mentor, remade the film as Ali: Fear Eats the Soul decades later. --Sean Axmaker

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Interactive menu
Year:	1955
Release Date:	May 5, 2008
Runtime:	85 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	8254582
Keywords:	Heaven, English, Romantic, All, Drama, Allows
Genre:	Drama