Douglas Sirk Week: Written on the Wind

Greeting readers and welcome to Day 2 of Douglas Sirk Week.  I would like to point out that I am not doing these ground breaking films in order so don’t go being confused.  Today I thought we would touch base on a disturbing look into alcoholism, jealousy, nymphomania and the overwhelming corruption of material gain.  No, we are not reviewing Dallas or Falcon Crest but good guesses all the way around. Instead we shall see the Technicolor creation of novelist Robert Wilder (Flamingo Road, The Big Country, A Stranger in My Arms and Sol Madrid) come to life before the big and little screen.  So grab your bourbon, sharpen your nails for a cat fight and prep a good right hook.  This is Written in the Wind.

William Kennedy's breakfast to work.

Are you looking for spoilers? Or are you soul-searching?

To begin at the beginning (also the best place to start) Jasper Hadley (Robert Keith of My Foolish Heart, The Wild One, Guys and Dolls, Just Across the Street and Love Me or Leave Me) has built his empire and town under the bubbling crude of Texas which just happens to look a bit like California but suspend disbelief and you will be fine.  His son Kyle (Robert Stack of The Tarnished Angels, The Gift of Love, The Scarface Mob, The Untouchables and Is Paris Burning) comes roaring back to the colonial mansion after an all-night drinking binge.  Damn near wrecking his roadster on the way in he spots in the upstairs window his best friend Mitch (Rock Hudson of Iron Man, Scarlet Angel, Sea Devils, Gun Fury, This Earth is Mine and Pillow Talk) with his arms draped over his wife Lucy (Lauren Bacall of To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, How to Marry a Millionaire and The Shootist).  Kyle staggers up the stairs making such a racket to wake enough dead for a Romero movie.  Startled awake Kyle’s sister Mareylee (Dorothy Malone of The Big Sleep, Two Guys from Texas, The Nevadan, Convicted and The Bushwackers) wakes to the sound of furniture being tossed about, a heated agreement followed by a gunshot. 

Anybody got a match?

From the exterior we see a figure shrouded in show stagger out of the mansion a collapses on the driveway.  Lucy faints as the camera then zooms up on a desk calendar telling us the day of Tuesday, November 6, 1966.   A slight fade into a flashback to the events that led us to this tragic end introduces us to legal secretary Lucy working for the Hadely company.   Kyle and Mitch work hand in hand and have been friends since their school days.  Kyle is jokingly claims to be envious of Mitch for his hard work and ability to get things done.  Jasper had all but adopted Mitch into the family and Kyle does not blame Mitch for his father’s shining approval of Mitch rather than the black sheep that Kyle is. Kyle seems completely open to Lucy as she is literally the only woman he could ever be moved by; given her lack of interest in his family’s wealth. 

  

Another character of interest is Marylee Hadley.  This little coy vixen purrs like a cat after a saucer of milk and she thinks Mitch is the end all saucer.  Like Kyle, Marylee is an excellent example of the bored ne’er-do-wells, the games they are willing to play and not be held accountable for the lives they can potentially ruin. 

Either these drapes go or I do!

I have just a few things to say on the technical aspect of this film.  The cinematography is brilliant with dolly track, steady hand held work and an occasional crane shot, it is a feast for the eyes.  The standard 35mm Spherical camera is the order of the day.  The context in which this film covers so many taboos under one roof really gives the characters scope.  Dorothy Malone has the best line when informed she is a filthy liar.  Her response is,”I’m filthy, period.”  A bit over top dramatized but a very gripping story.