All That Heaven Allows
All That Heaven Allows
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1h 28m
Directed by Douglas Sirk • 1955 • United States
Starring Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, Agnes Moorehead
This heartbreakingly beautiful indictment of 1950s American mores by Douglas Sirk follows the blossoming love between a well-off widow (Jane Wyman) and her handsome and earthy younger gardener (Rock Hudson). When their romance prompts the scorn of her children and country club friends, she must decide whether to pursue her own happiness or carry on a lonely, hemmed-in existence for the sake of the approval of others. With the help of ace cinematographer Russell Metty, Sirk imbues nearly every shot with a vivid and distinct emotional tenor. A profoundly felt film about class and conformity in small-town America, ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS is a pinnacle of expressionistic Hollywood melodrama.
Up Next in All That Heaven Allows
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ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS Commentary
Recorded in 2014, this audio commentary features film scholars John Mercer (“Melodrama: Genre, Style, Sensibility”) and Tamar Jeffers-
McDonald. -
Rock Hudson’s Home Movies
In ROCK HUDSON’S HOME MOVIES, from 1992, filmmaker Mark Rappaport explores the actor’s sexuality and celebrity through a provocative mixture of voice-over narration, film clips, and live action.
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William Reynolds on Douglas Sirk
William Reynolds was a young actor under contract to Universal Studios when he played Ned Scott in ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS. In this 2007 interview, he talks about his experiences in the studio system and the films he made with director Douglas Sirk.
