Written on the Wind (1956) Breezes onto Criterion
The Criterion Collection released Written on the Wind to Blu-ray on February 1, 2022. Douglas Sirk directed the film starring Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, and Robert Stack.
‘Written on the Wind’ Movie Synopsis
The Technicolor expressionism of Douglas Sirk reached a fever pitch with this operatic tragedy, which finds the director pushing his florid visuals and his critiques of American culture to their subversive extremes. Alcoholism, nymphomania, impotence, and deadly jealousy—these are just some of the toxins coursing through a massively wealthy, degenerate Texan oil family. When a sensible secretary (Lauren Bacall) has the misfortune of marrying the clan’s neurotic scion (Robert Stack), it drives a wedge between him and his lifelong best friend (Rock Hudson) that unleashes a maelstrom of psychosexual angst and fury. Featuring an unforgettably debauched, Oscar-winning supporting performance by Dorothy Malone and some of Sirk’s most eye-popping mise-en-scène, Written on the Wind is as perverse a family portrait as has ever been splashed across the screen.
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- On the Blu-ray: New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- On the DVD: Widescreen digital transfer, enhanced for 16×9 televisions
- Acting for Douglas Sirk, a 2008 documentary featuring archival interviews with Sirk; actors Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, and Dorothy Malone; and producer Albert Zugsmith (Blu-ray only)
- New interview with film scholar Patricia White about the film and melodrama (Blu-ray only)
- Trailer
- Trailer for All That Heaven Allows (DVD only)
- The Melodrama Archive: An annotated filmography of director Douglas Sirk with hundreds of behind-the-scenes and production photos, plus vintage lobby cards (DVD only)
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by filmmaker and critic Blair McClendon (Blu-ray only); an essay by film theorist Laura Mulvey (DVD only)
Blu-ray cover illustration by Sam Hadley; DVD cover by Michael Boland
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Universal Pictures released Written on the Wind on December 25, 1956. Douglas Sirk directed the film starring Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, and Robert Stack.