All That Heaven Allows

All That Heaven Allows.  Dir: Douglas Sirk, 1955.  Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson.

December-May romance between a wealthy widow, Carrie, and her tree service man, stirs up a small town's cattiness, conformity and cruelty.  Jane Wyman gives a convincing, nuanced performance.  Hudson is mostly just a pretty face with muscles, as Carrie's son Ned says.  The townspeople ask, in a sense, "What does she see in  him?"; Jane Wyman's acting is so fine that it almost answers my question: "What does he see in her?".

Lots of saccharine Hallmark card shots (old mill by the river, deer framed in picture window as snow falls, etc).  Some dialogue that seems hilarious given that we now know Hudson was gay.  For example Carrie asks, "So you want me to be a man?"; he answers, "Only in that one way".  (However, he was out in Hollywood, so maybe this was just an inside joke by the fimmakers.)

Universal made this film apparently to cash in on the popularity of Magnificent Obsession, another Wyman-Hudson December-May romance.  Funny that this obvious soap opera, where superficial social commentary on class and age is just an excuse for romantic drama, is now considered one of Sirk's finest films and is gathering critical acclaim.

2.5*
Nov 2010