MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION [1954 / 2019] [The Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray + DVD] [USA Release] Unforgettable in its Dramatic force . . . its Intimacy . . . its Ecstasy!
Reckless playboy Bob Merrick [Rock Hudson] in his breakthrough role, crashes his speedboat, requiring emergency attention from the town’s only resuscitator — at the very moment that a beloved local doctor has a heart attack and dies waiting for the lifesaving device. Thus begins one of Douglas Sirk’s most flamboyant master classes in melodrama, a delirious Technicolor mix of the sudsy and the spiritual in which Bob Merrick and the doctor’s widow, Helen Phillips [Jane Wyman], find themselves inextricably linked amid a series of increasingly wild twists, turns, trials, and tribulations.
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FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1955 Academy Awards®: Nominated: Best Actress in a Leading Role for Jane Wyman.
FILM FACT No.2: ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION’ was previously filmed in 1935, by Universal Pictures, with Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor. Douglas Sirk began production on ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION,’ his previous production, ‘Taza, Son of Cochise’ a 3-D western having wrapped up the month before. The film opened at the Loew's State Theater in New York City on the 4th August, 1954. Audiences were greeted by co-star Agnes Moorehead in the lobby. Howard Thompson in The New York Times on the 5th August, 1954 wrote, “The film ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION,’ is unquestionably a handsome one. Better still, generally restrained performances at least dignify a moist text, which may seem inspiration to some, pure corn to others.”
Cast: Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, Agnes Moorehead, Otto Kruger, Barbara Rush, Gregg Palmer, Paul Cavanagh, Sara Shane, Richard H. Cutting, Judy Nugent, Helen Kleeb, Rudolph Anders, Fred Nurney, John Mylong, Alexander Campbell, Mae Clarke, Harvey Grant, Joseph Mell, Gail Bonney (uncredited), George Brand (uncredited), Jack Chefe (uncredited), Harold Dyrenforth (uncredited), Lance Fuller (uncredited), Jack Gargan (uncredited), Lisa Gaye (uncredited), Herschel Graham (uncredited), Joy Hallward (uncredited), Myrna Hansen (uncredited), Bob Herron (uncredited), Bradford Jackson (uncredited), Jack Kelly (uncredited), Lucille La Marr (uncredited), William Leslie (uncredited), Paul Levitt (uncredited), George Lynn (uncredited), Kathleen O'Malley (uncredited), Ray Quinn (uncredited), Lee Roberts (uncredited), Norbert Schiller (uncredited), Frederick Stevens (uncredited), Amzie Strickland (uncredited), Greta Ullmann (uncredited), Charles Victor (uncredited), Will J. White (uncredited), Robert B. Williams (uncredited) and Helen Winston (uncredited)
Director: Douglas Sirk
Producer: Ross Hunter
Screenplay: Lloyd C. Douglas (novel), Robert Blees (screenplay), Wells Root (adaptation), Sarah Y. Mason (based upon the screenplay), Victor Heerman (based upon the screenplay) and Finley Peter Dunne (uncredited)
Composer: Frank Skinner
Costumes: Bill Thomas (gowns)
Cinematography: Russell Metty, A.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Technicolor Color Consultant: William Fritzsche
Image Resolution: 1080p (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio: 2.00:1
Audio: English: 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio
English: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 108 minutes
Region: Region A/1
Number of discs: 2
Studio: Universal International / The Criterion Collection
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION’ is a 1954 Technicolor drama romantic film directed by Douglas Sirk starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. The screenplay was written by Robert Blees and Wells Root, after the 1929 book “Magnificent Obsession” by Lloyd C. Douglas. The film was produced by Ross Hunter and Douglas Sirk sometimes claimed that the story was based distantly on the Greek legend of Alcestis.
‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION’ was not the German expatriate’s first film made in Hollywood, his first collaboration with frothy producer Ross Hunter, or his first dabbling in the genre of melodrama. It isn’t even, by the measure of your average Douglas Sirk enthusiast, his first masterpiece. But, in retrospect, it was the decisive turning point in his late career boom, in which he crafted deliriously purplish, deeply jaded women’s weepies that only later became revered for both celebrating and critiquing the excesses of red-blooded, middle-American 1950s entertainment.
The film opens with a breathless Rock Hudson’s who is a callous playboy, Bob Merrick, after getting into a 180mph boating accident basically because he can afford it, is saved by a special resuscitator medical device invented by a doctor on the other side of the lake. While the resuscitator is being used to save Bob Merrick, Dr. Phillips suffers a heart attack and dies. Bob Merrick ends up a patient at Dr. Phillips's clinic, where most of the doctors and nurses resent the fact that Bob Merrick inadvertently caused Dr. Phillips's death.
Bob Merrick spends a long and frosty recuperation at the hospital run by and guess who? It ends with a medical miracle that sees Bob Merrick himself attempting a lifesaving operation on that doctor’s widow, Helen Phillips [Jane Wyman], but not before achieving a mystical spiritual rebirth and, just for the ladies, scrubbing down in the longest shirtless surgical prep scene in cinematic history. Somewhere in between those two story points, Bob Merrick indirectly causes Helen Phillips to go blind, discovers something like a god in the form of a cryptically gay-ish artiste Edward Randolph [Otto Kruger], entertains Helen Phillips with the help of an adolescent live-action Peppermint Patty [Judy Nugent], and goes a little grey at the temples. Helen Phillips, meanwhile, cries.
Bob Merrick discovers why everyone dislikes him. He runs from the clinic but collapses in front of Helen Helen's car and ends up back at the hospital, where she learns his true identity. After his discharge, Bob Merrick leaves a party, drunk. Bob Merrick runs off the road and ends up at the home of Edward Randolph, who recognizes him and explains the secret belief that powered his own art and Dr. Phillips's success. Bob Merrick decides to try out this new philosophy. His first attempt causes Helen Phillips to step into the path of a car while trying to run away from Bob Merrick's advances and is left blind as a result of this accident.
Bob Merrick secretly arranges for Helen Phillips to travel to Europe and consult the best eye surgeons in the world. After extensive tests, these surgeons tell Helen Phillips there is no hope for recovery. Right after this, Bob Merrick shows up at her hotel to provide emotional support but eventually discovers that Helen Phillips has already guessed his real identity. Bob Merrick asks Helen Helen Phillips to marry him. Later that night, Helen Phillips realizes she will be a burden to him, and so runs away and disappears.
Many years pass and Bob Merrick is now a dedicated and successful brain surgeon who secretly continues his philanthropic acts, and searches for Helen Phillips. One evening, Edward Randolph arrives with news that Helen Phillips is very sick, possibly dying, in a small Southwest hospital. They leave immediately for the hospital. Bob Merrick arrives to find that Helen Phillips needs complex brain surgery to save her life. As the only capable surgeon at the hospital, Bob Merrick performs this operation. After a long night waiting for the results, Helen Phillips awakens and discovers she can now see again.
‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION’ is perhaps Douglas Sirk most important film, despite not being very successful when first released. Though Douglas Sirk has made films in many genres, it was ‘All I Desire,’ his 1952 melodrama that paved the way for what would become his special place in cinema history. In the often ridiculed genre of so called “woman's movies,” Douglas Sirk discovered there was great scope for artistic expression as well as social criticism and much more in this apparently vacuous genre. ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION’ is the first film in which this vision is finally realised. Of all of Douglas Sirk’s films that are worth taking a close look at, particularly from ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION’ onwards. There are a handful of directors who so well grasped the possibilities of film making and possessed the know how in using the many elements that make up this art form.
Douglas Sirk directed a lot of films that capitalized on the melodramas that were highly popular in the fifties. In ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION’ the director shows why he was probably the man that was born to direct this film, as well as others of the genre. This is a remake of the film of 1935, which had been a vehicle for Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor.
Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson seemed to be unlikely candidates for playing a romantic couple in the movies. After all, Ms. Jane Wyman was older than Mr. Rock Hudson and clearly appeared to be in the film. The story, which is based on Lloyd C. Douglas novel, has a little bit of everything. ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION’ proved to be a hit for its stars. In a way, it's easy to see why fans were attracted to it, with its many twists and turns and the impossible love between Helen Phillips and Dr. Bob Merrick, the playboy who becomes contrite after he causes the accident that makes Helen Phillips blind. Also in the cast the magnificent actress Agnes Moorehead, who has great moments in the film. If you've never heard of Douglas Sirk, be prepared that this will be melodrama city. Production values are superb. Douglas Sirk was a very talented craftsman, as well as creating a beautiful aesthetic for these films. Once you start you'll never be able to stop and it will obsess you but overall it will be a “Magnificent Obsession.”
MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION MUSIC TRACK LIST
Consolations, S. 172 No. 3 in D flat major – Lento, placido (Written by Franz Liszt)
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Universal International and The Criterion Collection presents us once again given us a very professional looking Blu-ray disc, with a superb and stunning Technicolor 1080p image is solid and a quantum leap forward from the 2001 inferior DVD release and is also presented in the very unusual 2.00:1 aspect ratio. Now that The Criterion Collection has taken a second crack at the film ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION,’ and it is unquestionably the most attractive Criterion release of a Douglas Sirk film on the market. The colours are still not quite dazzling per se, but they are appropriately saturated in a way that seems an acceptable truce between melodrama and veracity. The traces of edge enhancement that plagued specific scenes in the inferior DVD are nowhere to be seen here and all told the image quality is flawless. So well done The Criterion Collection.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Universal International and The Criterion Collection brings us once again and given us a very professional audio experience, with a standard 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio experience. Dialogue is both strong and clear along with the sound mix; Frank Skinner’s film score and accompanying selections of classical music, are given great ambiance and fidelity without being too overpowering or intrusive. There is not an instance of issues like distortion, crackling, popping, or hissing, which means that this is likely to be the best sound for this film you will ever get to hear, especially on this Blu-ray release.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
High-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray.
Special Feature: Audio Commentary featuring Thomas Doherty [2008] [1080p] [2.00:1] [107:42] With this featurette, we are informed that this audio commentary features film scholar Thomas Doherty who is the author of “Hollywood Censor: Joseph I, Breen and the Production Code Administration,” and was recorded by The Criterion Collection in 2008. To listen to this audio commentary while viewing the movie ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION,’ press the AUDIO button on your remote control and select 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio experience. As the film starts, we hear Thomas Doherty welcoming us to the greatest love story by the author of “The Robe,” and feels the film is so tenderly passionate, so powerfully compelling, that no woman can ever forget this emotion, that is a quote from that original advertising copy, not Thomas Doherty himself, who informs us that he is a professor of American Studies at Brandeis University, as well as an associate editor for the film magazine Cineaste and film review editor for the Journal of American History, who sets the tone right away by introducing himself as the “disembodied talking head” who will discuss the film on this pristine digital transfer, of this Douglas Sirk’s 1954 version of the Lloyd C. Douglas’s 1929 novel “Magnificent Obsession,” and over the next 107 minutes, he will try to be informative, while trying not to be too annoying, but at the same time will try to provide some historical background and offer a few stylistic observations, designed to enhance your own appreciation of this fascinating film, and by the way of a fear warning, you might keep a box of Kleenex tissues within easy reach. Thomas Doherty says that at the start of the film we are plunged immediately into melodrama country with this silky title credits and lush orchestral film score, and seducing us into a world of the film, but certain pretentious film critics called the film “de jesus,” and those visual and soundtrack cues that we absorb by osmosis, letting us know this is no western or “film noir,” and subliminal ambiance setting, that is classical Hollywood cinema, that was so devastating effective at the time of the release of the 1954 movie ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION.’ It’s a nice light way to start the audio commentary track and it was nice to find it could be informative and even humorous and Thomas Doherty does poke some fun at the rather absurd plot, while Thomas Doherty discusses this film and Douglas Sirk’s work. Thomas Doherty offers a lot on Douglas Sirk’s excellent relationship with Universal Pictures, who pretty much let him do what he wanted, and they knew they had a hit with this one, while also getting into how he worked with actors, specifically Rock Hudson, talks about the Technicolor process, the history of melodrama, Douglas Sirk’s influence on Fassbinder, and even how Douglas Sirk has divided film buffs. Thomas Doherty also offers his own comparison between Douglas Sark’s film and the John M. Stahl’s original 1935 film, favouring Douglas Sirk’s, despite some problems Thomas Doherty points out. With this he also brings up Douglas Sirk’s feelings about the story, which Thomas Doherty didn’t really like Jane Wyman was the driver behind the film. And yes, there’s discussion on the aspect ratio of the film, bringing up the heated debate between different cinephile aficionados as to what the 2.00:1 aspect ratio Douglas Sirk actually preferred. Ultimately, though, Thomas Doherty doesn’t offer an answer, admitting he’s not too familiar with this facet of the film. In the end I cannot make up my mind whether I liked the Thomas Doherty audio commentary track. Please Note: Due to amount of space I am allowed to do my in-depth DVD and Blu-ray Reviews, I have had to sadly edit this Thomas Doherty audio commentary review, so I hope it does not soil your enjoyment in what you have read of this particular audio commentary.
Special Feature: MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION [1935] [1080i] [1.37:1] [102:11] Here we get to view John M. Stahl’s 1935 adaptation of the same novel, now newly restored and is presented here with this DVD from The Criterion Collection. Here we find Helen Hudson [Irene Dunne] is left widowed and penniless after the hospital is unable to save the life of her charitable husband, Dr. Hudson, because another drowning victim and the spoiled Robert Merrick [Robert Taylor] required the hospital's only resuscitation device. Robert Merrick seeks Helen Hudson out to offer recompense, but Helen Hudson rebukes him. Robert Merrick soon falls in love with her, but an accident leads to Helen's loss of eyesight, which threatens their relationship and eventually her life. Cast: Irene Dunne, Robert Taylor, Charles Butterworth, Betty Furness, Sara Haden, Ralph Morgan, Henry Armetta, Gilbert Emery, Arthur Treacher, Beryl Mercer, Alyce Ardell, Theodore von Eltz, Sidney Bracey, Arthur Hoyt, Cora Sue Collins and Frank Mayo (uncredited). Director: John M. Stahl. Producers: E.M. Asher, John M. Stahl and Fred S. Meyer (uncredited). Screenplay: George O'Neil, Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman. Cinematography: John J. Mescall, A.S.C. Please Note: Director Douglas Sirk’s 1954 film ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION’ was based on the popular 1928 novel by Minister turned writer Lloyd C. Douglas. However, the book had also been brought to the screen nearly two decades earlier by Hollywood filmmaker John M. Stahl, and was his first directorial 1935 film ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION,’ starring Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor.
Special Feature: Core of Reality: Robert Bees on Douglas Sirk’s ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION’ [2009] [1080p] [2.00:1 / 1.78:1] [19:19] With this featurette, we are informed that screenwriter Robert Blees collaborated with director Doulas Sirk on the films ‘All I Desire’ and ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION.’ In this interview, that was filmed in 2008 in his home in Menlo Park, California, where Robert Bless discusses working as one of the last contract writers to be hired by Universal International and adapting the movie ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION.’ As an added bonus, we get to view lots of clips from the movie ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION.’ We are also informed that this featurette is dedicated to the memory of Robert Blees [1918 – 2015] This was a FICTION FACTORY production.
Special Feature: From UFA to Hollywood: Douglas Sirk Remembers [1991] [480i] [1.37:1] [82:37] With this featurette, we get to view a just over eighty-two-minute 1991 documentary by Eckhart Schmidt and features a rare 1980 interview with director Douglas Sirk, in which the filmmaker Douglas Sirk reflects on his career, his working progress, and his time at Universal. Douglas Sirk speaks at length about two films he made for the studio: ‘Written On The Wind’ and ‘The Tarnished Angels.’ Director Douglas Sirk, one of Hollywood’s greatest directors of love stories, observed his métier with revelatory clarity. This 1980 feature-length interview with director Douglas Sirk is a splendid special feature. The 1954 film ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION’ is a film that made Rock Hudson a star and brought new life to the soppy genre of “women’s pictures” and distils the director’s artistry and offers a lesson in moviemaking. UFA, the leading German movie studio of the pre-war years, is where Douglas Sirk (born Claus Detlev Sierck) made films before leaving Germany, in 1937. The interview is not a survey of Douglas Sirk’s career but rather an in-depth exploration of several key experiences, beginning with his creation of a star — Zarah Leander, a Swedish singer who had little acting talent but impressed him with “the force of her personality.” Douglas Sirk describes their work together with the sort of psychologically acute visual sensibility that marks his films by saying “My camera explored the whole strange Nordic landscape of her face and it was as if covered by a blanket of ice.” At the time of the interview, the aged Doulas Sirk (whose precise birth date is uncertain) was still sharp; speaking in German and he enlivens incidents from five decades earlier with a wealth of precise and piquant detail and describes scenes from his movies with a three-dimensional fullness that makes them seem to unspool before your eyes. Douglas Sirk had always admired one Hollywood genre, especially melodrama, and says “these strange stories in which the bizarre, the impossible, the accidental, and the odd were boldly embraced to expose a force that lay underneath.” Douglas Sirk made his name with this genre, in films such as ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION,’ about a playboy who becomes a brain surgeon in order to win the love of a woman who was widowed and blinded because of his recklessness. But in the interview Douglas Sirk reveals the political basis for these films, which he calls “a whole series of investigations into the American middle class, because I remembered the middle class from the Hitler era as the soil in which dictatorships take root.” Douglas Sirk also expounds the extraordinarily modern aesthetic philosophy behind his glossy romances by saying “The surface isn’t really the surface, but rather a manifestation of the depths” and delivers a directorial credo: “Style is the most profound expression of personality.” There’s much, much more in the interview to fix a viewer’s attention; the coherence and profundity of his deceptively casual reflections match those of his films. At around 76:30 we get to view scenes filmed in the Hollywood area in California with weird music, then at 82:18 until 82:37 we just get a blank screen with that weird music again. Please Note: Because Douglas Sirk speaks in German, you then get to view white English subtitles at the bottom of the screen.
Special Feature: Tribute to Sirk: With this featurette, we get to view filmmakers Allison Anders and Kathryn Bigelow, who are both long-time fans of the films of Douglas Sirk. In two separate tribute featurettes that were filmed in 2008 in Los Angeles, California and in Venice, Italy, where they share their feelings about the director Douglas Sirk and hi work, and here is what you get to view:
A Tribute to Douglas Sirk by Allison Andrews [2008] [1080p] [1.78:1] [9:10] This is a FICTION FACTORY production.
Beyond Melodrama: Kathryn Bigelow on Douglas Sirk [2008] [1080p] [1.78:1] [13:17] This is a FICTION FACTORY production.
Special Feature: Trailer [1954] [1080p] [2.00:1] [2:25] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION.’ This is presented by the actress Jayne Wyman.
BONUS: Here we have a beautiful printed designed folded item that includes an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien [American poet, editor, book and film critic, translator, and cultural historian. PLUS Editor-in-chief of Library of America] entitled ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION.’ It also includes PRODUCTION CREDITS. SPECIAL THANKS. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. ABOUT THE TRANSFER. CAST and CREDITS. But we also get a plethora of rare production images from the film.
Finally, ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION’ was a film that was a decisive turning point for director Douglas Sirk, kicking off a beloved string of loopy 1950’s melodramatic masterpieces. One cannot watch the film today in the same way one would with the film ‘All That Heaven Allows,’ focusing on Douglas Sirk’s ahead-of-his-time attack on small-town mentality. ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION’ has survived over the years as both a great love story and a major part of Douglas Sirk’s distinctive style in subversive melodramas. Criterion has done justice to the film by not only improving on the audio and visual quality of the previous inferior DVD release, but carrying it over to include all the very special features as well. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
