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Rating: 7.5 stars

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All movies seen on 05/24/2015

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Magnificent Obsession (1954)

Directed by Douglas Sirk

Drama | Romance | Melodrama

Overview

Reckless playboy Bob Merrick crashes his speedboat, requiring emergency attention from the town’s only resuscitator while a local hero, Dr. Phillips, dies waiting for the life-saving device. Merrick then tries to right his wrongs with the doctor’s widow, Helen, falling in love with her in the process.

Rated NR | Length 108 minutes

Actors

Jane Wyman | Rock Hudson | Barbara Rush | Agnes Moorehead | Otto Kruger | 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 | Will J. White | William Leslie | Greta Ullmann

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Viewing Notes

Total Douglas Sirk movie. Really amazing film with stellar performances by all the principles here. Also a film completely frozen in its time. From the drunk driving, the womanizing, to the smoking (by all the doctors, natch), to the plot devices this is very much a product of the 1950s. I love that. Yet still I imagine an alternate, darker finale where the tables are turned on Rock Hudson’s Bob Merrick. Sara Shane is quite the looker even in a supporting role.

Part of the Weepie Noir series at the Music Box.

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