Written on the Wind (PG)

★★★★ Probably the best known of Douglas Sirk's films, a 1956 Hollywood melodrama concentrating on the frustrations of non-achievers, bitter and resentful at their inability to pull themselves out of the mire of personal and relationship failure. ~ Empire.

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Written on the Wind shows director Douglas Sirk at his most lavish and best. 

Sirk and producer Albert Zugsmith gather an all-star cast for this tale of a dysfunctional family at the head of a Texas oil dynasty, In particular, Written on the Wind explores the complicated relationships between the alcoholic heir to the family fortune, his wife – a former secretary to the family company – his best friend, and his ruthless, self-destructive sister. 

Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone lead a stellar cast firing on all melodramatic cylinders. Sirk complements his players’ efforts with his typically precise mise en scène, creating perhaps his most fully realised work. 

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★★★★ For all its flaunting of wealth and power, this melodrama from Douglas Sirk is a brutal indictment of the way the American Dream plunges spiritual values down-market. ~ Radio Times.