Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack

A wealthy clan of Texas oil barons have their American Dream pulled apart by lust, greed and dirty family secrets.

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77% liked it

2,363 ratings

Critics

79% liked it

19 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 40 min.

Directed by: Douglas Sirk

Release Date: June 1, 1957

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DVD Release Date: August 21, 2001

Stats: 170 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (170)


  • March 25, 2009
    The words "Hollywood melodrama" will make the majority of high-brow film critics sneer - however when you add another two words, Douglas Sirk, that sneer turns into a smile. What is it about this director, who essentially laid the groundwork for the modern soap opera, that appeal...( read more)s to both the film as art and film as trashy entertainment audience? Sirk knows he's making a silly melodrama, and therefore he ups the absurdities and has his fun. The performances are over-the-top, the sets are phony, the drama is exaggerated... it's not only an early soap opera, it's a brilliant exploitation of melodrama as a genre.

    Rock Hudson stars as Mitch Wayne (I can't decide which name is more manly), the stalwart hunk of the picture. Mitch, although born to different parents, grew up with the Hadley family on a Texas ranch. Jasper Hadley (Robert Keith), the millionaire who made his fortune with oil, had two children - Kyle (Robert Stack) and Marylee (Dorothy Malone). Mitch was raised along with them, and became great friends with Kyle. Marylee, on the other hand, was firmly set on marrying Mitch since she was a young girl.

    The female equivalent of Mitch shows up in Lucy Moore (Lauren Bacall) - an intelligent, well-mannered, and genuinely good person. Although Lucy and Mitch seem perfect for each other, it's Kyle's shameless aggression and riches that are able to sweep Lucy off of her feet. Later on, the couple decide to have a child - and when Kyle is told he has weak sperm, he divulges in his past demons as an alcoholic and becomes a complete violent wreck.

    Dorothy Malone won an Oscar for her performance, and it's a good one. Her character is essentially nothing more than lust personified - she's an irresistible temptress who looks more like a Barbie doll than a woman. My favorite performance of the film, however, was Robert Stack. Although the performance is completely over-the-top and absurd, it's interesting to watch Kyle's phony exterior disintegrate throughout the picture until he becomes the villain that he is at the end. It's a smart performance done in the least subtle manner imaginable.

    "Written on the Wind" is appealing for it's compelling story, enjoyable performances, and shameless exaggerations that make it a guilt-free guilty pleasure. While subtlety is not it's strong point - it's not supposed to be. "Written on the Wind" is wildly entertaining, and subscribers to NetFlix should certainly check it out on their Instant View service.
  • April 12, 2007
    So over the top and melodramatic it's scary. The drunken Robert Stack makes the movie, expecially towards the end when he falls off the wagon and goes in search of cheap corn liquor. Lauren Bacall seems a little out of place, but overall it works.
  • September 12, 2009
    Written on the wind
    This is one of the true Classic's. It was recommended by my true friend raimoyna, as always she picks the best in Classic Films. This one here stars the True Rock, Rock Hudson that is along with Lauren Bacall, Dorothy Malone, and Robert Stack. Robert Stack...( read more) plays the part of a Rich Oil Tycoon's son, who runs around doing what ever he wants when he wants, and Rock Hudson his best friend is always cleaning up the mess. Lucy ( Lauren Bacal) appears and Rock falls instantly in love with her, Well Robert Stack see's this and stars stalking Lauren, until he maries her. All along Rock is sill in Love with her. Mean while Dorothy Malone, plays Robert Stacks Nympho Sister and wants the Rock, but Rock will have no part of it. This movie is part of the Criterion Collection. All in All its worth 4 stars.
  • April 19, 2007
    The specialization of Douglas Sirk for melodramatic films is really something i didnt expect to love. Maybe the charm or the good look of Rock Hudson that just transported me to this love story which i find amazingly cheesy, but this film is good. Although maybe not so much for t...( read more)he gentlemens.
  • November 25, 2009
    I always laugh when I see Rock Hudson playing a straight man. You just know he's revolted by the thought of kissing a young and nubile Lauren Bacall.
  • August 12, 2009
    Dorothy Malone is interesting, but this is trash.
  • July 19, 2009
    Another Sirk classic. Rock Hudson has rarely been better and the rest of the cast are exceptional too. Sirk's films have a strange quality to them. They seem both familiar yet ever-so-slightly unsettling. He was most definitely a smuggler of deeper and darker issues than what was...( read more) expected from "women weepies" at the time.
  • October 30, 2008
    This really was a movie that had really good parts, and not so good parts. The best part was the tolkin Oscar winner: Dorthy Malone as Mary-lea. Oh she was so good! So good- even if she can't drive a car, is it a really windy road or what! Robert Stack as Kyle, wasn't as good, bu...( read more)t still deserved his Oscar nomination. The leads were over the top, as was most of the film, but that was why I loved it! The mise-en-scene was so good, but this is common in Sirk- especially the color! That song at the start was annoying- Oscar nominated yes, but... ugh! Otherwise, I didn't overlly enjoy it, it was more funny than anything.
  • October 9, 2008
    Damn, technicolor is pretty.
  • August 5, 2008
    Entertaining melodrama that verges on the point of soap opera. Great support from Dorothy Malone and Robert Stack (although Stack overdoes it in some parts).

Critic Reviews


January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

In countless ways visible and invisible, Sirk's sly subversion skewed American popular culture, and helped launch a new age of irony. full review

View more Written on the Wind reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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Written on the Wind Trivia


  • Who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing a nymphomaniac in Douglas Sirk's melodrama Written on the Wind?  Answer »
  • The movie "Gone with the wind" from 1939 is based on a book written by...?  Answer »
  • What was Kyle's fathers line of business in Written On The Wind ?  Answer »
  • Who do Mitch and Kyle fall in love with in Written On the Wind ?  Answer »

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