It is ironic that during the 1950s, when the former Douglas Sirk was at his most successful in terms of audience appeal, he was virtually ignored by the critics... He is now seen, however, as a director of formidable intellect who, despite his background in classical and Avant-Garde Theater, achieved his best work in melodrama...

With its penetrating, literate screenplay, its fine and sympathetic acting, its tasteful sets and artwork, its wonderful music, cleverly adapted from some of the finest music of Franz Liszt and other romantic composers, 'All That Heaven Allows' is another film, passed over in its own time as "just another soap opera."

Sirk tries to capture the tensions of real everyday living in his representation of a lonely elegant widow steeped in a snobbish society...

Jane Wyman is (Cary Scott), a pleasant middle-aged widow who is having difficulty in adjusting to her status... She lives in comfortable circumstances in a handsome house, but her character is more concerned with maintaining a veneer of social respectability than with addressing reality...

Sirk turns a conventional love story, between Cary and her much younger gardener and nurseryman Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson) into a study of the fall of American idealism and innocence, and lush images of nature contrasting with claustrophobic, petty-minded snobbery of a country-club set...

Ron prefers to grow plants in his nursery near an old mill, and lives life according to his own rules - which do not comprise cocktail parties, gossip, and superficial camaraderie... He is obviously handsome, and Cary gives herself numerous reasons why she should not encourage him... The difference in their respective ages being, in her view, the most salient of all... But Ron keeps returning, it is obvious he is attracted to her...

But as their romance deepens, so does the widow's dilemma... The family, so often glamorized by Hollywood, is regarded as selfish and inhibiting, with the widow's teenage children horrified at the idea of another man tainting their dead father's sacred memory... So Cary retreats, and decides to walk away from a love that promises the chance to rediscover her own passion in his sensual embrace...

Sirk does interesting things with reflections, most notable the sight of Wyman reflected in the screen of a television set that her son and daughter buy her in Christmas to keep her company... Staring deeply into its surface, deep sadness closed her heart as she wanted to escape the pain of her mistake... Her physician (Hayden Rorke), whom she consults on her miserable headaches, tells her that there is absolutely nothing wrong with her, that she must stop living by the opinions, the smiles and frowns of others...

Wyman convincingly gives the impression of a woman torn between the fires of her own heart and her devotion to her family and friends... She and Hudson have a good chemistry together, and obviously the film, exquisitely photographed in Technicolor, carries off its intended effect perfectly...

All That Heaven Allows is a piece of cinema romance as slick as it comes from Douglas Sirk who is one of the best directors for these films. For its time it was a daring film involving the younger man with an older woman. But couples like that from Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine to Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore should be inspired by this film.

The film opens with Jane Wyman as a recent and well provided for widow with grown children Gloria Talbott and William Reynolds. They're all in favor of mother getting married again, they've even got a husband in mind for her, attentive neighbor Conrad Nagel from their country club set.

But when she announces that she'd like to marry their gardener, Rock Hudson, this scandalizes everyone in their very WASPy and respectable suburban town.

Rock's a rather unusual gardener however. A Korean War veteran who did attend agricultural college at one point, he's developed a Thoreau like philosophy of life, he even has his own Walden Pond where he keeps the tree nursery and spends all his time. He's even fixed up the old mill on the place as a honeymoon cottage.

After such fare on television as suburban housewives, stuff like All That Heaven Allows is pretty tame and pretty dated. Still the players are earnest and sincere and it's a film where you can for once see Agnes Moorehead as a nice lady as Wyman's best friend and supporter.

There were plenty of reasons to want to see 'All That Heaven Allows'. Douglas Sirk was interesting if "love it or hate it" director. Melodrama has always been a mixed bag in execution, there are some good, intense and moving ones but there are others that are pure soap and unintentional camp. Have more to see of Jane Wyman but what has been seen has been generally quite good. Rock Hudson is not one of my favourites but he was great when he had good material and a great director and that's why his collaborations with Sirk worked so well.

'All That Heaven Allows' struck me as a wonderful film. It is visually sumptuous and well performed as well as scathing and touching. For me it is one of Sirk's best films, along with the likes of 'Imitation of Life' and 'Written on the Wind', and one of his best directed, as it is unmistakably him stylistically and thematically while doing what made him an interesting director better than most of his other films. It shares things in common with 'Magnificent Obsession, also directed by Sirk, also starring Wyman, Hudson and the ever great Agnes Moorehead and also with music by Frank Skinner. The difference being though that to me 'All That Heaven Allows' is a much better film, saying a lot as 'Magnificent Obsession' didn't do very much for me.

Good things are so many and the good things are brilliantly executed. Actually can't think of anything obvious to criticise. It is a fabulous looking film, with it being truly beautifully shot in Technicolor (which looks ravishing without being too glossy) and lavishly produced and costumed. Skinner's score is lush and stirring without being over-bearing or too syrupy. Sirk's direction is some of his most insightful, while his passion for the material is abundantly clear while approaching it with bite and sensitivity.

Furthermore the script is boldly scathing in how critical it is of the moral values and hypocrisy of the time, which gives the film its depth and shows that there is some substance under the lavish surface. While also being thoughtful and touching, personally didn't think it was too soapy and had little trouble taking it seriously. The story never bored me and the setting's beauty and the ugly attitudes of the time contrast beautifully, it also really touched me and this is coming from somebody who is becoming less of a sap in the past few years. To me it wasn't contrived and there wasn't anything in the plotting that happened too distractingly patly. The messaging isn't too preachy.

One may argue that the characters are not easy to care for, actually did care for them in some way despite some the attitudes being less than attractive to put it mildly. Wyman is much better here than she was in 'Magnificent Obsession', she may have been nominated for an Oscar for her performance but to me she seemed more at ease in 'All That Heaven Allows' and more involved. Even better is Hudson giving a performance of charm and tenderness, evidence of Sirk being one of not many directors to know and understand Hudson's strengths and get the most out of them. Moorehead is particularly excellent, not unexpected as she can be counted upon to always give a good performance in spite of the overall film's quality, of the sterling supporting cast.

Concluding, wonderful. 10/10