All That Heaven Allows (1955)
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All That Heaven Allows Movie Review
All That Heaven Allows is a 1955 romance film directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. It’s a very sweet, progressive flick.
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“Cary, let’s face it:
you were ready for a love affair,
but not for love“
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It follows an older widow who falls in love with her much younger gardener much to the resentment of her family and her entire neighborhood. Yes, this is undoubtedly a very impressive storyline for the fifties as it’s so advanced and wonderful in what it preaches. It showcases how ultimately what your kids, let alone gossipy neighbors, think is unimportant. Your own happiness should come first and then everything else.
Although the two fell in love a bit too soon and that development was rushed quite a lot, I still really liked their romance and the movie succeeds in that genre department as it’s very charming and consistently beautifully endearing and lovable in its characters and in its surroundings.
I did like that first act, though it was rushed. It was very charming overall. The third act is your regular happy ending part and it hits those familiar beats, but the second act is the highlight of the picture. Although not as subtle as I would have liked it to have been, still this relationship was well portrayed and this act was quite dramatic and realistic for its time.
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Rock Hudson delivers his typical work as he was very much typecast. In terms of acting ability, there is nothing spectacular to be witnessed here, but he fits the role like a glove with his smooth talk, his charisma, looks and seducing voice. I also really liked Agnes Moorehead as the protagonist’s friend Sarah, she was quite likable here.
The kids are more annoying than anything else really as these walking stereotypes. Ned himself is awfully unlikable whereas Kay literally is Barbara Morton from Hitchcock’s ‘Strangers on a Train’ meaning that she’s bratty and acting like a total, all-knowing nerd all the time. They literally copied this character in its entirety.
The standout is obviously Jane Wyman who carries the majority of this movie on her great shoulders, delivering a performance that was shamefully snubbed for an Oscar as she’s simply terrific, very nuanced and very likable throughout. She carried all the right emotional beats and she delivered one of the very best female performances of 1955.
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All That Heaven Allows is one of the coziest movies that I have ever seen. That’s why many called it “a woman’s picture” back in the day as not only is it romantic, but also visually very appealing. The direction from Douglas Sirk is solid and the score’s very strong, but it is the imagery that is absolutely mesmerizing. That cottage or whatever is simply gorgeous, the nature is so well showcased here, the snowy sequences looked magical and I just loved the emphasis on trees and the science behind them which really caught my eye as I like biology and I rarely see it in movies, and here it was so wonderfully showcased.
All That Heaven Allows is rushed in its first act and somewhat unsubtle in execution, but it’s still a commendable romance thanks in no small part to its very progressive portrayal of an intergenerational couple and the struggles they would face during this period. It also feels and looks incredibly cozy owing to a beautiful imagery and a charming tone to it. As for Jane Wyman, she carried the entire movie on her shoulders and delivered one of the best performances of this year.
