This film is currently unavailable
Written on the Wind
Douglas Sirk’s broiling melodrama classic; a love quadrangle involving the two brattish heirs of a Texan oil fortune.
Director: Douglas Sirk
Overview
Douglas Sirk’s broiling melodrama posits a love quadrangle set around the rarefied setting of a Texan oil family. Kyle (Robert Stack) and Marylee (Dorothy Malone) are the brattish siblings on the verge of inheriting a fortune. When Kyle’s mistreated wife Lucy (Lauren Bacall) falls for the altogether more balanced company geologist Mitch (Rock Hudson), tensions and temperatures rise dramatically, not least because Marylee is also infatuated with him.
Setting the template for the hysterical oil-family drama later adopted by TV series Dallas, Written on the Wind is a prime example of Sirk’s celebrated ‘subversive melodramas’, in which the director both revels in his story’s histrionics while also subtly critiquing the form that he's working in.
Related
That Night's Wife That Night's Wife
Crime 1930 64 mins Silent Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Young father Shuji turns to crime to pay his daughter's medical bills in Ozu's masterly early drama.
A Mother Should be Loved A Mother Should be Loved
Melodrama 1934 74 mins Silent Director: Yasujirō Ozu
The surviving, incomplete version of Ozu's moving silent drama about a young man struggling to deal with a disturbing family secret.
Tokyo Twilight Tokyo Twilight
Drama 1957 141 mins Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Abandoned by their mother, sisters Akiko (Ineko Arima) and Takako (Setsuko Hara) live with their father Shukichi (Chishu Ryu). When Akiko falls into desperate trouble, she turns away from her family.
Pink String and Sealing Wax Pink String and Sealing Wax
Crime 1946 90 mins Director: Robert Hamer
Gordon Jackson stars in a seething tale of family conflict, murder and blackmail in Victorian Brighton.
Blanche Fury Blanche Fury
Period drama 1948 94 mins Director: Marc Allégret
Valerie Hobson stars as the scheming governess with designs on taking over the Fury estate, in this atmospheric Gothic melodrama
The Mask The Mask
Melodrama 1953 28 mins Director: Don Chaffey
This Gothic-tinged short melodrama packs a cocktail of infidelity, deformity and jealousy into its tale of love gone sour.
12 Years a Slave 12 Years a Slave
Biopic 2014 134 mins Director: Steve McQueen
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender star in Steve McQueen’s fearless, Oscar-winning story of a free man who’s sold into slavery.
Moonlight Moonlight
Drama 2016 111 mins Director: Barry Jenkins
Winner of the 2017 Oscar for Best Picture (eventually!), Barry Jenkins’ intoxicating drama follows the furtive life of a gay black boy through 80s Miami.
Shakespeare in Love Shakespeare in Love
Comedy 1998 124 mins Director: John Madden
A creatively stymied bard finds love and inspiration in the form of one of his players, a cross-dressing actress, in the impeccably crafted, Oscar-winning period romance.
Hell or High Water Hell or High Water
Crime 2016 102 mins Director: David Mackenzie
Jeff Bridges and Chris Pine star in David Mackenzie’s acclaimed crime drama about two brothers who rob the banks that seized their ranch, and the sheriff on their heels.
I, Tonya I, Tonya
Biopic 2017 120 mins Director: Craig Gillespie
Athlete. Champion. Villain. Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) played them all…
BlacKkKlansman BlacKkKlansman
Drama 2018 135 mins Director: Spike Lee
Spike Lee's stunning crime drama tells the stranger-than-fiction true story of an African-American police officer who infiltrated the KKK in the 1970s.
The Ceremony The Ceremony
Thriller 2024 92 mins Director: Jack King
When night falls, two Bradford car wash workers are dragged into an escalating moral crisis.
Palestine 36 Palestine 36
Period drama 2025 120 mins Director: Annemarie Jacir
Acclaimed Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s most ambitious work is a powerful exploration of the events leading up to the Arab Revolt of 1936.
Ghost Trail Ghost Trail
Thriller 2024 106 mins Director: Jonathan Millet
Tense, morally complex political thriller about a man hunting down fugitive war criminals from the Assad regime in Syria, inspired by true events.
Plainclothes Plainclothes
Drama 2025 97 mins Director: Carmen Emmi
Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey lead a Sundance-prize winning ensemble in this knockout cruising drama from debut director Carmen Emmi.
What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day? What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day?
Documentary 2005 45 mins Director: Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly’s second collaboration with pop band Saint Etienne traces the hidden history of East London’s Lower Lea Valley before its Olympic makeover.
Young Hearts Young Hearts
Drama 2024 99 mins Director: Anthony Schatteman
A gentle and sincere story of queer love between two young teenage boys, told with warmth and humour.