Editing All That Heaven Allows

{{Short description|1955 film by Douglas Sirk}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = All That Heaven Allows
| image          = All That Heaven Allows (1955 poster).jpg
| alt            = An illustration of a man wearing a red flannel shirt kisses a woman with a 1950s-style updo.
| caption        = Theatrical release poster by [[Reynold Brown]]
| director       = [[Douglas Sirk]]
| producer       = [[Ross Hunter]]
| writer         = 
| screenplay     = [[Peg Fenwick]] based on the novel by Edna L. Lee<br>Harry Lee
| starring       = [[Jane Wyman]]<br />[[Rock Hudson]]
| music          = [[Frank Skinner (composer)|Frank Skinner]]
| cinematography = [[Russell Metty]]
| editing        = Frank Gross
| color_process  = [[Technicolor]] (as print by Technicolor)
| studio         = [[Universal Pictures|Universal-International]]<ref>{{AFI film|id=51424}}</ref>
| distributor    = Universal Pictures
| released       = {{Film date|1955|08|25|UK|ref1=<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1955-08-15/1955-10-01?basicsearch=%2bheaven%20%2ballows%20%2bhudson&freesearch=heaven%20allows%20hudson&retrievecountrycounts=false&sortorder=dayearly |title=All That Heaven Allows |newspaper=Kinematograph Weekly |date=August 18, 1955 |location=London, England |page=12 |via=British Newspaper Archive}}</ref>|1955|12|25|U.S.}}
| runtime        = 89 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = 
| gross          = $3.1 million (US/Canada rentals)<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Top Film Grossers of 1956 |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=January 2, 1957|page=1}}</ref>
}}
'''''All That Heaven Allows''''' is a 1955 American [[melodrama film]] directed by [[Douglas Sirk]], produced by [[Ross Hunter]], and adapted by [[Peg Fenwick]] from a novel by Edna L. Lee and Harry Lee. It stars [[Jane Wyman]] and [[Rock Hudson]] in a tale about the social complications that arise following the development of a romance between a well-to-do widow and a younger poorer man. In 1995, the film was selected for preservation in the [[United States]] [[National Film Registry]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|access-date=2020-09-14|website=Library of Congress}}</ref>

==Plot==
[[File:All That Heaven Allows (1955) - trailer.webm|thumb|Original release trailer for the film All That Heaven Allows (1955)]]
Cary Scott is an affluent widow in the town of Stoningham, in suburban [[New England]], whose social life revolves around the weekend visits of her college-age son and daughter, her best friend's country-club activities, and a few men vying for her affection. Feeling stuck in a rut, she becomes interested in Ron Kirby, her [[arborist]]. He is an intelligent, down-to-earth, and respectful, yet passionate, younger man, and she discovers he is content with his simple life outside the materialistic society in which they live. Ron introduces Cary to his friends, who seem to have no need for wealth or status, and their exuberance provides a welcome contrast to her staid existence.

Ron and Cary fall in love, and Ron [[Marriage proposal|proposes]]. Cary accepts, but she has concerns about the viability of their relationship, due to their different ages, classes, and lifestyles. These concerns are magnified when she tells her children and friends about the engagement and is met with a solid wall of disapproval, and, eventually, she breaks up with Ron. Particularly influential in her change of mind are her children's protestations against Cary's plan to sell the family home and move to Ron's tree [[Plant nursery|nursery]], as they will not want to visit her there.

After spending most of the Christmas season alone, Cary misses her life with Ron, but she thinks she has missed her opportunity for happiness because she mistakenly believes Ron is seeing another woman. On Christmas, her daughter announces she will be getting married soon and her son says that, since he is likely going to study abroad and then work overseas, they should start thinking about selling their house, which is too big for just Cary. She is overwhelmed by how pointless her sacrifice was, and her spirits are not lifted when her children give her a television set to fill her empty life.

Cary goes to see a doctor about recurrent headaches she has started having, and he suggests they are being caused by her body punishing her for ending her relationship with Ron. Leaving the appointment, she runs into one of Ron's friends, and in the course of their conversation she learns that Ron is still single. She goes to his property, but then changes her mind and leaves. Ron sees her from a precipice and excitedly, though unsuccessfully, tries to get her attention. The ground collapses out from under him, and he falls off the cliff.

That night, Ron's friend tells Cary about the accident, and she hurries over to his house. She decides she no longer wants to allow other people to dictate how she lives her life and settles in to nurse Ron back to health. When Ron regains consciousness, Cary tells him that she has come home.

==Cast==
{{Cast listing|
* [[Jane Wyman]] as Cary Scott
* [[Rock Hudson]] as Ron Kirby
* [[Agnes Moorehead]] as Sara Warren
* [[Conrad Nagel]] as Harvey
* [[Virginia Grey]] as Alida Anderson
* [[Gloria Talbott]] as Kay Scott
* [[William Reynolds (actor)|William Reynolds]] as Ned Scott
* [[Charles Drake (actor)|Charles Drake]] as Mick Anderson
* [[Hayden Rorke]] as Dr. Dan Hennessy
* [[Jacqueline deWit|Jacqueline de Wit]] as Mona Plash
* [[Leigh Snowden]] as Jo-Ann Grisby
* [[Donald Curtis]] as Howard Hoffer
* Alex Gerry as George Warren
* [[Nestor Paiva]] as Manuel 
* [[Forrest Lewis]] as Mr. Weeks
* [[Tol Avery]] as Tom Allenby
* [[Merry Anders]] as Mary Ann
* [[David Janssen]] as Freddie Norton, Kay's boyfriend (uncredited)
* [[Gia Scala]] as Marguerita, Manuel's daughter (uncredited)
}}

==Production==
===Screenplay===
Screenwriter [[Peg Fenwick]] wrote the screenplay for ''All That Heaven Allows'' based on the 394-page novel of the same name by Edna L. and Harry Lee. Notations made on various pages of a copy of the original screenplay owned by the [[New York Public Library]] indicate that the script was written in August 1954.

Some scenes in the script differ from those in the finished film. For instance, in the screenplay Rock Hudson's character, Ron Kirby, lies on the grass eating his lunch, but in the final cut of the film, he has lunch with Jane Wyman's character, Cary Scott.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/02/29/archives/screen-doleful-domestic-drama-mayfair-offering-all-that-heaven.html |title=Screen: Doleful Domestic Drama; Mayfair Offering 'All That Heaven Allows' Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson Teamed Again |last=Crowther |first=Bosley |author-link=Bosley Crowther |date=February 29, 1956 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

Sirk considered having Hudson's character die at the end of the film, but Ross Hunter, the film's producer, would not allow it, because he wanted a more positive ending.

===Development===
After the success of ''[[Magnificent Obsession (1954 film)|Magnificent Obsession]]'' in 1954, [[Universal Pictures|Universal-International Pictures]] wanted Sirk to make another film starring Wyman and Hudson. He found the screenplay for ''All That Heaven Allows'' "rather impossible", but was able to restructure it and use the big budget to film and edit the work exactly the way he wanted.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/96-all-that-heaven-allows |title=''All That Heaven Allows:'' An Articulate Screen |first=Laura |last=Mulvey |author-link=Laura Mulvey |date=18 June 2001 |website=[[The Criterion Collection]] |access-date=2 November 2012}}</ref>

Wyman was 38 when she played the film's "older woman", who scandalizes society and her grown-up children by becoming engaged to a younger man. Hudson, "the younger man", was 29 at the time.

===Filming===
Some exteriors for the film were shot on "[[Colonial Street]]", a studio backlot built by Paramount Pictures on the property of Universal Studios four years earlier and used in the film ''[[The Desperate Hours (1955 film)|The Desperate Hours]]''.<ref name="LAmag">{{cite news |last1=Cowan |first1=Jared |title=Take a Stroll Down Colonial Street, Film and TV's Most Iconic Suburban Set |url=https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/colonial-street-universal-studios/ |access-date=7 July 2023 |work=[[Los Angeles Magazine]] |date=March 4, 2019}}</ref> The set was re-designed to mimic an upper-middle class New England town. The film contains only one visible crane shot, when the camera scans over the fictional town of Stoningham during the opening credits. Tracking and dollying shots were used frequently for interior shots. The set was later featured on the television series ''[[Leave It to Beaver]]''.<ref name="LAmag" />

===Music===
The music that recurs throughout the film is [[Consolations (Liszt)|Consolation No. 3 in D-flat major]] by [[Franz Liszt]], along with frequent snatches of the finale to [[Symphony No. 1 (Brahms)|Brahms's First Symphony]], the latter re-scored and sometimes elaborated.<ref name="TCM">{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/67083/all-that-heaven-allows/#articles-reviews?articleId=76265|title=All That Heaven Allows|website=[[Turner Classic Movies]]|date=May 24, 2004|last=Steffen|first=James|access-date=July 7, 2023}}</ref> Also heard intermittently is "Warum?" (German for "Why?") by [[Robert Schumann]], from the [[Fantasiestücke, Op. 12]].

== Release ==
The film was released in [[Great Britain]] on August 25, 1955, several months ahead of its US premiere. In the United States, it opened in [[Los Angeles]] on Christmas Day 1955, and in [[New York City]] on February 28, 1956. The US release followed an extensive advertising campaign focusing on popular women's magazines such as ''[[McCall's]]'', ''[[Family Circle]]'', ''[[Woman's Day]]'', and ''[[Redbook]],'' which referred to the film as a "[[Woman's film|woman's picture]]".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=January-March 1955 |url=https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturedai77unse#page/n261/mode/2up |magazine=Motion Picture Daily |access-date=18 November 2016}}</ref>

''[[Motion Picture Daily]]'' reported that the film earned $16,000 on its opening day and did “above average” business in areas like [[Atlanta]], [[Miami]], [[New Orleans]], and [[Jacksonville]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title='Heaven' Sets Record |url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturedai79unse/page/n114/mode/1up |magazine=[[Motion Picture Daily]] |volume=January–March 1956 |page=7 |access-date=18 November 2016}}</ref>

==Reception==
The film press compared the movie favorably to ''[[Magnificent Obsession (1954 film)|Magnificent Obsession]]'' (1954), which also starred Wyman and Hudson and was directed by Sirk. A review in ''Motion Picture Daily'' was generally positive and praised Sirk for his use of color and [[mise en scène]], saying: "In a print by [[Technicolor]], the exterior shots and the interior settings are so beautifully photographed that they point up the action of the story with telling effect."<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Motion Picture Daily |title=All That Heaven Allows |last=Steen |first=Al |page=7 |volume=October–December 1955 |access-date=18 November 2016 |url= https://archive.org/details/motionpicturedai78unse_0/page/n179/mode/1up}}</ref>

Although Sirk's reputation waned in the 1960s—as he was dismissed as a director of dated and insubstantial Hollywood melodramas—it was revived in the 1970s due to the praise of [[New German Cinema]] directors like [[Rainer Werner Fassbinder]] and the publication of [[Jon Halliday]]'s ''Sirk on Sirk'' (1971), in which the filmmaker describes his aesthetic and (often-subversive) social perspective.<ref>{{cite web|first=Manuel |last=Betancourt |title=Douglas Sirk: From the Archives |website=[[Film Comment]] |date=December 22, 2015 |url=http://www.filmcomment.com/blog/sirk-from-the-archives}}</ref> His reputation, and that of ''All That Heaven Allows'', has grown since then, with critic [[Richard Brody]] describing him as a master of both melodrama and comedy, and the film as remarkable for its use of [[Henry David Thoreau]]'s ''[[Walden]]'' as a homegrown American philosophy depicted as a "vital and ongoing experience."<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Richard |last=Brody |author-link=Richard Brody |title=Douglas Sirk's Glorious Cinema of Outsiders |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=December 21, 2015 |url=http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/douglas-sirks-glorious-cinema-of-outsiders}}</ref>

On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], ''All That Heaven Allows'' has an approval rating of 91% based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The consensus summarizes: "Big heart, big drama, and even bigger colors, ''All That Heaven Allows'' is tip top Douglas Sirk."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/all_that_heaven_allows/?search=all%20that%20heaven%20allows |title=All That Heaven Allows |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]}}</ref>

==Awards and honors==
In 1995, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the [[Library of Congress]], and was selected for preservation in the [[National Film Registry]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/film/registry_titles.php |title=National Film Registry |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130328133050/http://www.loc.gov/film/registry_titles.php |archive-date=2013-03-28|website=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=October 28, 2011}}</ref>

==References in other films==
''All That Heaven Allows'' inspired [[Rainer Werner Fassbinder|Fassbinder]]'s ''[[Fear Eats the Soul|Ali: Fear Eats the Soul]]'' (1974),<ref>{{Cite web|title=All That Heaven Allows |url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/all-that-heaven-allows/Film?oid=1070893 |website=[[Chicago Reader]] | date=March 22, 1985 |access-date=2016-01-25}}</ref> in which a mature woman falls in love with an Arab man. It was spoofed by [[John Waters]] with his film [[Polyester (film)|''Polyester'']] (1981).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Halberstadt |first=Alex |date=May 22, 2020 |title=Unforeseen Calamities |url=https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/326 |journal=[[Museum of Modern Art|MoMA Magazine]]}}</ref> [[Todd Haynes]]' ''[[Far from Heaven]]'' (2002) is an homage to Sirk's work, in particular ''All That Heaven Allows'' and ''[[Imitation of Life (1959 film)|Imitation of Life]]'' (1959).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Taubin |first=Amy |author-link=Amy Taubin |title=Far From Heaven {{!}} Todd Haynes |url=https://www.filmcomment.com/article/in-every-dream-home/ |journal=[[Film Comment]] |issue=September–October 2002}}</ref> [[François Ozon]]'s ''[[8 Women]]'' (''8 Femmes'', 2002) features winter scenes and deer reminiscent of this film.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hornaday |first=Ann |author-link=Ann Hornaday |date=2002-09-27|title='8 Women': Bonbons With a Wicked Center |language=en-US |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2002/09/27/8-women-bonbons-with-a-wicked-center/945c6dd7-efa3-4b46-8d54-3d1fa6005063/ |access-date=2023-07-07|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of American films of 1955]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=deq3xI8OmCkC |chapter=All That Heaven Allows |first=Daniel |last=Eagan |year=2010 |publisher=A&C Black |title=America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry |page=509 |isbn=978-0826429773}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0047811|All That Heaven Allows}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|2=All That Heaven Allows}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=83484}}
* {{AFI film|51424}}
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/96-all-that-heaven-allows-an-articulate-screen ''All That Heaven Allows: An Articulate Screen''] an essay by [[Laura Mulvey]] at the [[Criterion Collection]]
* [http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue10/reviews/sirk/text.htm ''All That Heaven Allows''] Gary Morris DVD Review at Images Journal
* [https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/dvd-of-the-week-all-that-heaven-allows ''All that Heaven Allows''] DVD review by [[Richard Brody]] at [[The New Yorker]]

{{Douglas Sirk}}
{{Ross Hunter}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1955 films]]
[[Category:1955 romantic drama films]]
[[Category:1950s American films]]
[[Category:1950s Christmas drama films]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:1950s melodrama films]]
[[Category:American Christmas drama films]]
[[Category:American romantic drama films]]
[[Category:Christmas romance films]]
[[Category:English-language Christmas drama films]]
[[Category:English-language romantic drama films]]
[[Category:Films about discrimination]]
[[Category:Films about prejudice]]
[[Category:Films directed by Douglas Sirk]]
[[Category:Films produced by Ross Hunter]]
[[Category:Films scored by Frank Skinner]]
[[Category:Films set in New England]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
[[Category:Universal Pictures films]]