All That Heaven Allows
1955
****
Director: Douglas Sirk
Cast: Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, Agnes Moorehead, Conrad Nagel, Virginia Grey, Gloria Talbott, William Reynolds, Charles Drake, Hayden Rorke, Donald Curtis
When a wealthy widow with two college-aged children plans to marry a younger man who is uninterested in material wealth, she finds herself snubbed by her family and social circle. Douglas Sirk's influential romantic drama is a scathing portrait of small-town America. Even if the suburban small-mindedness portrayed in the film seems dated (the children are more conservative than their parents), the story is sharply observed and beautifully shot in Technicolor.
