Product Description

Reckless playboy Bob Merrick (Rock Hudson, in his breakthrough role) crashes his speedboat, requiring emergency attention from the town s only resuscitator at the very moment that beloved local Dr. Phillips has a heart attack and dies waiting for the life-saving device. Thus begins one of Douglas Sirk's most flamboyant master classes in melodrama, a delirious Technicolor mix of the sudsy and the spiritual in which Bob and the doctor s widow, Helen (Jane Wyman), find themselves inextricably linked to one another amid a series of increasingly wild twists, turns, trials, and tribulations. For this release, Criterion also presents John M. Stahl's 1935 film version of the Lloyd C. Douglas novel, starring Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor.

SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary featuring film scholar Thomas Doherty
Magnificent Obsession (1935, 102 minutes): a new digital transfer of John M. Stahl s complete earlier version of the film
Douglas Sirk: From UFA to Hollywood (1991): a rare 80-minute documentary by German filmmaker Eckhart Schmidt in which Sirk reflects upon his career
Video interviews with filmmakers Allison Anders and Kathryn Bigelow, paying tribute to Sirk
Theatrical trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Geoffrey O Brien

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8940 in DVD
• Brand: IMAGE ENT.
• Released on: 2009-01-20
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 108 minutes

Features

• Reckless playboy Bob Merrick (Rock Hudson, in his breakthrough role) crashes his speedboat, requiring emergency attention from the town's only resuscitator--at the very moment that beloved local Dr. Phillips has a heart attack and dies waiting for the life-saving device. Thus begins one of Douglas Sirk's most flamboyant masteres in melodrama, a delirious Technicolor mix of the sudsy and th

Amazon.com
Rock Hudson became a beefcake star playing a self-absorbed, thrill-chasing millionaire playboy in the first of Douglas Sirk's glossy Technicolor melodramas. In a classic example of the wicked machinations of soap opera fate, Hudson's showboating antics kill the most saintly man in motion-picture history and stalk his newlywed widow (Jane Wyman), driving her into an accident that leaves her blind. The kindly attentions of a bohemian painter and part-time guardian angel help turn Hudson's life around, and he rejects his irresponsible lifestyle and dedicates himself to his new "magnificent obsession" of philanthropy and good deeds, meanwhile romancing Wyman in a sincere, soft-spoken voice and with a phony name. Magnificent Obsession was a huge success and established a style Sirk would refine through the 1950s, reaching a baroque peak in Written on the Wind and culminating with what may be his most successful and most famous film, Imitation of Life. Compared to his later successes, this is arch and flat, lacking the ironic edge and luscious style of his best films, but it's an exceedingly handsome production in bold, bright colors where swooning romance and life-saving operations define life as an emotional roller coaster of mythic proportions. --Sean Axmaker

On the DVD
Criterion's double-disc edition of Magnificent Obsession shines a light on two directors, four stars, and one author. In 1935, John M. Stahl adapted Lloyd C. Douglas's 1929 potboiler with Irene Dunne as the widowed Helen Hudson and Robert Taylor as Bob Merrick, the sportsman-turned-doctor who shakes up her world. In 1954, Douglas Sirk filmed the story with Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson, with whom he would re-team for All That Heaven Allows (Sirk remade three Stahl pictures, most notably Imitation of Life). In his wide-ranging commentary track, film scholar Thomas Doherty describes the former Klaus Detlef Sierck as "the maestro of the Hollywood soap opera," arguing that his adaptation is "more firmly grounded in reality and credibility" due to better plotting and smarter writing (it's clear which one he prefers). Stahl's black-and-white picture presents a lighter, almost screwball take on the Douglas novel with Taylor's Merrick acting more like a petulant schoolboy than a post-collegiate playboy. As his personal assistant puts it, he's "barmy in the crumpet," while Dunne's more down-to-earth turn as Hudson--Phillips in the later film--anticipates her classic performance in Love Affair, but it's hard to argue with Doherty: Sirk's Technicolor sensation is the definitive version.

In their video remembrances, Allison Anders talks about growing up with his work, while Kathryn Bigelow cites him as an influence on her first movie, The Loveless. The set concludes with the theatrical trailer (featuring Wyman as herself), an essay from film critic Geoffrey O'Brien, and an in-depth 1980 interview with the director from the German program From UFA to Hollywood: Douglas Sirk Remembers, in which he discusses Written on the Wind and The Tarnished Angels, both also starring Rock Hudson. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Review
An extraordinary film. --Time Out

Customer Reviews

Contains a double feature of the classic story
The Criterion collection is adding both the 1935 and 1954 versions of Magnificent Obsession to its list of classics getting the deluxe treatment. Thus you are not only getting the Wyman/Hudson version of this film, but also the 1935 Irene Dunne/Robert Taylor version which has never been released either on DVD or VHS. Both were Universal properties, but the last time I saw the 1935 version it was so dark I wasn't sure it could be salvaged to the point we would ever see it on DVD. I was happily wrong.

The center of the story is Robert Merrick ( Hudson in 1954, Robert Taylor in 1935). He is a well-to-do playboy that has a boating accident at the same time that Dr. Hudson has a coronary. There is one piece of life-saving equipment available in the area, and it winds up saving Merrick's life. Hudson's family and the entire community can't help but be a little bit resentful that such a seemingly useless young man, whose accident was due to his own recklessness, has been spared at the expense of the beloved Dr. Hudson. This causes Merrick to begin to reflect on life and as a result he is told by Edward Randolph about Hudson's "magnificent obsession" - doing good with little fanfare and getting paid back many times over. Unfortunately, Merrick doesn't quite understand. He thinks of this process as a vending machine. He puts in a quarter ( a good work), presses a button and then says "gimme". However, Merrick is the indirect cause of a second tragedy that finally does put his life on the right path over a period of years.

In spite of the poor film quality, I think I preferred the 1935 version to the one from the 50's although I loved them both. The 30's version focuses more on Merrick's inner turmoil and transition while the 50's version is more of a melodrama and love story. The best thing about the 50's version - the chemistry between Wyman and Hudson. You would never think such a thing would work unless you saw it yourself, but it does. Also, there is Otto Kruger as Edward Randolph, the man who helps put Merrick on the right track. In the 30's Kruger could play some really hardened character, but here he is as gentle as Santa Claus. It's quite a tribute to his acting skills - I think he was always underrated.

The extra features are:
Audio commentary featuring film scholar Thomas Doherty
Douglas Sirk: From UFA to Hollywood (1991): a rare 80-minute documentary by German filmmaker Eckhart Schmidt in which Sirk reflects upon his career.
Video interviews with filmmakers Allison Anders and Kathryn Bigelow, paying tribute to Sirk.
Theatrical trailer .
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien.

LUSH, ROMANTIC, WONDERFUL
While there may be some elements that are slightly unbelievable (the widow doesn't recognize immediately the voice of the man who blinded her and whose carelessness resulted in her husband's death even though she'd met him before? When she finds out, she actually not only forgives him his deception but falls in love with him?) this is nevertheless a fine, romantic, lush production of an equally fine novel. Many boast about Rock Hudson's performance and it is excellent. His transformation from a selfish, spoiled millionaire's son to a caring neurologist who woos and wins Jane Wyman's character is totally believable. But, to me, it is Jane Wyman who steals the show as the afflicted, blinded widow Helen Phillips. She is totally believable as a newly blinded woman who somehow comes to terms with the fact that she probably will never see again. And the supporting cast, especially Otto Kruger as the philosophical artist is also excellent. And, speaking of philosophy, the book on which this movie is based has a definite, important message which comes through loud and clear without hammering us in the head or preaching at the viewer. The message is not lost in translation to the screen although that often happens when a book is made into a movie. These elements, combined with the spectacular color, lush music and beautiful scenery help to make "Magnificent Obsession" a typical, wonderful, old-fashioned 3-hankie "woman's picture." It's nearly 50 years old but it's still a marvelous rainy-day picture that will uplift and delight any woman who views it.

Of course it's predictable
A previous reviewer described this film as predictable. Of course it is, it is part of the genre. I thinks she misses the point completely. It is a romance, a saga, and of course it must have a happy end. It goes without saying.
It is my first Sirk, I taped it a couple of weeks ago and saw it today. It felt like going back to the films I saw when I was young. And I loved it, The lush Technicolor, the beautiful sets, the lovely costumes together with some fine acting, a well written script and a lovely melodrama. I cannot think of a better way to spending a boring Sunday than laying in my sofa watching this brilliant entertainment.