Magnificent Obsession

Douglas Sirk
1954

The reigning kind of ridiculously over-the-top melodrama notches another Criterion entry with "Magnificent Obsession," the tale of a wealthy playboy (Rock Hudson) who falls for the widow (ever frumpy, ever sexless, Jane Wyman) of the man he inadvertently killed. All it takes is a chance encounter with a wise painter and his wacky half-baked do-gooding philosophy for Rock's uptight prick to 180 into selfless service, as he returns to med school, becomes a neuro-surgeon, and eventually operates on his blind sweetheart (did I mention he was responsible for the blindness as well?). The tragedy is laid on thick and made all the richer by some genuinely awkward moments. It's not quite as heady as "Written On the Wind" (1956), but there is a memorable scene in which a stumbling Wyman flirts with suicide. One of Hudson's pre-star roles, the closeted lunk doesn't project the assurance and warmth found in some of his later roles, but this hesitancy only adds to the bumblingly indelicate nature of the character. Sirk's inclusion of a precocious goldilocks tomboy for comic relief is simultaneously grating, rich, and delightful. I also think it would be fair to say that this picture is a predecessor to the Haley Joel Osment vehicle "Pay it Forward" (2000).