All I Desire

It is only later that Sirk would really master the melodrama, but All I Desire is already very good.

An effective tear-jerker from the master of 'em.

Not bad but kinda silly

Such wholesome melodrama (added benefit: keeping the heavy emotions in check). Her adulterous lover is even a domineering cad, helping to preserve her wholesomeness. Pauline Kael wrote about Stanwyck's inherent modernity, and it's on full display. She seems not quite at ease in the early scenes, returning to her abandoned family, and when she recites the Eliz. Barrett Browning sonnet, it's stilted and flat (The antiquated idiom? She's not very good?). But when she needs to be strong, she shines.

85.50

Sirk melodrama starts off well enough and Stanwyck can sell anything, but is increasingly thin as it progresses with a whole bunch of charmless supporting actors. Stanwyck is, essentially, a lying bitch who deserted her decent if dull husband and three young kids but, naturally, wins them back years later after her stage career hits the skids.

Some of the acting was a little over the top. Maybe I'm not a fan of melodrama, but I did like the story.

watched: 2014, 2021

Does it rank up there with All That Heaven Allows or Imitiation of Life? No, not really. It all wraps up too neatly, Lyle Bettger has the charisma of a toilet brush and it's pointlessly set in the early part of the century. However, it's not really a dud, either. It's a tight script, Stanwyck is riveting as always, and Sirk's eye for brilliant framing is hard at work. It makes for a quick, easy watch with some slight subversiveness in its commentary on small town gossip and hypocrisy.

Aqui Sirk ainda não entrou plenamente em seu ciclo de obras-primas dos anos 50, mas já se encontra um parâmetro de mulher redentora já que a mãe não é castigada por desertar da família por tantos anos, uma abertura proverbial no código hollywoodiano já se esgarçando. DVD Versátil.

Not the best Sirk, the characters, apart from Stanwyck are somewhat underdeveloped but it is still an enjoyable melodrama.

A good performance by Stanwyck slightly elevates an otherwise by the numbers melodrama complete with love triangles and family troubles. None of the characters outside Stanwyck's really stand out all that much.