Poll

Which is your favorite by Douglas Sirk?

Hitler's Madman (1943)
0 (0%)
Summer Storm (1944)
0 (0%)
A Scandal in Paris (1946)
1 (1.5%)
Lured (1947)
2 (3%)
Sleep, My Love (1948)
0 (0%)
Shockproof (1949)
0 (0%)
Slightly French (1949)
0 (0%)
Mystery Submarine (1950)
0 (0%)
The First Legion (1951)
0 (0%)
Thunder on the Hill (1951)
0 (0%)
The Lady Pays Off (1951)
0 (0%)
Week-End with Father (1951)
0 (0%)
No Room for the Groom (1952)
0 (0%)
Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1952)
1 (1.5%)
Meet Me at the Fair (1953)
1 (1.5%)
Take Me to Town (1953)
0 (0%)
All I Desire (1953)
2 (3%)
Taza, Son of Cochise (1954)
0 (0%)
Magnificent Obsession (1954)
4 (6%)
Sign of the Pagan (1954)
0 (0%)
Captain Lightfoot (1955)
0 (0%)
All That Heaven Allows (1955)
14 (20.9%)
There's Always Tomorrow (1956)
2 (3%)
Written on the Wind (1956)
16 (23.9%)
Battle Hymn (1957)
1 (1.5%)
Interlude (1957)
1 (1.5%)
The Tarnished Angels (1957)
3 (4.5%)
A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958)
3 (4.5%)
Imitation of Life (1959)
13 (19.4%)
other
1 (1.5%)
haven't seen any
2 (3%)
don't like any
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 24

Author Topic: Sirk, Douglas  (Read 6537 times)

1SO

  • Moderator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36129
  • Marathon Man
Re: Douglas Sirk
« Reply #20 on: August 25, 2012, 11:46:25 AM »
1. All That Heaven Allows
2. Written on the Wind
3. Imitation of Life

4. Magnificent Obsession
5. There's Always Tomorrow
6. Lured
7. All I Desire
8. Sleep, My Love
9. Thunder on the Hill
10. A Time To Love and A Time To Die
11. Has Anybody Seen My Gal?

12. The Tarnished Angels
13. Take Me To Town
14. Shockproof
« Last Edit: September 28, 2020, 07:26:53 PM by 1SO »

Totoro

  • Guest
Re: Douglas Sirk
« Reply #21 on: September 04, 2012, 08:23:11 PM »
No Sirk I've seen..... :(

Someday I will see one of his films.

And that day will be soon! I have found all three Criterion Sirks at my college library. The question is - what do I view first? Since I have seen Far From Heaven before, I am going with All That Heaven Allows for now, then perhaps Magnificent Obsession. I don't think they have many Sirk films on Hulu Plus. Am I wrong?

P.S. - The TV I have back at the dorms is full frame (ugh, I know). Should I wait until I return home to watch these films? The only thing is that might be in two weeks. What say you?
« Last Edit: September 04, 2012, 08:25:28 PM by Totoro »

1SO

  • Moderator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36129
  • Marathon Man
Re: Douglas Sirk
« Reply #22 on: September 05, 2012, 01:04:32 AM »
And that day will be soon! I have found all three Criterion Sirks at my college library. The question is - what do I view first? Since I have seen Far From Heaven before, I am going with All That Heaven Allows for now, then perhaps Magnificent Obsession. I don't think they have many Sirk films on Hulu Plus. Am I wrong?

P.S. - The TV I have back at the dorms is full frame (ugh, I know). Should I wait until I return home to watch these films? The only thing is that might be in two weeks. What say you?

No Sirk on Hulu+  :'(

Don't watch Sirk full frame. I had the cropped VHS for Written on the Wind and I'm very glad to have waited. It'll be worth the wait.

worm@work

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 7445
Re: Douglas Sirk
« Reply #23 on: November 28, 2012, 01:16:23 PM »
Fassbinder's essay on six of Sirk's films.

“Women think in Sirk’s films. Something which has never struck me with other directors. None of them. Usually women are always reacting, doing what women are supposed to do, but in Sirk they think. It’s something that has to be seen. It’s great to see women think. It gives one hope. Honestly.”

"Imitation of Life starts as a film about the Lana Turner character and turns quite imperceptibly into a film about Annie, the black woman. The film-maker has turned away from the problem that concerns him, the aspect of the subject which deals with his own work, and has looked for the imitation of life in Annie's fate, where he has found something far more cruel than he would have either in Lana Turner's case or in his own. Even less of a chance. Even more despair."
« Last Edit: February 06, 2013, 12:55:44 PM by worm@work »

Totoro

  • Guest
Re: Douglas Sirk
« Reply #24 on: February 06, 2013, 04:32:44 AM »
I wrote a pretty sweet essay on Sirk's ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS for my film production class. I will post it here Thursday.  8)

1SO

  • Moderator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36129
  • Marathon Man
Re: Douglas Sirk
« Reply #25 on: September 23, 2013, 12:08:41 AM »
There's Always Tomorrow
* * *

Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray, which means if you want bonus fun try imagining this as an alternate world, fantasy conclusion to Double Indemnity.The film opens with a Sirk Showcase Special capturing the frantic, cluttered life of a man with a wife and 3 kids. All demanding attention and seeing him only as a wallet. In walks Stanwyck, who hasn't seen him in 20 years. (You know, back when they planned to bump off her husband. I'm telling you it's fun to imagine.)

What I love, love, love about this film is that Sirk doesn't go the typical affair route. Instead, the two play more of an In The Mood For Love duet. They're curious and interested, but not looking to cross any lines that might upset their lives. It's an affair of repression, one that still looks really sketchy to those directly outside. (He even invites her to dinner with the family.) It's Sirk working in a lower key, not one of his great ambitious soapers. Still, he perfectly captures middle-class domesticity as a prison and man as a mechanical robot programmed to repeat the same activity year after year forever.

oneaprilday

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 13746
  • "What we see and what we seem are but a dream."
    • A Journal of Film
Re: Douglas Sirk
« Reply #26 on: September 24, 2013, 10:53:11 AM »
There's Always Tomorrow
Sounds fantastic! It's waiting on my DVR - I'll have to get to it soon.

Antares

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 5013
Re: Douglas Sirk
« Reply #27 on: December 05, 2014, 04:55:39 PM »
Magnificent Obsession
Masterpiece (100-91) | Classic (90-80) | Entertaining (79-69) | Mediocre (68-58) | Cinemuck (57-21) | Crap (20-0)

1SO

  • Moderator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36129
  • Marathon Man
Re: Douglas Sirk
« Reply #28 on: December 05, 2014, 05:03:01 PM »
I can count on you to not give up. He's not an acclaimed director for nothing.

Antares

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 5013
Re: Douglas Sirk
« Reply #29 on: December 05, 2014, 06:01:11 PM »
From what I've been reading, it seems that I should have started with Imitation of Life. I think that will be my next offering from him.
Masterpiece (100-91) | Classic (90-80) | Entertaining (79-69) | Mediocre (68-58) | Cinemuck (57-21) | Crap (20-0)