Directors MORE DIRECTORS CHECKLIST SERIES - Volume #262 - THE FILMS OF DOUGLAS SIRK (1 Viewer)

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Volume #262 - Douglas Sirk

Bourbon Street Blues (1978)
Sylvesternacht (1977)
Sprich zur mir wie der Regen (1975)
Imitation of Life (1959)
A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958)
The Tarnished Angels (1958)
Interlude (1957)
Battle Hymn (1956)
Written on the Wind (1956)
There's Always Tomorrow (1956)
All That Heaven Allows (1955)
Captain Lightfoot (1955)
Sign of the Pagan (1954)
Magnificent Obsession (1954)
Taza, Son of Cochise (1954)
All I Desire (1953)
Take Me to Town (1953)
Meet Me at the Fair (1953)
Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952)
No Room for the Groom (1952)
Week-End with Father (1951)
The Lady Pays Off (1951)
Thunder on the Hill (1951)
The First Legion (1951)
Mystery Submarine (1950)
Slightly French (1949)
Shockproof (1949)
Sleep, My Love (1948)
Lured (1947)
A Scandal in Paris (1946)
... aka Thieves' Holiday
Summer Storm (1944)
Hitler's Madman (1943)
... aka Hitler's Hangman
Wilton's Zoo (1939) (as Detlef Sierck)
Final Accord (1938) (uncredited)
Habanera, La (1937) (as Detlef Sierck)
To New Shores (1937) (as Detlef Sierck)
... aka Life Begins Anew
The Final Chord (1936) (as Detlef Sierck)
... aka Final Accord (USA)
't Was een April (1936) (as Detlef Sierck)
Chanson du souvenir, La (1936) (as Detlef Sierck)
The Court Concert (1936) (as Detlef Sierck)
Pillars of Society (1935) (as Detlef Sierck)
April, April! (1935) (as Detlef Sierck)
Dreimal Ehe (1935) (as Detlef Sierck)
Eingebildete Kranke, Der (1935) (as Detlef Sierck)
The Girl of the Moors (1935) (as Detlef Sierck)
... aka The Girl from the Marsh Croft (USA)
Zwei Genies (1934) (as Detlef Sierck)

Seen: 4
Like: 0
Own: 0

Rank order:

Imitation of Life (1959)
Magnificent Obsession (1954)
All That Heaven Allows (1955)
Written on the Wind (1956)


Critics in the 50s were right and audiences were wrong.

Critics today are wrong and audiences are right.

Four of the soapiest soap operas I've ever seen. And that's not a good thing.

A German director famous for his stagework and UFA films who like many others, left Hitler's Germany to come to Hollywood. He was saddled with numerous B-pictures until finally experiencing a breakthrough in 1953 with All I Desire. He became known for "women's pictures", melodramatic stories of tragedy often starring Rock Hudson. Taking a path quite different from most acclaimed filmmakers, his films were very successful financially but dismissed by critics, before being re-evaluated and embraced in more recent times.

Battling illness and tired of studio politics, Sirk retired from filmmaking after one of his greatest successes, Imitation of Life. He returned to Germany with his wife and taught filmmaking after the reopening of the German film schools. Famously embraced by Rainer Werner Fassbinder in the early '70's who wrote a wonderful essay about Sirk's films. Sirk again stepped behind the camera to make a few shorts with his film students, one of which featured Fassbinder.

Sirk's films display an absolute command of the filmic medium. They are gorgeous to look at, with precise cinematography and terrific uses of color and light. To Sirk, Melodrama meant "music+drama" and his films exhibit a masterful use of music to enhance the emotional delivery onscreen. He was also deeply interested in the society in which he found himself living, and his films often display scathing critiques of social realities underneath their dramatized exteriors. His characters crave love, but are often thwarted by their insecurities and human weaknesses. The films may display a heightened reality, but they feel emotionally true and deeply moving.

This order is somewhat arbitrary, usually whichever I see last is my favorite:

*1. All That Heaven Allows - A
*2. Imitation of Life - A
*3. Written On The Wind - A
4. Magnificent Obsession - B+
5. La Habanera - B+

6. Has Anybody Seen My Gal? - B+
7. Lured - B+
8. Battle Hymn - B
9. A Scandal in Paris - B-

Own: 3

I would love to see more of Sirk's work. I desperately want to see more of his 50's Universal work, particularly A Time To Love and A Time to Die (from a novel by All Quiet on the Western Front author Erich Maria Remarque), and The Tarnished Angels.

Bourbon Street Blues (1978)
Sylvesternacht (1977)
Sprich zur mir wie der Regen (1975)
Imitation of Life (1959) :star: :star: :star: :star: (Own the DVD)
A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958)
The Tarnished Angels (1958) :star: :star: :star:
Interlude (1957)
Battle Hymn (1956) :star: :star:
Written on the Wind (1956) :star: :star: :star: (Own the DVD)
There's Always Tomorrow (1956) :star: :star: :star:
All That Heaven Allows (1955) :star: :star: :star: :star: (Own the DVD)
Captain Lightfoot (1955) :star: :star:
Sign of the Pagan (1954)
Magnificent Obsession (1954) :star: :star: :star: (Own the DVD)
Taza, Son of Cochise (1954) :star: :star:
All I Desire (1953) :star: :star: :star:
Take Me to Town (1953)
Meet Me at the Fair (1953)
Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952) :star: :star: :star:
No Room for the Groom (1952)
Week-End with Father (1951)
The Lady Pays Off (1951)
Thunder on the Hill (1951)
The First Legion (1951)
Mystery Submarine (1950)
Slightly French (1949)
Shockproof (1949)
Sleep, My Love (1948)
Lured (1947) :star: :star:
A Scandal in Paris (1946)
Summer Storm (1944) :star: :star:
Hitler's Madman (1943)
Wilton's Zoo (1939)
Final Accord (1938)
La Habanera (1937) :star: :star: (Own the DVD)
To New Shores (1937)
The Final Chord (1936)
't Was een April (1936)
La Chanson du souvenir (1936)
The Court Concert (1936)
Pillars of Society (1935)
April, April! (1935)
Dreimal Ehe (1935)
Der Eingebildete Kranke (1935)
The Girl of the Moors (1935)
Zwei Genies (1934)

Seen 14
Own 5

Sleep, My Love *** out of ****

Ratings out of :star: :star: :star: :star:


[SIZE= 14px]DOUGLAS SIRK (1900 - 1987)[/SIZE]


Bourbon Street Blues (1978)
Sylvesternacht (1977)
Sprich zur mir wie der Regen (1975)
Imitation of Life (1959) :star: :star: :star:
A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958) :star: :star: :star:
The Tarnished Angels (1958)
Interlude (1957)
Battle Hymn (1956)
Written on the Wind (1956) :star: :star: :star:
There's Always Tomorrow (1956) :star: :star: :star:
All That Heaven Allows (1955) :star: :star: :star:
Captain Lightfoot (1955)
Sign of the Pagan (1954)
Magnificent Obsession (1954) :star: :star: :star:
Taza, Son of Cochise (1954)
All I Desire (1953)
Take Me to Town (1953)
Meet Me at the Fair (1953)
Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952)
No Room for the Groom (1952)
Week-End with Father (1951)
The Lady Pays Off (1951)
Thunder on the Hill (1951)
The First Legion (1951)
Mystery Submarine (1950) :star: :star:
Slightly French (1949)
Shockproof (1949) :star: :star: 1/2
Sleep, My Love (1948) :star: :star: 1/2
Lured (1947) :star: :star: :star:
A Scandal in Paris (1946) :star: :star: 1/2
Summer Storm (1944)
Hitler's Madman (1943) :star: :star: 1/2
Wilton's Zoo (1939)
Final Accord (1938)
Habanera, La (1937)
To New Shores (1937)
The Final Chord (1936)
't Was een April (1936)
Chanson du souvenir, La (1936)
The Court Concert (1936)
Pillars of Society (1935)
April, April! (1935)
Dreimal Ehe (1935)
Eingebildete Kranke, Der (1935)
The Girl of the Moors (1935)
Zwei Genies (1934)

In order of merit:


1.Written on the Wind (1956) ***
2.Magnificent Obsession (1954) ***
3.All That Heaven Allows (1955) ***
4.A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958) ***
5.Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952) ***
6.Lured (1947) ***
7.Captain Lightfoot (1955) **1/2
8.Shockproof (1949) **1/2


Despite the impression that his best-known films were aimed squarely at women, he imbued them with a stylishness which makes them eminently watchable if not exactly endearing.

There are several more of his films I'm interested in watching particularly THE TARNISHED ANGELS (1957) and IMITATION OF LIFE (1959; which I've missed out on several occasions on TV over the years)!

.

Updated:

Magnificent Obsession - B+

Updated:

Lured - B+

added Written on the Wind (1956) - 8/10

Sleep, My Love *** out of ****

added Imitation of Life (1959) - 9/10

I'm embarrassed to say, I haven't seen any. I will have to rectify that shortly.

Updated:

Battle Hymn - B
A Scandal in Paris - B-

added A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958) - 7/10

Updated Master list...............................

Updated Master list...............................

Updated:

La Habanera - B+