I recently watched a Douglas Sirk film for the first time, MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION. Although completely unrelated to why I originally watched it, that movie has become instrumental in how I think about romance films and melodrama.
One of the current screenplay gigs I'm on now is very much a broad commercial romance/comedy. Now, OBSESSION is not a comedy - but it is larger than life, which is something every good comedy needs to have built into it's tone. Especially the one I'm into right now.
I'm still digesting why a film so absurd, so vague (in regards to story), and so melodramatic is still completely effective at what it intends. Obviously the fantastic direction and crazy German lighting makes it visually awesome. But I think part of is that the characters are utterly sincere all the time, never once self aware or cynical or manipulative. It's sort of mesmerizing to experience a near-utopian world like that.... Anyways, if you haven't seen it I highly recommend!
Fun side note: Rock Hudson is eight years Jane Wyman's junior. Compare that, in 1954, to today's consistently heinous older male to younger female age discrepancies!
