Written on the Wind
Overview
Written on the Wind is a 1956 American drama film directed by Douglas Sirk
. It stars Rock Hudson
, Lauren Bacall
, Robert Stack
and Dorothy Malone
.
The screenplay
by George Zuckerman
was based on Robert Wilder's 1945 novel
of the same name, a thinly disguised account of the real-life scandal involving torch singer
Libby Holman
and her husband, tobacco
heir Zachary Smith Reynolds
. Zuckerman shifted the locale from North Carolina
to Texas
, made the source of the family wealth oil rather than tobacco, and changed all the character names.
Self-destructive, alcoholic nymphomaniac Marylee and her insecure, alcoholic playboy brother Kyle are the children of Texas oil baron
Jasper Hadley.
Douglas Sirk
Douglas Sirk was a Danish-German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas in the 1950s.-Life and work:...
. It stars Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
, Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
, Robert Stack
Robert Stack
Robert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
and Dorothy Malone
Dorothy Malone
Dorothy Malone is an American actress. Her film career began in 1943, and in her early years she played small roles, mainly in B-movies. After a decade in films, she began to acquire a more glamorous image, particularly after her performance in Written on the Wind , for which she won the Academy...
.
The screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by George Zuckerman
George Zuckerman
George Zuckerman was an American screenwriter and novelist.Zuckerman began his career writing short stories for Cosmopolitan, Collier's Weekly, and Esquire in the 1940s. He wrote the stories for the 1947 films The Fortress and Whispering City before completing his first screenplay, Trapped, in 1949...
was based on Robert Wilder's 1945 novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
of the same name, a thinly disguised account of the real-life scandal involving torch singer
Torch Singer
Torch Singer is a 1933 film made by Paramount Pictures, directed by Alexander Hall and George Somnes, and starring Claudette Colbert, Ricardo Cortez and David Manners and Lyda Roberti.The screenplay was written by Lenore J...
Libby Holman
Libby Holman
Libby Holman was an American torch singer and stage actress who also achieved notoriety for her complex and unconventional personal life.-Early life:...
and her husband, tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
heir Zachary Smith Reynolds
Zachary Smith Reynolds
Zachary Smith Reynolds was an American amateur aviator and younger son of R. J. Reynolds.The Zachary Smith Reynolds story was the basis for two movies, Reckless, starring Jean Harlow, and the popular 1950s classic, Written on the Wind. The latter was loosely based on a novel by Robert Wilder...
. Zuckerman shifted the locale from North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, made the source of the family wealth oil rather than tobacco, and changed all the character names.
Self-destructive, alcoholic nymphomaniac Marylee and her insecure, alcoholic playboy brother Kyle are the children of Texas oil baron
Business magnate
A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a capitalist, czar, mogul, tycoon, baron, oligarch, or industrialist, is an informal term used to refer to an entrepreneur who has reached prominence and derived a notable amount of wealth from a particular industry .-Etymology:The word magnate itself...
Jasper Hadley.
Quotations
[after being shot] What are we doing here, Mitch?... Let's go down to the river, where we belong. I'll be down at the river, waiting, waiting.
I'm allergic to politeness.
The story of a family's ugly secret and the stark moment that thrust their private lives into public view!
This woman in his arms was now the wife of the man he called his best friend!