This is topic MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION 1954 in forum The Afterlife at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-02-2009, 06:22 PM:
I now have the Criterion DVD of MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION which include both the 1935 and the 1954 screen version from a novel by Lloyd C Douglas who also wrote THE ROBE. I have not yet seen the 1935 version but I have always remembered the 1954 remake by Douglas Sirk starring Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman when it was released by Universal-international when I was a high school freshman. Beside enjoying the touching story, I remember wearing out the long play recording of the movie soundtrack featuring a very beautiful score utilizing the main theme from the 4th movement "Ode To Joy" from Beethoven's 9th Symphony and an Etude by Chopin. Being Criterion and acceptable, I expected the 1954 version to have better color but just like another Douglas Sirk film, WRITTEN ON THE WIND they had released, the color looked very drab compared to the beautiful hues of dye transfer Technicolor the film had when I first saw it in a movie theatre. Actually, the thing a lot of people remember the most about a Douglas Sirk movie was the way he had used Technicolor. Universal Pictures released a 2002 film that was rumored to be a homage to him and the way he had used Technicolor. The title of the movie is FAR FROM HEAVEN starring Dennis Quaid,and Jullianne Moore and the radiant color hues in the film was made to look like IB Technicolor of his era. When MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION was released in 1954 with a wide screen aspect ratio, not all theatres had a wide screen and I saw it in open matt because my home town theatre, the Waipahu did not have scope screen yet. I just watched the 1954 version last night and despite the color not being what it should be, the picture quality was excellent and so was the mono soundtrack. I also saw the first couple of minutes of the 1935 version starring Robert Taylor and Irene Dunn and the Black and white picture quality was superb. It looked like the DVd was replicated from a brand new print.
-Claude
Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-03-2009, 02:12 PM:
I made an effort to see the 1935 version last night of MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION and although it was entertaining, I felt it was not as good as the 1954 remake which is very unusual. Although Robert Taylor and Irene Dunn had played their parts very well, I thought Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman were better and more convincing. Another thing that made me prefer the 1954 remake was the use of a very lush musical score throughout the movie. As I had mentioned in my original post,, I fell in love with the music because it was so stunning when I saw the movie during it original theatrical release and promptly bought the Lp soundtrack album. With the exception of the title credits and the ending and a few moments during the film, there was no background music during the original version and I guess this was due to the way films were produced in the thirties. Beside the original as well as the remake of MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION, there is an hour and twenty three minute film about the career of Douglas Sirk as well as the original theatrical trailer and a few other extras including an commentary during the 1954 version. I listened to about fifteen minutes of it and it is excellent!
-Claude
Posted by Joe Tommassello (Member # 4632) on 02-06-2009, 04:46 PM:
Claude -
How did you reply to yourself? Won't let me do that!
Joe
Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-06-2009, 05:41 PM:
Joe,
The reply to my post was done over twenty four hours later after I had submitted the first one. I did try to reply to my my post once before shortly after I wrote the first one but I was not able to do it.
-Claude
Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 04-12-2010, 08:37 PM:
It has been 430 days since the last post.