All I Desire

A failed actress returns to the family, the lover and the small town she abandoned years earlier and sets tongues wagging anew. Does it rank up there with ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS or IMITATION OF LIFE? No, not really. It all wraps up too neatly (the "happy" ending was forced by the producer), Lyle Bettger has the charisma of a toilet brush (why would Barbara Stanwyck ever fall for this lummox?) and it's pointlessly set in the early part of the century. The only rationale I can think of for the latter is that Stanwyck's lack of success would be harder to keep a secret in modern times, but it takes the edge off and makes the whole thing a bit too quaint. However, it's not really a dud, either. It's a tight script, Stanwyck is riveting as always, and Sirk's eye for brilliant framing is hard at work. It makes for a quick, easy watch with some slight subversiveness in its commentary on small town gossip and hypocrisy.

Barbara Stanwyck gives this early Douglas Sirk-directed, Universal-produced soap just the kick that it needs. Not nearly as memorable as Sirk's later melodramas, it's easy to see by watching "All I Desire" where Sirk would be heading artistically in the next few years. Stanwyck is a showgirl who returns to her family in smalltown, U.S.A, after deserting them a decade earlier. Her family and community have mixed emotions in dealing with her shocking return. Some of the cinematography is amazing, and Stanwyck is tough-as-nails and really gives this film a shot of energy. Overall, a fairly good show.

Douglas Sirk was just hitting his stride in depicting family melodramas with this 1953 feature, produced like all his later major Universal International Pictures Movies in the 50's by Ross Hunter. Although the period setting of turn of the century America might throw the viewing a little off kilter, the familiar Sirk themes of small-town morality, complicated relationships and inter-family tensions are present and correct here.

Barbara Stanwyck is the formerly disgraced wife and mother of meek-mannered Richard Carlson's school teacher and his three children, all with a different viewpoint of Stanwyck's actions years ago when she left them for a life on the stage after a scandal involving another man about town. When the middle daughter, an aspiring actress, sends her adored and revered mother a request to attend her performance in the annual school play, Stanwyck's character, in truth, a hack journey-woman struggling for work, decides to return to her old hometown, knowing her previous infamy will make her the centre of attraction.

All sorts of dynamics are then played out between Stanwyck, her husband and their children, complicated further when the spurned "other man" returns for another bite at the cherry and even if the ending is perhaps unnecessarily upbeat, it doesn't denigrate too much what has gone before.

La grand dame Barbara is in top form as the conflicted central character around whom the whole action revolves, while most noteworthy in support are her "The Big Valley" future co-star Richard Long as her unforgiving oldest daughter's fiancé, at least until he wears his goofy "big R" college shirt near the end and Lori Nelson as the star-struck younger daughter.

Sirk's fluid camera work, particularly his ability to frame and light a scene as well as coax sympathetic and believable work from his cast are well in evidence here. "All I Desire" may lack the emotional wallop of some of his later films and could have dug a little deeper into some of the motivations and desires on display here but is nevertheless a fine stand-alone watch as well as a telling harbinger of better things to come from the producer-director team setting out here.

"All I Desire" from 1953 is a drama from Douglas Sirk, filmed in black and white and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Carlson, Maureen O'Sullivan, Lori Nelson, Lyle Bettger, Billy Gray, and Marcia Henderson.

Stanwyck plays an actress, Naomi Murdoch, who at this point in her life, isn't very successful. Some years earlier she was living in a small town and left her husband and chldren. The family maid keeps her posted on how everyone is doing.

One of her daughters, Lily (Nelson) is an aspiring actress who is going to be appearing in her high school play. She invites her mother, who is encouraged by the woman sharing her dressing room to attend.

With some new outfits, she comes back into town with much hoopla. Her older daughter (Henderson) isn't happy to see her; her son (Gray) really doesn't remember her; and her husband wonders what she's doing in town.

It doesn't take long to find out why Naomi left town - she was seeing a man Dutch Heinemann (Bettger) and got out before there was too much of a scandal. Now that she's back, her husband (Carlson) realizes that he still loves her, and she him. He wants her to stay. Lily wants her mother to take her to New York. And Dutch wants to pick up where they left off.

Good film about small town nosiness and gossip with a wonderful performance by Stanwyck, who really drives the film. This is from Universal Studios, so frankly, she's really the only true star in the movie and lacks the usual Sirk touch of color.

The musical score is overwrought and very distracting.

This film is about fighting for what you want, following your heart, and realizing the true meaning of success. "All I Desire" brings home these themes very well.

Saw this film yesterday for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm a student of screen writing and I loved the way the minor characters intervened just when something pivotal/climatic happened in a scene.

I thought the dialogue was very sharp and the premise of story is rather shocking - at one particular point Barbara Stanwyck is openly flirting with her daughter's boyfriend; AND rekindling some passion in her husband whom she hasn't seen in ten years; AND with the gunshot signal 'two shots and then one' she hooks up with her old shag mate Dutch (the reason she left town in the first place!) ALL AT THE SAME TIME! The moral majority must have been totally incensed when they saw this flick back in the 50's.

Love the costumes and cinematography and the straight from the hip dialogue - just to watch Barbara Stanwyck and Co doing the 'Bunny Hug' is good enough reason to rent this film on DVD.

One of the best films from that period I've seen in a long time.