Written on the Wind

"This woman in his arms was now the wife of the man he called his best friend!"

1956 1h 39m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 280

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Mitch Wayne is a geologist working for the Hadleys, an oil-rich Texas family. While the patriarch, Jasper, works hard to establish the family business, his irresponsible son, Kyle, is an alcoholic playboy, and his daughter, Marylee, is the town tramp. Mitch harbors a secret love for Kyle's unsatisfied wife, Lucy -- a fact that leaves him exposed when the jealous Marylee accuses him of murder.

“This woman in his arms was now the wife of the man he called his best friend!”

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Cast

Rock Hudson
Mitch Wayne
Lauren Bacall
Lucy Moore Hadley
Robert Stack
Kyle Hadley
Dorothy Malone
Marylee Hadley
Robert Keith
Jasper Hadley
Grant Williams
Biff Miley
Robert J. Wilke
Dan Willis
Edward Platt
Dr. Paul Cochrane

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Douglas Sirk
Writers: George Zuckerman
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

70 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Douglas Sirk, shot by Russell Metty. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Frank Skinner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Russell F. Schoengarth shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Rock Hudson and Lauren Bacall and Robert Stack carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "This woman in his arms was now the wife of the man he called his best friend!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Douglas Sirk directs. Russell Metty behind the camera. Frank Skinner scores. Russell F. Schoengarth cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 3.3× over at the box office.
370 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Directed by Douglas Sirk, shot by Russell Metty. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Frank Skinner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Russell F. Schoengarth shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Rock Hudson and Lauren Bacall and Robert Stack carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "This woman in his arms was now the wife of the man he called his best friend!".
9IMDB entry: tt0049966 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Russell Metty
Original score: Frank Skinner
Editing: Russell F. Schoengarth
Costume design: Bill Thomas
Makeup / hair: Joan St. Oegger
Runtime: 99 min · 1h 39m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,300,000
Box office: $4,300,000
Return: 331% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Written on the Wind (1956)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Douglas Sirk

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-12-14
★ 7/10
I don’t suppose there is anything very original about this plot. Very rich, widowed, oil man “Jasper” (Ian Keith) has two spoilt grown-up children. “Kyle” (Robert Stack) is a wastrel alcoholic, “Marylee” (Dorothy Malone) is a lady of, let’s say, easy virtue. The son is best friends with the company’s geologist “Mitch” (Rock Hudson) and it’s these two men who meet the secretary “Lucy” (Lauren Bacall). Both take an instant shine to her, and after some vulgar displays from “Kyle” you might have put your cash on her choosing “Mitch”, but for some pretty inexplicable reason she succumbs to what she perceives is a decent vulnerability underneath the gin and corn-liquor exterior, and agrees to marry him. This ought to be the end of things, but “Mitch” can’t get her out of his head, “Marylee” can’t get “Mitch” out of her’s and poor old “Lucy" has to sit back and slowly realise that maybe she chose the wrong man! With toxicity oozing out of just about everyone’s pores, there is a gunshot and then a trial, but will the truth be told or will the venom still thrive? Hudson does enough here, as does Bacall, but it’s really Stack who steals the show as his dipsomania becomes all conquering and Malone, though more sparingly used by Douglas Sirk, who ably proves her character has a jealous streak a mile wide. It’s a melodrama par excellence that contrasts greed, envy, ennui and even a little lustful behaviour from four actors who bounce off each other effectively throughout. It’s also quite a well written drama with just enough nastiness in the dialogue and just enough kindness to (very) occasionally temper that - usually from Bacall, and as we end the film with the scenes with which we started it we have a mystery bubbling under for much of it, too. It’s not a million miles from Tennessee Williams’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and reminds us just how corrupting booze can be.

Production companies