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Great for me to see this rarely-scheduled Douglas Sirk melodrama from his rich, late 50's period and it didn't disappoint. Taking as its subject the uncommon lifestyles of the participants in the popular flying-circus entertainments of the 20's and 30's, it's not long before the familiar Sirk themes of conflicting passions, human weakness and sacrifice raise their heads above the parapet.

For some reason shot in black and white, perhaps to better enhance the period setting, I still firmly believe that all Sirk's work should be seen in glorious colour, no one filled these CinemaScope screens better than he in the affluent 50's. Only just lasting 90 minutes, it crams a lot into its time-frame, drawing convincing character-sketches of the lead parties, Rock Hudson's maverick journalist, generous of spirit and loquacious but seeking love in the person of the beautiful, sexy Dorothy Malone parachutist extraordinaire, she frustrated by the lack of attention she and her son get from her obsessive pilot husband Robert Stack, who'd rather fly above the clouds than engage with earth-dwellers. Throw in his grease-monkey Jack Carson who may have had a fling with Malone in the past and hangs around as much for the scraps she throws him as his duty to Stack and a Mr Big aircraft-owner with designs of his own on Malone and you have an eternal quadrangle ripe for tragedy.

Sure enough, it happens along and spectacularly too, straightening out the lives of the survivors, even if not, I suspect for the better. The acting is first rate, Hudson again showing the depth that Sirk always seemed to draw out of him, handling long-speeches and a drunken scene with ease. Stack again displays his facility for acting against type, playing another emotionally stunted individual masquerading behind his good looks and bravura outlook. Malone however is the epicentre of the movie, the action revolves all around her and it's no wonder with her sexiness and sense of vulnerability, a killer combination for the menfolk here.

Sirk's direction is excellent, juxtaposing thrilling action sequences in the air with oddly contrasting backgrounds - it's no coincidence that the drama is played out in New Orleans at Mardi-Gras time, with the use of masks often showing up in foreground and background as a metaphor for the concealed passions on display here. There are several memorable scenes, like when Hudson and Malone's first illicit kiss is disturbed jarringly by a masked party-goer and Stack's adoring son trapped on a fairground airplane-ride just as his father loses control of his real-life plane.

So there you have it, another engrossing examination of fallible individuals, expertly purveyed by the best Hollywood director of drama in the 50's. Not as soap-sudsy as some of Sirk's other movies of the period, perhaps due to the literary source of the story, but engrossing from take-off to landing.

Even though I haven't seen this movie in quite a while, it's ironic I would write this review shortly after viewing "Written On The Wind" for the first time recently. "Ironic" because of the main actors star in both films: Robert Stack, Rock Hudson and Dorothy Malone, and both films were directed by Douglas Sirk.

Personally, I thought this film was far more interesting than the more well-known WOTW. This was a better story.

Dorothy Malone, for one, looked a heckuva lot better in this movie. She had some classic beauty and shows it here more than the trampy role in the other film.

I also preferred this film because it had some fascinating and dramatic flying scenes, things I have never seen before on film. Apparently, they had these 1930s air races in which planes few around pylons, almost like a horse race on land. This is the only film I've seen that pictured.

Another thing I enjoyed was Hudson's dramatic story at the end of the movie which, at first, seemed ridiculously melodramatic but was said so well that I found in very compelling, and it tied the whole story together.

I also appreciated Malone doing the right thing at the end, telling off Hudson for coming on to her, since she was a married woman. This is one of the few films - including those in the 1950s - in which adultery is NOT treated mater-of-factly.

Story of a friendship between an eccentric journalist (Rock Hudson)and a daredevil barnstorming pilot (Robert Stack).

The Universal-International film reunited director Sirk with Stack, Malone, and Hudson, with whom he had collaborated on "Written on the Wind" two years earlier. Sirk chose to shoot "Angels" in black-and-white to help capture the despondent mood of the era in which it is set. Faulkner considered the film to be the best screen adaptation of his work.

The reviews on this film have improved with age, due in part to Sirk really not getting respect until much later (thanks in part to Fassbinder). I found the film to be solid, and would rank it among the very best of Sirk's work. Truly a must-see. Not quite a noir, but still on the edges of that world.

I was fortunate enough to attend a screening of "The Tarnished Angels," on a wide screen with a fresh print, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City back in 1980, with no less than Douglas Sirk himself invited by MOMA as a special guest. The film blew everybody away emotionally; Hudson, Stack, and Malone all give performances that are equally tough and vulnerable, but the grandeur of Sirk's mise-en-scene, which really has to be seen in a theater on a wide screen to be fully appreciated, is a textbook example of the art of telling a story in film terms with both force and grace. Don't mind the other reviewer; Faulkner himself, according to Sirk, said it was the best adaptation of his work he had seen in films.

Depression-era newspaper reporter Rock Hudson (as Burke Devlin) rescues a boy from teasing, and returns him to his parents. As it turns out, nine-year-old Chris Olsen (as Jack) is the son of World War I hero Robert Stack (as Roger Shumann), who is using his piloting muscle in a New Orleans carnival act known as "The Flying Shumanns". Mr. Stack's wife, curvaceously beautiful blonde Dorothy Malone (as LaVerne), does a parachute stunt. And, the couple's mechanic, chubby Jack Carson (as Jiggs), keeps the plane's engine humming. The quartet appears hale and hearty, but are destitute when Mr. Carson spends their meager funds on a pair of boots. Instead of moving into a "Hooverville", they go to live in Mr. Hudson's small apartment.

Hudson, who drinks and smokes like a reporter should, wants to do a story on "The Flying Shumanns" for the Picayune.

In flashback, we learn Malone married Stack (whilst in the "family way") instead of Carson, who was the man teased for being young Olsen's real father in the opening segment. Carson is still in love with Malone, who seems to be torn between Hudson and Stack. But, that's not all. Stack's aviating rival, rotund Robert Middleton (as Matt Ord), is also in love with Malone. And, after a flying tragedy involving Stack and Middleton's pilot (Troy Donahue), Malone is sent to prostitute herself in exchange for a new plane (for Stack). This tests how much each of the men - Hudson, Stack, Carson, Middleton - love Malone.

And, it may also reveal who Malone will take to the closing credits…

William Faulkner's "The Tarnished Angels" reunites director Douglas Sirk and Hudson with two of their "Written on the Wind" (1956) co-stars, Malone and Stack. They are certainly attractive, but seem more like they are posturing for a 1950s (where these folks should have been put) glamour magazine than starring as 1930s New Orleans depression-era denizens. The most ludicrous sequence involves Malone showing off her underwear during an impossible to imagine parachute and swing stunt - the arm muscles required for this feat would be considerable. The carnival backdrop is a highlight, it's used well in the opening and climax.

****** The Tarnished Angels (11/21/57) Douglas Sirk ~ Rock Hudson, Dorothy Malone, Robert Stack, Jack Carson

Let's get this straight right off the bat: I have read William Faulkner's novel Pylon, and Douglas Sirk's cinematic adaptaion of it, Tarnished Angels, lives in the original's shadow. Pylon, which for some reason is the only Faulkner novel currently out of print, is one of that glorious author's best works. Still, the film is an excellent achievement. The story's power may be a bit lessened, but Sirk's direction as well as the performances of Rock Hudson, Dorothy Malone, Robert Stack, and Jack Carson make up for it. And while the plot suffers from reductions, the dialogue, much of which, I'm pretty sure, was not in the novel, is very good. The best scene in the film is Rock Hudson's drunken and passionate speech in the news room near the end of the film. In the novel, the equivalent of that speech is found in a garbage can. The final image of the novel is of the newspaper editor reading Burke Devlin's impassioned, prosaic description of the final pylon race. It's a perfect ending for a novel, but the screenwriter here was right in putting those words, or at least the idea of those words, back into Devlin's mouth.

Tarnished Angels is equal in artistic accomplishment to the other great Sirk film I've seen, Written on the Wind. Both star Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, and Dorothy Malone, but there is a big difference between the two. Written on the Wind is a florid melodrama, the kind that Sirk was famous for. The colors are almost psychedelic, and the level of melodrama makes it feel like the world is about to end. Tarnished Angles is filmed in black and white, and, while it is melodramatic, it never feels like it's going over the edge. Sirk plays it at a level where you can feel the desperation of the characters (the novel, which isn't as prudish (the film, of course, was made under the Hayes Code), depicts a level of loss and desperation that is simply murder; the ending of the film, which I wouldn't exactly call happy, is a hundred times less depressing than that of the novel). But, unlike in Written on the Wind, it never seems like Sirk is laughing at or making fun of the characters in Tarnished Angels. It seems like he meant this film to be an honest adaptation of a great novel. He succeeded quite well. 9/10.

PS: The Criterion Company recently released Written on the Wind and All That Heaven Allows on DVD. I beg them to release this one next. The version on VHS is cropped from its widescreen glory, and you can tell. It feels very cluttered and claustrophobic, and often the panning and scanning seem choppy. The opening credits keep the widescreen, and it looks like it might be an even more visually spectacular film than I noticed. I really wish that they wouldn't get my hopes up by holding the original aspect ratio through the opening credits. What I want to see one day is the word "CINEMASCOPE" cropped to "EMASC" at the beginning of a film in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio.

Although Douglas Sirk was Universal's house director in the mid-late 1950's turning out glossy soap after glossy soap (1954's "Magnificent Obsession", 1955's "All That Heaven Allows", 1959's "Imitation of Life"), he took a slight diversion with "The Tarnished Angels". Besides being in black and white, this actioner is much less sudsy than Sirk's other films of the era. Using the prinipal players from his 1956 epic soap "Written on the Wind", he creates a fast-paced melodrama following the adventures of a family of airplane stunt people and the reporter who is drawn into their world. Robert Stack is Roger Shumann, a stunt pilot, Dorothy Malone is his beautiful parachutist wife, and Rock Hudson is Burke Devlin, the intrigued reporter.

Roger is devasated when he crashes his prized plane, so another pilot(Robert Middleton) makes Roger a deal. He'll give Roger his plane in exchange for Roger's wife,LaVerne(Malone). Meanwhile, a used and abused LaVerne falls for Burke. There's not much here at all by way of plot. In fact, the film is really dull in that aspect. But what gives this movie legs are the brilliantly directed action sequences(some of the best ever captured on celluloid)and tremendous performances from Stack, Malone, and Hudson. Malone is especially amazing, following up her Oscar-win the previous year for "Written on the Wind". Mediocre film, interesting especially to Sirk fans.

Terrific Douglas Sirk melodrama from the William Faulkner novel "Pylon." I have not read the Faulker book, but I'm guessing it was nowhere as soapy as the film, but as soapy melodrama's go, no one does them better than Douglas Sirk. Robert Stack plays a boozy disillusioned WWI flying ace who now spends his days as a barnstorming pilot at rural carnivals with his neglected parachutist wife, Dorothy Malone, who he only married as a result of a literal roll of the dice. Rock Hudson plays a reporter doing a story on this dysfunctional traveling family of flyers that also includes Jack Carson, Troy Donahue, and William Schallert. Sirk's perchance for over- the-top drama is probably not going to look great to modern viewers, but for fans of classic Hollywood and fans of Sirk in particular, this film is a must see!

Despite its many potential traps, melodrama has been done very well many times on film etc and even to classic level. Douglas Sirk was one of the kings when it came to directors that specialised in melodrama, with his generally realistic treatment of characters, lavish use of colour (some of his work didn't use that though) and far from held back approach to serious subjects being trademarks of his. Know Rock Hudson better from lighter fare, though he was far from inexperienced when it came to the more dramatic roles.

'The Tarnished Angels' is not one of Sirk's finest and there are better melodramas out there. It is a good representation of the actors though and Sirk generally is well served too, even if other films of his show off his trademark touches better. It is not hard to see why William Faulkner, author of the film's source material 'Pylon', thought very highly of 'The Tarnished Angels' and my opinion of it generally leans towards the positive reappraisal it's garnered overtime and not the panning it got from some at the time.

Sure, 'The Tarnished Angels' is not perfect. To me the final quarter is not as interesting as the rest of the film, resulting in some leaden pacing, and the sentiment gets blown into inflated proportions. The ending didn't ring true and felt far-fetched and unrealistically pat, like it was shoe-horned in from another film.

Hudson's character was very underwritten at times, rather embarrassingly so.

On the other hand, 'The Tarnished Angels' looks great. It is one of Sirk's most visually ambitious films, evident in the gorgeously haunting and wonderfully meticulous cinematography that is remarkably subtle at times. Dorothy Malone's look is admittedly anachronistic, with no attempt to make her look like a woman from the 30s where the film is set, but the production design is very handsome all the same. Frank Skinner's music score has a broodiness and melancholy without being too over-scored or too constant. Sirk directs with sensitivity but also understated passion. Personally thought on the most part that the script was fine, thought-probing, at times darkly humorous, at others uncompromisingly biting and at other times sincerely poignant. One of the better moments being Hudson's big monologue.

While the story has its faults later on and is unashamedly melodramatic, to me the emotional impact it had was intense and moving. A sensitive subject handled in a non-shying away fashion. The flying sequences are beautifully shot and excitingly staged. One could argue that the characters are not likeable and hard to care for, that is true but to me they came over as real people with real human conflicts all the same. The moral reversal of Burke and Roger is especially interesting. The acting is very good, even though Burke is underwritten Hudson gives it everything he's got especially in the aforementioned monologue. Robert Stack is a brooding presence while Jack Carson provides some welcome and not too misplaced levity. Malone is affecting in a way that doesn't get over the top.

Overall, well crafted film but didn't bowl me over. 7/10

Rock Hudson gave some very good performances in Douglas Sirk-directed movies. "The Tarnished Angels" is no exception, but the movie is heavy going. The "Written on the Wind" crowd is back - Robert Stack, Rock Hudson, and Dorothy Malone. This time, Stack and Malone, who plays his gorgeous wife, are barnstormers - she does exhibition jumps and he, an ex-World War I hero pilot, flies in races around pylons. Everyone is in love with Malone, except, it seems, her husband. I say seems because what is she supposed to think - he married her after throwing a high roll of the dice (she was pregnant with his child at the time, but Jack Carson offered to marry her), and then he pimps her out so that a businessman will let him fly his plane in a race. Hudson, a reporter, falls for Malone along with all the other men. She's miserable enough to let him make out with her.

There are some wonderful flight sequences that are very exciting. On the ground, though, the actors get weighted down with lots of dialogue, most of it melodramatic.

Alone, during an all night boot camp fire midwatch in a huge, sepulchral building, at one o'clock in the morning I dared (had I gotten caught I'd have done a punishment tour at 'Happy Hour') to switch on the TV in the Master At Arms' office. On came the titles of 'The Tarnished Angels'.

I've been enthralled by it ever since.

It would be a revelation to get to see this film in CinemaScope, but it's one of those few films whose themes seem to be intensified by pan-and-scan: the characters' claustrophobic loneliness in a throng; the pressing anxiety of a child about his parentage; the narrowing, time-running-out bravado of the former war ace; the ache of the mechanic who can fix only aeroplanes but not his timorousness; the naked greed and lust of the depression mogul lucky to have been spared the worst of his era's depredations; the despair of the wife who followed a man and ended up jilted by his corpse, with no place to turn; and the outside-looking-in fascination, desolation, and crashed dreams of a reporter lying torpidly in a pond of bootleg hootch.

Atypical of director Sirk's opus 'The Tarnished Angels' shows his grasp of his medium in the haunting chiaroscuro of black & white, and in the edgy editing of the flying scenes that furnish the only relief from - or should that be masterful exacerbation of - the confining, torturous ties and jealousies, yearnings and flailings that bind the characters in existential angst.

Not much of a plot here, but the acting is to marvel at. Robert Stack's muscular, sexy, once-genuine hero turns to tin before your eyes. Dorothy Malone's aching milk-and-honey farm girl fecundity, horse-traded libido, and lovelessness struggle against the vast flush of the Depression's The Blight Stuff toilet in which her husband's sole skill is no life preserver for his family's plunge into life-and-death, give-and-give, take-and-take despair. Rock Hudson's goodhearted reporter, yearning to find some goodness in humankind, having his search thwarted by the grinder of want and need, loyalty and betrayal, helplessness and manipulation. The mogul frustrated because his only skill is heavy-handed buying and selling (played wonderfully by Robert Middleton - in a diabolical role that makes the bargain in 'Indecent Proposal' look frivolously angelic by comparison), whose physiognomy oozes reptilian menace that cloaks his unrelievable aching to possess one immutable, beautiful, worthy thing.

'The Tarnished Angels' left me feeling as wrung out as the overstressed airframes in its hell-for-leather air race scenes, and quite a bit more grown-up than I was before I'd seen its characters rooting round in the Depression gutters of abasement and debasement.

After my midwatch, near dawn, when I tumbled into my open-bay barracks rack, I couldn't sleep. I wished for an angel to hand me a tin of BrassO for my coming-of-age, tarnishing soul.

Hudson is mesmerising as newspaper reporter Burke Devlin who is besotted by fly-by-night characters, especially sultry daredevil parachutist LaVerne Schumann (Dorothy Malone). His character is worth all of the others put together. In the acting stakes too he shines brightly, adding nuance to his performance. Unfortunately the script is tarnished especially if we are to believe Hudson's infatuation for LaVerne who proves herself to be mostly unlovable. If you like Depression era dramas, that will help you enjoy this more. And if you like the early world of flying, that will help too. But mostly watch it for Rock Hudson's intelligent performance. Based on a story by William Faulkner.

ROBERT STACK is a barnstorming stunt pilot in the '30s who'd been a hero aviator during the first World War. He's abusive to his loyal wife (DOROTHY MALONE) and his expert mechanic (JACK Carson) and anybody he comes into contact with. For some strange reason, newspaperman ROCK HUDSON is interested enough in this threesome to want to do a news story on them as they prepare to enter various air contests. After briefly encountering them, he even puts them up at his place when they're out of lodgings and soon becomes enmeshed in their lives.

But Hudson does deliver a solid monologue at the end when he storms into the newspaper office to give his boss the lowdown on what kind of story he uncovered. It's one of his best moments and he carries it off like a real pro.

Stack plays his sullen heel with his usual brash, solemn demeanor. A flabby looking Jack Carson plays the mechanic who's secretly still in love with Stack's wife, Malone. Malone is quietly effective as the wife who suffers and suffers while Stack's mistreatment goes unchecked, except by Hudson. Surprisingly, this is all taken from a William Faulkner novel which must have had stronger characters and situations than are depicted here.

It's a stormy emotional drama that makes little sense, directed with a certain amount of style by Douglas Sirk even though it does not use his usual trademark--Technicolor. All the emotional strife makes it a pretty heavy-handed, florid melodrama. Hudson's noble turn at the end makes a new woman of Malone, who decides to accept his offer to return to her roots in Iowa with her little son. None of it seems to ring true, at least to me.

Best feature: the flying air scenes are well staged and photographed for maximum effect--but it's hard to care about any of the characters.

Trivia note: TROY DONAHUE has a small role as an ill-fated pilot competing against Stack.

On the debit side, DOROTHY MALONE's costuming and hair style doesn't suggest the 1930s at all, but the 1950s.

This is the forgotten Douglas Sirk film from his golden period in the 1950's when he made such classic Baroque-style women's pictures as "Magnificent Obsession", "All That Heaven Allows", "Written on the Wind" and "Imitation of Life". The black-and-white 1958 film doesn't have the saturated color palette of Sirk's frequent cinematographer, Russell Metty (who did lens those other films), nor does the story, based on William Faulkner's novel "Pylon", have as strong an orientation toward a female protagonist as the others. Yet, the film has many of the filmmaker's trademark melodramatic flourishes and some superb shot compositions, this time photographed by Irving Glassberg. The result is quite worthwhile and sadly not available yet on DVD.

Set in 1932 New Orleans (though you can hardly tell from the anachronistic 1950's-era wardrobe and sets), the plot focuses on Roger Shumann, a former WWI flying ace who has been relegated to racing around pylons in air shows for prize money. He's married to LaVerne, so in love with Roger that she became a parachute jumper to please him, while raising their son Jack, who worships the ground on which Roger walks. Speaking of hero worship, there is also the dim-witted Jiggs, Roger's loyal mechanic, who holds a torch for LaVerne. Into this dysfunctional band comes local newspaperman Burke Devlin, who smells a good story in reporting on this transient family living hand to mouth to fulfill Roger's intractable need to fly. A lot of emotional gut-punches are thrown among these characters, especially between Roger and LaVerne, until a late moment of clarity seems to arrive too late. The last fifteen minutes contain come far-fetched plot convolutions, but they are in the spirit of the piece.

Sirk reunited three of his stars from 1956's "Written on the Wind" - Rock Hudson, Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone - to play the three principals, so they know how to maintain conviction with more than a touch of Sirk's often maddening soap opera excess. Hudson, in particular, really shines in this sort of material as Devlin, even in a hilariously conceived drunken speech at the end. Stack is his typical jaw-clenching self though with a morbid sense of self-loathing only Sirk could serve up, and Malone is surprisingly sensual as LaVerne, whether fighting off her impulses about Devlin or hanging on to a trapeze bar as she floats off her parachute with her skirt billowing up (a classic shot). Jack Carson plays Jiggs as the pathetically smitten man he is, while Christopher Olsen has a heartbreaking scene where he is stuck on an amusement park ride watching fate deal its hand (trivia - Olsen is Cindy Brady's real-life brother). This isn't an out-and-out great film but still a very watchable entry in the Sirk canon.

The Tarnished Angels is a pure melodrama. Black and White excellent cinematography and good performances from all the cast. That's the Douglas Sirk way. Building the story with strong elements and hidden lines about the American way of life and the bitter behind the curtain. The man is a master. Melodrama is a Greek word so you have to know what exactly means. There is a big difference between melodrama and "melo". The film is a masterpiece. Sirk was a director with strong elements of morality. The region 2 DVD from Universal is in very good condition. No extras. The film has guts. The plot is not as simple as it seems with the first view. The scenes with the airplane "battles" are so fast and full of adrenalin. A trio of losers, an alcoholic but deep moralist journalist, a kid with an only friend that was called loneliness and a mindless woman make this film unforgettable. Highly recommended.

Based on the William Faulkner novel Pylon, The Tarnished Angels reunites Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, and Dorothy Malone three of the four stars who were in Written On The Wind the year before. In many ways the three are continuing the roles they played in that classic.

The Tarnished Angels concerns a group of barnstorming air entertainers during the Depression years. Rock Hudson plays a newspaper reporter from the New Orleans Times Picayune who is at the carnival that they're appearing at and meets Robert Stack a former war ace from World War I who is now doing this kind of air racing and stunt flying for a living. Traveling with him are his son, Chris Olsen, wife Dorothy Malone, and mechanic Jack Carson.

William Faulkner placed himself in the middle of this story and Hudson functions as his character. He sees and observes the characters around him and what he sees is what we read in the book and see on film. Stack is a man obsessed with flying itself above everything, including his own family. Wife Dorothy Malone is a woman with a loose reputation which she doesn't do much to quell rumors about. Her reputation is so bad that the parentage of Chris Olsen is brought into question. Here it's a matter of speculation, in the original novel there is a parachute jumper who is definitely identified as the possible real father of Olsen's character.

Carson is Stack's fecklessly loyal mechanic and there's even some speculation about him being Olsen's father. In any event he's so totally loyal to Stack who occasionally uses him for a doormat that some critics have opined that the relationship between Carson and Stack's character might be gay.

Douglas Sirk who did lush romances for the most part managed the special effects part of the film very well. The air race sequences are well photographed and breathtaking.

I'm not sure how William Faulkner who was still alive when this film came out took to the changes in his novel. It probably was the best Universal could do and still be Code compliant. The Tarnished Angels is more a Douglas Sirk romance than a Faulkner novel, but that isn't necessarily bad.

Although we got some of the famous actors at that time, but the screenplay was just bad, and the directing was not good either. How could it possible you'd so generously let three adult strangers and a kid you met in a carnival stay in your apartment? You bought two large paper bags of food and groceries for them, with a pretty woman beside you, but when you reached your apartment, the woman simply turned around and walked away. What was that woman's role? An escort? Just served the scene to accompany you back in the midnight? Then....well, what a terrible script with inexplainable and illogic storyline. The dialog felt more like the dialog we only saw in a play on a stage, not a bit natural at all. The original novel must be quite bad already, so when it was so stupidly adapted into a movie script, it became even worse. This film looked more like those movies adapted from those Tennessee Williams' plays, those dialog might feel okay on a stage, but once use them in movies, it's just felt awkward and unnatural.

A nice film based on William Faulkner's 1930 novel ¨Pylon¨ Spectacular story about WWI fliers turned barnstorming aerial stunt pilots including superb flying sequences. The era the picture is set in is mostly the ¨Roaring Twenties¨, specifically the period is between 1926 and 1931, in which bitter pilots are reduced to defying death in air flying circus. Reporter Burke Devlin (Rock Hudson) is writing a story for the local New Orleans paper about a tormented trio of air circus barmstormers. As a disillusioned plane pilot named Roger Shumann (Robert Stack) who had missed flying in WWI takes up barnstorming in his quest for the glory he had missed. The former WWI ace, cares more about flying than he does his sizzing wife Laverne (Dorothy Malone), who's loved-from-afar by loyal mechanic Jiggs (Jack Carson). When Roger's plane cracks up, he uses his wife to obtain use of experimental aircraft in order to win a race and brings disaster crashing around them all. The Book They Said Could Never Be Filmed!. Based on "Pylon" by William Faulkner !. The exciting stars of 'Written on the Wind" !.

This attractive drama about flying results to be an elegiac homage to barmstorming fliers. It features impressive vintage aircraft flying sequences made by expert stunts and professional pilots . However, there are no studio takes in airplanes , all close-ups of actors being airborne were done for real. One of Sirk's great melodramas, here he makes one of the best adaptations made of a novel by Nobel Prize winner and Hollywood screenwriter William Faulkner. Set during the Time of the Great Depression and with Rock Hudson, actor Douglas Sirk's fetish, as starring, the film attempts to combine drama, romance, and aerial adventures.

Excellent black and white photography by cameraman Irving Glassberg with scenes of great spectacularity and wonderful acting works. In addition to star Hudson, appearing Dorothy Malone, Robert Stack, Jack Carson and in more secondary roles, Robert Middleton, Robert J. Wilke, Alan Reed, William Schallert, and a very young Troy Donahue. The motion picture was well directed by Douglas Sirk. He was a fundamental filmmaker who gave prestigious movies, usually collaborating with similar technicians as cameraman Russell Metty , Production Designer Alexander Golitzen, Producer Ross Hunter and writer George Zuckerman. Sirk directed a lot of classic melodramas such as : ¨Never say goobye , Interlude , Summerstorm , The first legion , The lady pays off , Tarnished Angels , A time to love a time to die , Magnificent obsession , All that heaven allows , Written in the Wind¨. But he also directed other genres as WWII : ¨Mystery submarine , Hitler's madmen¨ ; Thrillers and Film Noir : ¨Shockproof , Thunder on the hill , A scandal in Paris , Lured¨ ; Historical : ¨Attila¨ with Jack Palance ; Adventures : ¨Thunderbolt and Lightfoot¨ with Hudson and Barbara Rush ; and even a Western: ¨Taza¨ . Rating : 6.5/10 , better than average . Worthwhile watching.

Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks individually or in groups that were called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes," it became popular in the United States during the Roaring Twenties. The film belongs to Barnstormers subgenre, they were pilots who flew throughout the country to sell airplane rides and perform stunts. Charles Lindbergh first began flying as a barnstormer, barnstorming was the first major form of civil aviation in the history of aviation. Others films are: ¨The Gypsy Moths¨ (1969) by John Frankenheimer with Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr; ¨The Great Waldo Pepper¨ (1975) by George Roy Hill with Robert Redford, Susan Sarandon and ¨Cloud Dancer¨ (1980) by Barry Brown with David Carradine, Jennifer O'Neil .

Faulkner once said this film was the best ever made from any of his novels!! Malone and Stack are as good as in "Written on the Wind". Hudson is equal to them all the way. It paints an accurate picture of a particular way of life during a difficult period in American history. A film i never get tired of.

Great movie, great Director, great cinematography, great everything. When you see Dorothy Malone's dress blowing in the wind it beats Marilyn hands down. I have just purchased a 10 box dvd set of Rock Hudson and this one was included in beautiful CinemaScope and black and white.

A stunning production from William Faulkner's novel PYLON. Douglas Sirk also directed Written on the Wind with the same cast. They all work so well together.

Don't miss this if you can find it on DVD. Mine came from Amazon.

A Douglas Sirk soap opera based on the William Faulkner novel Pylon (George Zuckerman wrote the screenplay) that's overrated by Leonard Maltin, among others.

Robert Stack plays a former World War I flying ace who only finds work now in air shows, flying around pylons racing with other pilots like NASCAR drivers do around racetracks. Dorothy Malone plays his too attractive for "his" own good wife, especially with Rock Hudson around. Jack Carson plays Stack's socially dim-witted, too old to still be attractive, longtime friend and mechanic. The three (four with Stack's and Malone's 10 year old son) barely get by financially as they travel the country, with Stack's stunts providing their only means.

Hudson plays a reporter in the town they're currently in who finds a "how the mighty have fallen" story in the tension these three adults exude. Robert Middleton plays Stack's former boss, now competitor, and soon to be partner through circumstances he can't avoid.

Interesting, but average. None of the character's are particularly credible, and none of the acting performances are memorable either (though Malone is beautiful, even in black-and-white), save for Carson's Jiggs, if you can believe it.