Magnificent Obsession (1954)

 Magnificent Obsession (1954)

Though in my time I did read some of these overly melodramatic novels from the Reader’s Digest Condensed collection, many of which were adapted into film, this was never my preferred genre.

It just happened that I read voraciously and would read most anything.

I don’t believe I ever read anything by Lloyd C. Douglas, but I did read similar stuff from counterparts like Hugo Wast and Pierre L'Ermite, and was I immediately able to identify themes and subjects in just the first minutes of the film:

A playboy, very indirectly responsible for the death of a local doctor and later for the blinding of the doctor’s widow must find ways not only to redeem himself but to fill the void left by the local philanthropist by literally adopting the dead man’s personal philosophy.

He must also find a way to win the heart of the woman who holds him responsible for her personal and her family’s misfortune.

That’s it, and it’s that simple, but the movie is so intent on making things clear that it repeats it three or four times even when it’s obvious from the setup without any need to be explicit.

It’s these extremes which make the film enjoyable on an ironic level; and while already with this fully set in one’s mind, it probably does not detract one bit from understanding that other viewers might enjoy the film while completely devoid of irony.

I fully understand that these Douglas Sirk films have had that cynical appeal for some time already, after all John Waters is just slightly before my time, but I am curious about what the exact intent might have been originally.

While clearly not an overtly fantastic or religious story, the film deals very much with miracles, including a direct reference to Christ. The film’s thesis is that if one follows a certain, very specific formula to the letter, (admittedly dangerous, since it resulted in Jesus being crucified,) miracles will inevitably follow, which, of course, they do, and when they happen, they are accompanied by a non-diegetic angelic choir.

While I have argued that in Miracle in 34th Street no true, supernatural miracle ever happens, I find it more difficult to argue against a miracle here. I must, therefore, logically conclude that this film is more fantastic than the 1947 Christmas classic which features a character who might or might not be the authentic, one and only, Santa Claus.

With Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, Barbara Rush, Agnes Moorehead, and Otto Kruger.