It is a tradgedy which is so banal in a way and yet in Sirks hands it seems to strike a beautiful and deadly blow to the heart.

All that 'Society' allows

It ought to be called 'all that society allows' because it's about a woman who is denied happiness by those who purport to love her and to whom she has devoted her life. She has lost her husband and is losing her children as they grow up and leave.

It is a tradgedy which is banal, and yet in Sirk's hands it seems to strike a beautiful and deadly blow to the heart.

Critique of 1950's America

All That Heaven Allows "crystallized Sirk's ability to lather up the crowd-pleasing romantic soap while caustically critiquing 1950s America. Set in a perfect town lit and styled for maximum artifice, the love story between Wyman's uptight middle class widow and Hudson's younger free spirit gardener becomes a study in contrasts between her imprisoning home and his rural aerie, her stifling friends and children and his relaxed comrades." (All Movie Database)

What Sirk said about his film

"I considered that the homes that people live in exactly describe their lives. They are always behind those window crossings, behind bars or staircases. Their homes are their prisons. They are imprisoned even by the tastes of the society in which they live. In All That Heaven Allows this woman is imprisoned by her home, her family, her society. They are imprisoned in two ways — by their personal habits, and by the class to which they belong, which is slightly above the middle class."

"In All That Heaven Allows the town is shown as being arranged around the church steeple. You don't see them going to church, because that would be too much on the nose. But even that church is a prison, just like the homes, which are their cages. "

Taken from the excellent interview of Douglas Sirk on Bright Films

Great public success at its release, this is one of Douglas Sirk's most famous films.

Link to page for Douglas Sirk Season at the Star and Shadow Cinema here