Magnificent Obsession: "My immediate reaction to Magnificent Obsession was bewilderment and discouragement.  But still I was attracted by something irrational in it.  Something mad, in a way -- well, obsessed, because this is a damned crazy story if ever there was one."  --  Douglas Sirk (3) "Magnificent Obsession is a pivotal work in both Douglas Sirk's career and in the formulation of his aesthetic."  -- (8) "Compared to his later successes, this is arch and flat, lacking the ironic edge and luscious style of his best films, but it's an exceedingly handsome production in bold, bright colors where swooning romance and life-saving operations define life as an emotional roller coaster of mythic proportions."  --  Sean Axmaker, amazon.com summary "The remarkable thing about this film is the proof that these great cheap formulas can touch the fringes of real emotion."  --  Lee Rogow, 1954, reported in (5) "Prehaps there is some defense for soap opera on radio: at least a woman can go about her work as she half-listens and day-dreams over their preposterous stories.  But soap operas in the movies are something else again.  Even a handsome Technicolor opus like this...gets tiresome as its characters...go through one empty situation after the other -- situations that have almost no relation to real life."  -- Commonweal, 1954, reported in (5) My thoughts: go here
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