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All That Heaven Allows (1955)

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Average Rating: 7.6/10
Reviews Counted: 26
Fresh: 24 | Rotten: 2

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 3
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 2

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Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 4,715

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Movie Info

One of director Douglas Sirk's best and most successful romantic soapers of the 1950s, All That Heaven Allows is predicated on a May-December romance. The difference here is that the woman, attractive widow Cary Scott (Jane Wyman), is considerably older than the man, handsome gardener-landscaper Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson). Sirk builds up sympathy for Cary by showing how empty her life has been since her husband's death, even suggesting that the marriage itself was no picnic. Throwing conventionial

Unrated, 1 hr. 29 min.

Drama, Romance, Classics

Directed By: Douglas Sirk

Written By: Peg Fenwick, Edna L. Lee

On DVD: Jun 19, 2001

Cast

Jane Wyman
Cary Scott
Rock Hudson
Ron Kirby
Agnes Moorehead
Sara Warren
Conrad Nagel
Harvey
Virginia Grey
Alida Anderson
Gloria Talbott
Kay Scott
William Reynolds
Ned Scott
Jacqueline de Wit
Mona Plash
Charles Drake
Mick Anderson
Leigh Snowden
Jo-Ann
Merry Anders
Mary Ann
Donald Curtis
Howard Hoffer
Alex Gerry
George Warren
Tol Avery
Tom Allenby
Lillian Culver
Bit part
Jim Hayward
John
David Janssen
Freddie Norton
Paul Keast
Mark Plash
Forrest Lewis
Mr. Weeks
Joseph Mell
Mr. Gow
Nestor Paiva
Manuel
Vernon Rich
Bill
Hayden Rorke
Dr. Hennessy
Gia Scala
Manuel's Daughter

Critic Reviews for All That Heaven Allows

All Critics (26) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (27) | Rotten (2) | DVD (16)

Hudson is handsome and somewhat wooden. Laconic of speech, and imbued with an angel's patience and understanding, it's at times hard to understand his passion for the widow, what with pretty girls just spoilingfor his attention.

October 16, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

Solid and sensible drama plainly had to give way to outright emotional bulldozing and a paving of easy clich�s.

March 25, 2006 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment (1)

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

Top Critic

A masterpiece (1955) by one of the most inventive and recondite directors ever to work in Hollywood, Douglas Sirk.

September 4, 2004 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Sirk benefited immeasurably from the fact that the chief subject of his crazy cinema was postwar America.

August 21, 2009 Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

| Comment

Rob Nelson

City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

A classic and beautiful film for those who love romantic stories

October 18, 2008 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile

| Comment

Louise Keller

Urban Cinefile

Romance novel in narrative this transcends its genre with visual depth and perceptive socio-cultural insights.

October 16, 2007 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine

| Comment

David Parkinson

Empire Magazine

One of Sirk's finest films.

October 16, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

'Time, if anything, will vindicate Douglas Sirk,' wrote Andrew Sarris in 1968. He was right.

May 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

| Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

Beneath the stunningly lovely visuals -- all expressionist colours, reflections, and frames-within-frames, used to produce a precise symbolism -- lies a kernel of terrifying despair

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Geoff Andrew

Time Out

When Carey (Jane Wyman) first visits the Andersons, friends of Ron (Rock Hudson), Thoreau's Walden is placed on the table. She then reads a passage in which he describes the "mass of men living lives of quiet desperation," a summation of her life.

February 7, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Yet another mystifyingly lionized Sirkian soaper.

January 7, 2004 Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Quite involving, overblown emotion and all, particularly due to Wyman's gentle sincerity.

January 2, 2004 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com

| Comment

Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

The rich visual texture, using glorious Technicolor, and a soaring emotional score lend what is essentially a thin story a kind of epic tension.

October 4, 2003 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Film4

The enjoyability of All That Heaven Allows is hampered by the fact that there's no real plot here.

April 13, 2003 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews

| Comment

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

A potent story for the ages.

March 10, 2003 Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle

| Comment

Marjorie Baumgarten

Austin Chronicle

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for All That Heaven Allows

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One of the cheesiest, yet one of the most beautiful romance films I have ever seen. This film tells the tale of an older woman, as her family is not as happy as they used to be before their father (her husband) passed away. As she begins to fall for their family gardener (Ron), he does whatever he possibly can to get

October 14, 2011

KJ Proulx

Super Reviewer

Far more progressive than many films of the decade, this film deals with the societal stance on May-December romances when an older, rich woman is involved with a former gardener years after she is widowed. It held all the culpabilities of reasoning for both sides of the debate, but was also a nice love story that held

October 6, 2010