All I Desire (1953)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Douglas Sirk

Writers:

Robert Blees (writer)
Carol Ryrie Brink (novel)

Release Date:

July 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Now He Knew Her as Other Men Had!

Plot:

In 1910, a wayward mother re-visits the family she deserted.

Plot Keywords:

Butterfly Collection | Framed Butterfly | Melodrama | Beautiful Woman | Period Piece

Cast

Barbara Stanwyck	...	Naomi Murdock
Richard Carlson	...	Henry Murdoch
Lyle Bettger	...	Dutch Heineman
Marcia Henderson	...	Joyce Murdoch
Lori Nelson	...	Lily Murdoch
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Sara Harper
Richard Long	...	Russ Underwood
Billy Gray	...	Ted Murdoch
Dayton Lummis	...	Col. Underwood
Lotte Stein	...	Lena Maria Svenson
Fred Nurney	...	Hans Peterson
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Donald Kerr	...	Comic (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Stopover (USA) (working title)
You Belong to Me (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:PG | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #16364) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Circle Drive, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

Film debut of Sally Fraser.

Quotes:

Naomi Murdoch: We're a big disappointment to each other, aren't we? You've got a mother with no principles; I've got a daughter with no guts.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bens Confiscados (2004)

Soundtrack:

All I Desire

A good starting point - with one of the best in town

Although not in the same class as Douglas Sirk's major melodramas, "All I Desire" has many of the traits that would be developed in these later works. As such it is essential viewing for fans of Sirk's films. His use of color is legendary so much is lost by this being filmed in black and white, the result of a tight fisted Universal Studios.

Fans of Barbara Stanwyk should not miss it either. Stanwyk is one of a handful of actresses who simply never gave a weak performance. Under the direction of the likes of Wilder or Sirk, she's a compelling screen presence. Sirk had great admiration for Stanwyk calling her "one of the best in town". He used her a few years later in "There's Always Tomorrow" which remains his greatest unrecognised opus. There his criticism of the American family values is particularly cutting, whereas "All I Desire" has an altogether more forgiving view of small town narrow mindedness.

Sirks films are always worth watching. They are extremely well crafted with each shot carefully thought out. Nothing is left to chance. Those who dismiss the melodrama as an inferior genre would do well to take a close look at his body of work. "All I Desire" makes a good starting point.