Magnificent Obsession is a 1954 American melodrama film directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, and Barbara Rush. It is a remake of the 1935 film, starring Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor. Both film versions are adapted from the 1929 novel Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas.
Sirk sometimes claimed that the story was based distantly on the Greek legend of Alcestis.
Contents
Plot
In 1948, spoiled playboy Bob Merrick behaves recklessly and loses control of his speedboat, crashing it and becoming injured. Rescuers send for the nearest resuscitator, located in Dr. Phillips's house across the lake. While the resuscitator is being used to save Merrick, Phillips suffers a heart attack and dies. Merrick ends up a patient at Phillips's clinic, where the staff members resent that Merrick caused Phillips's death, however inadvertently.
Helen Phillips, Dr. Phillips's widow, receives a flood of calls, letters, and visitors all offering to pay back loans that Dr. Phillips refused to accept repayment of during his life. Many claimed he refused by saying "it was already used up." Edward Randolph, a famous artist and Dr. Phillips's close friend, explains to Helen what that phrase means. This helps her to understand why her husband left little money, even though he had a very successful practice.
Merrick, who had once been a medical student but abandoned his studies, discovers why everyone dislikes him. He runs from the clinic, collapses in front of Helen's car, and ends up back at the hospital, where she learns his connection to her husband's death.
After his discharge, Merrick gets drunk at a party before he drives away. He runs off the road and ends up at the home of Edward Randolph, who explains the secret belief that powered his own art and Dr. Phillips's success. Merrick decides to try this new philosophy. While trying to make up to Helen, she steps into the path of a car to evade him. She is left blind as a result of the accident.
Merrick soberly commits to becoming a doctor, trying to fulfill Dr. Phillips's legacy. He also has fallen in love with Helen. He helps her adjust to her blindness under the guise of being Robby, a poor medical student.
Merrick secretly arranges for Helen to travel to Europe and consult with the best eye surgeons in the world. After extensive tests, these surgeons tell Helen there is no hope for recovery. Soon after this, Robby shows up at her hotel to provide emotional support and discovers that Helen has already guessed his real identity. Merrick asks Helen to marry him. Later that night, Helen realizes she will be a burden to him and runs away.
Many years pass, and Merrick is now a dedicated and successful brain surgeon who secretly continues his philanthropic acts and searches for Helen. One evening, Randolph arrives with news that Helen is very sick, possibly dying, in a small Southwest hospital. Merrick arrives to find that Helen needs complex brain surgery to save her life and performs this operation. After a long night waiting for the results, Helen awakens, discovers that she can see, and reunites with Merrick.
Production
Sirk began production on Magnificent Obsession, his previous production, Taza, Son of Cochise having wrapped up the month before.
Taza, a 3-D western, also starred Rock Hudson, and it was the second time the two had worked together (the first time being 1952's Has Anybody Seen My Gal). Hudson had previously played leading parts in Universal B-movies, usually directed by Joseph Pevney or Frederick De Cordova.
The screenplay was written by Robert Blees and Wells Root, The film was produced by Ross Hunter.
Among the significant differences between the book and the film are:
Helen is two years older than Joyce. They went to college together. Helen married Dr. Hudson before graduating. Joyce was a wild youngster who partied with Bobby Merrick and his wild crowd, but Helen has a good influence on her.
Nancy Ashford plays a much larger role. She is the one who convinces Merrick to do something valuable with his life, and she gives him Dr. Hudson's journal.
The journal, which Merrick decodes and shares with Nancy, describes the conversations with Randolph that convinced Hudson to adopt his way of life and his own experiences. Randolph has long since passed away.
Helen and Merrick are separated by a misunderstanding, not an accident that blinds her. Late in the story, she is injured in Europe and needs a difficult surgery to save her life as well as her sight. Merrick performs the surgery and arranges for them to be married on the voyage home.
Pre-production scouting for locations began on August 26, 1953, by director Douglas Sirk, Director of Photography Russell Metty, and Unit Manager Edward K. Dodds. Rehearsals began on September 8. Second-unit footage of locations at Lake Tahoe began filming on September 14. An Unlimited Hydroplane speedboat, "Hurricane IV", was secured for the second unit footage of Hudson's boat. It was shot on Lake Arrowhead and was piloted by racer Bill Cantrell.
Release and reception
Magnificent Obsession opened at Loew's State Theatre in New York City on August 4, 1954. Audiences were greeted by co-star Agnes Moorehead in the lobby.
The film was generally not well received critically but did well at the box office. Howard Thompson in The New York Times of August 5, 1954 wrote "[The film] is unquestionably a handsome one. Better still, generally restrained performances at least dignify a moist text, which may seem inspiration to some, pure corn to others."
Jane Wyman was nominated for Best Actress at the 27th Academy Awards.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 88% based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10.