Style and Melodrama: A Study on ‘Written On The Wind’ by Douglas Sirk

Style resists being made explicit. Style is implicit. The scholar Stella Bruzzi posited clothing’s centrality to the moving image and proposed that popular cinema challenges conventional interpretations of identity. An example of the interplay between style and identity is found in the 1956 release of Written on the Wind by Douglas Sirk. The film is a quintessential, stylised melodrama: think of heightened music, a swirl of emotions, and elevated costumes à la Richard and Esther Shapiro’s Dynasty.

Kyle (Robert Stack) and his sister Marylee (Dorothy Malone), children of the Texan oil tycoon Jasper Hadley, are the film's central characters. The film’s complexity lies in its dealing of complex emotions and centres around a love triangle between Mitch (heartthrob Rock Hudson), Kyle, and Lucy (Lauren Bacall). Though secretly, Marylee is infatuated with Mitch but is jilted soon after Mitch meets Lucy in the Hadley Oil Co. office in New York City.

The film opens to a scene in which Kyle Hadley speeds down the highway in his yellow convertible. The camera remains static, but occasionally pans throughout the scenes. In the background, the viewer catches glimpses of the Hadley Oil Company building, as well as the town sign that reads, ‘Hadley’. Evidently, real power dynamics are at play and the Hadleys are omnipresent. Sound and light contribute to their omnipresence and create a menacing state of isolation. Finally, Kyle arrives at the Hadley estate, and the opening credits roll. The camera cuts to a scene of Lucy languidly lying in bed. She is trying to get up, presumably to stop Kyle, but to no avail. Wearing a dainty nightgown, Lucy resembles a fatigued, Victorian woman. She is mentally exhausted, albeit modest in appearance. Lucy’s plight will be bolstered by the following scenes within the film, but this scene certainly sets the tone for what is to come. The scene then transitions to Marylee. Catching a glimpse of Kyle from the window, Marylee’s gaze is supported by the mise-en-scène, that is, the gale that blusters aggressively against the Hadley estate. Suddenly, Kyle enters the Hadley estate and a flurry of autumn leaves fly into the large vestibule, echoing the turmoil that will soon plague the Hadley family. Marylee descends the stairs hastily, clad in a nightgown—though hers is white, in contrast to Lucy's beige version. Ironically, in her case white does not signify peacefulness; rather, a panic-stricken state of hopelessness. The camera then captures a desk calendar; its pages flutter in response to the gusts of wind and flit back two years in time.

It all feels like a lucid dream. The ensuing scene shifts the viewer to Lucy arranging ad mock-ups in the Hadley Oil Co. Office. In academic parlance, she represents the new woman: she is independent, makes a living in a white-collar job, and is modestly dressed. However, the scene is cut short when Mitch enters the office. While she’s working behind the panel, Mitch struggles to catch a glimpse of her. What remains important is that he can see her grey skirt and her legs adorned with black stilettos moving about nimbly underneath the panelled partition wall. His sly grin indicates a liking for her; it is as though he is consuming the sight of her legs. More importantly, the voyeurism implicit in this scene allows the viewer to partake in Mitch’s delight. Unlike Marylee, Lucy is the self-manifestation of the female viewer. She is the chief ornament, but in effect, symbolic of the gender structures that pervade the 1950s.

If Lucy is the chief ornament, where does this leave the other female in the cast, Marylee Hadley? The narrative tension, that characterises Written On The Wind, is felt throughout the scenes when Marylee appears on the screen. A claustrophobic sense of inescapability underlines her appearance and her scenes are underscored with jazzy musical accompaniments that rearticulate her predicament. The intensity of her emotions correspond directly to the viewer, but effectively, inculcate a sense of aversion to her character arc. As with many anti-heroines in early Hollywood pictures, she is latently hysterical and sultry. She is typecast as an anti-heroine after all.

Rather than the subtle tones that characterise Lucy’s garments, Marylee is seen wearing bright, garish colours. Take for instance the scene that depicts her tryst with a gentleman named Roy. She is wearing a pink sleeveless dress that accentuates her proportions complemented by baby pink gloves that accentuate her dress. This also is exemplified by her red Cadillac with her initials stamped onto its exterior. The boldness of her sartorial ensemble provides a subtle cue about her personality. She is not just one woman; she is Marylee Hadley.

Testament to the idea that fashion can denote secret desires and dreams is exemplified in the scene in which Marylee succumbs to a dreamlike reverie and reminisces about Mitch. The symbolism inherent in this scene transforms Marylee into a vehicle of repressed anxieties. She’s sitting by the lake mumbling unintelligibly, all while donning a plaid shirt and indigo denim. Her casual attire effectively caries a sense of childlike nostalgia with it. This idea is underlined by another scene when Mitch and Marylee find themselves at the lake. Here too Marylee is wearing her denim ensemble. The continuity of her laid-back style signals a regression to their shared past, but clearly, Mitch is not interested; he has his eyes on Lucy.

Retrospectively, Written on the Wind stands as an attestation to the power of stylisation. The film illustrates how costumes, and misé-en-scene at large, can transcend mere storytelling and become vehicles for conveying emotions, themes, and societal nuances. Though, instead of idealising this picture for its depiction of a bygone, and perhaps more glamorous period, one should eschew such idealisation. The film is a clear reflection of the 1950s, and we should appreciate the cinematic depth it provides.

Images:

Stills from Written on the Wind, directed by Douglas Sirk, distributed by Universal Pictures