Review of Magnificent Obsession (1935) by Bryan T — 05 Jun 2009

People keep forgetting that melodrama was a serious genre (or subgenre, more exactly) before it was butchered by daytime television. With this kind of storytelling, soap operas might;ve actually been worth watching.

But that would negate the delicacy of these films, and let's not do that. This movie is exquisitely and organically crafted. Half of the reason that it's so effective is that the surprises come from the characters and not the story.

This probably accounts for why the two Sirk films I've seen are emotionally very exhausting. I would guess most good melodrama is. But as a consequence, I don't really know that I would see it again.