I can't shoot straight anymore.
Ron Kirby
1955's All That Heaven Allows may not exactly be a Christmas movie, but given most of the film occurs through Autumn and Winter, both beautifully captured by Cinematographer Russell Metty, for me, it counts.
I love how unsentimental the film is in so many scenes. Widow Jane Wyman is leading a lonely life, mostly having lunches with friends and living for the weekends when her two college going children come home. That is until she perks up after a few interactions with Rock Hudson who plays her gardener, who just recently took over the family business.
No one really seems to pay much attention to Jane except Rock, that is until, they start to date. Everyone in town seems to then take notice, especially her kid, who can't believe their mother is actually a woman with needs other than welcoming them home from the train each Friday evening.
As I said, the cinematography is beautiful and I was as much in love with the barn Ron (Rock Hudson) was renovating as I was with Ron himself. I dream of a barn house like that one day soon in my future. Unlike Ron, I will surround it with goats and cows more than just Christmas tree's, but I would love a deer to come up look into the big picture window as one does in the film.
Since Christmas is just a small part of this film, it makes a great flick to watch anytime over the winter. Rock and Jane were put back together after the positive reaction to their chemistry the year before in Magnificent Obsession.
I had really only known Jane as the old bat on Falcon Crest, the show my mother watched after Dallas.. She's an interesting actress to watch on screen. Her bangs aside, Wyman makes interesting choices acting wise, pushing audiences away at times, more than pulling them in as most actress's try to do. It's oddly compelling at times. Her character in All That Heaven Allows isn't really all that interesting, at least on paper, yet Wyman remains compelling throughout.
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