Over The Top Part II

her head and forehead with so much effort that she resembles Charlton Heston in Ben Hur. Is it too much? Or is it a fantastically erotic scene? Whatever your conclusion, there's no denying that the scene is entertaining.

Marylee also displays her wildness with a couple of hilariously energetic mambo scenes. In one, she is dancing at a party with Mitch, who is such a stiff dance partner that she soon flies into the arms of a more limber party guest. In the other, the police have just brought her home after catching her with a gas station worker in a hotel room. While blasting a jazzy version of Caravan on her hi-fi, she strips in front of a picture of Mitch and changes into a garish orange negligee. As she swirls around the room in crazed abandon, her father collapses on the stairs and dies.

At the end of this deliciously sordid tale, Marylee is the only character who ends up exactly where she started, though she is now alone. In the final scene, she sits at her father's desk, mournfully stroking a very phallic miniature model of an oil well. She is so subdued that the old Marylee seems to have vanished, until that sad look slowly turns into a smile that seems to imply that her wild days are not over. One of the best trips over the top to ever be filmed; she earned that Oscar.

Also See:
Here are some more Douglas Sirk movies to check out.
Tarnished Angels (1958)(also with Dorothy Malone)
Magnificent Obsession (1954)(with Jane Wyman)
Imitation of Life (1959)(with Lana Turner)

Web Links:
Written on the Wind (from filmsite.org)
Sudden Fear (from Joan Crawford online)

Thank you to www.SilverScreenSirens.com for permission to use the photo of Joan Crawford.

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