Magnificent Obsession
©1954 Universal Pictures Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved.
David Merrick (Rock Hudson) is the spoilt son of a millionaire, whose excessive lifestyle is stalled when he suffers an injury following a boating accident.
While recovering in the local hospital, he realises that the hospital staff are treating him coldly. As it turns out, the only resuscitator in town, normally kept at the home of the esteemed Doctor Phillips, was taken to the lakeside to treat Merrick after his accident. In the meantime, Dr Phillips died of heart failure.
While settling her husband’s estate, Helen Merrick (Jane Wyman) discovers that her husband was engaged in extra-marital activity of the most unusual kind, which has left her and her stepdaughter all but bankrupt.
As for Merrick, for most likely the first time in his life, he feels a sense of remorse and responsibility. His attempts to make amends with Phillips' family are unsuccessful, and in a horrible turn of events, end up causing yet more grief in her life.
Merrick will not only learn, but be inspired by, the cause that has depleted Dr Phillips funds. In some respects, one could say that Merrick inherits Phillips’ cause (it’s interesting to note when Merrick starts smoking a pipe).
This film is one of three based on novels by Lutheran Pastor, Lloyd C. Douglas (The Robe, and The Big Fisherman were the others). Not surprisingly, it has a strong Christian message. While one scene is overly earnest and somewhat preachy, the message in the film overall, is ultimately a humanist one, and not a bad one at that.
Jane Wyman is lovely as Helen Phillips. But the most interesting actors in this film are Agnes Moorehead playing a surprisingly gentle character in this film, and Rock Hudson, whose acting flourished under the direction of Douglas Sirk.
This DVD release includes the original adaptation of Magnificent Obsession, starring Robert Taylor and Irene Dunne.