“In countless ways visible and invisible, Sirk's sly subversion skewed American popular culture, and helped launch a new age of irony.” - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Monday, June 9, 6:15 p.m. | Douglas Sirk’s WRITTEN ON THE WIND, his most melodramatic domestic tragedy, was a box office smash, and is still considered a Technicolor masterpiece, as well as a camp classic. Lauren Bacall stars alongside Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, and Dorothy Malone (in a deliciously vicious, Academy Award–winning performance) in this saga of a rich Texas oil family caught in a spiral of sex, jealousy, and lots of booze. Opulently designed (The Village Voice’s J.Hoberman said the film has a “lurid classical grandeur that suggests Norman Rockwell redecorating Versailles”), WRITTEN ON THE WIND is serious, perverse, and seriously perverse.
Awards & Nominations
Winner - Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Dorothy Malone), Academy Awards
Nominee - Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Robert Stack), Best Original Song, Academy Awards
Nominee - Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Dorothy Malone), Golden Globes
Summer Camp | June 2025 Specialty Series
In 1964, the essayist Susan Sontag wrote “Notes on Camp,” where she endeavored to define “camp,” an artistic and cultural sensibility. The essence of camp, Sontag wrote, is “its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.” In the 60 years since that publication (a brisk, 14-page read), camp has evolved and flourished: in drag culture, the queer community, and the fashion and music industries. In cinema, camp can be found in the extravagance of a sweeping melodrama or the movie that’s so-bad-it's-actually-brilliant, a film may read as “campy” because of its opulence or extreme performances, or we might call a movie a camp classic because its earnest seriousness makes us laugh all the way to the credits. For Summer Camp, we abide by one of Sontag’s most salient points: “Camp is, above all, a mode of enjoyment, of appreciation—not judgement.” Pack your bags, we’re going camping!
The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu