Screenwriters: Robert Wilder, George Zuckerman

Producer: Albert Zugsmith

A deliciously tawdry and twisted soap opera from the maestro of the melodrama, Douglas Sirk. Mitch Wayne is a geologist working for the Hadleys, an oil-rich Texas family. While the patriarch, Jasper, works hard to establish the family business, his irresponsible son, Kyle, is an alcoholic playboy, and his daughter, Marylee, is the town tramp. Mitch harbors a secret love for Kyle’s unsatisfied wife, Lucy — a fact that leaves him exposed when the jealous Marylee accuses him of murder. Gorgeous, engrossing, and slyly subversive, this utterly enjoyable melodramatic masterpiece also includes an all-star cast including Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Dorothy Malone, and Robert Stack.