Douglas Sirk is considered the finest director ever to work in melodrama. His films of the 1950s, though written off at the time as mere “women’s pictures” have been since re-appraised as some of the best work of the period. Indeed, Sirk’s work with such under-utilized stars as Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman drew out hitherto unknown qualities from these supposedly wooden performers.
http://dvdholocaust.com/review.php?id=332
