Magnificent Obsession (1935 / 1954) in January

**Criterion** has announced a January 20th release date for the 1935 and 1954 versions of Magnificent Obsession. The focus of the 2-disc set is the Wyman / Hudson version, but also welcome is the 1935 Irene Dunne / Robert Taylor which has never been released on any home video format.

It will retail for $39.95, but is available at Classicflix.com for only $29.99. Details below.

Reckless playboy Bob Merrick (Rock Hudson, in his breakthrough role) crashes his speedboat, requiring emergency attention from the town’s only resuscitator -- at the very moment that beloved local Dr. Phillips has a heart attack and dies waiting for the life-saving device. Thus begins one of Douglas Sirk’s most flamboyant master classes in melodrama, a delirious Technicolor mix of the sudsy and the spiritual in which Bob and the doctor’s widow, Helen (Jane Wyman), find themselves inextricably linked to one another amid a series of increasingly wild twists, turns, trials, and tribulations.

BONUS FEATURES:

• Audio commentary featuring film scholar Thomas Doherty
• Douglas Sirk: From UFA to Hollywood (1991): a rare 80-minute documentary by German filmmaker Eckhart Schmidt in which Sirk reflects upon his career
• Video interviews with filmmakers Allison Anders and Kathryn Bigelow, paying tribute to Sirk
• Theatrical trailer
• PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien

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