All That Heaven Allows

Synopsis

Cary Scott (Jane Wyman) is a wealthy widow and a respected member of New England’s tight-knit country club society. When she falls in love with Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson), a handsome and much younger gardener, their relationship scandalises her community. Their romance defies the rigid social codes of 1950s middle-class America, as scandal, family alienation and prejudice threaten to pull them apart.

Douglas Sirk’s timeless melodrama is a Technicolor masterpiece, featuring career-best performances from Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. It stands as a landmark of cinematic storytelling—capturing both the suffocating comfort of conformity and the radiant power of forbidden desire.

This film will be shown with Descriptive Subtitles and BSL interpretation will be available for the introduction and the panel discussion. 

Join us for a post-screening panel discussion with Professor Tanya Horeck and filmmaker Nasheed Qamar Faruqi about the stakes of melodrama and the power of (e)motion pictures, hosted by CFF Programming Panel Lead Savina Petkova

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