Magnificent Obsession

11/25/2019

Doc Rock and the playboy redemption. Magnificent Obsession is adapted from a novel by Lloyd C Douglas, and it had been previously filmed back in 1935 with Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor in the leads. Here the piece is directed by melodrama maestro Douglas Sirk and features Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson as the emotionally charged leads. The story revolves around Bob Merrick (Hudson), a playboy who is inadvertently responsible for the death of Helen Phillips' (Wyman) husband. As he starts to find a soul in amongst his playboy image, he desperately wants to make peace with Helen, but during his efforts to apologise she is tragically blinded in an accident. As Helen recuperates, Bob worms his way into Helen's life by posing as someone else, they amazingly start to fall in love, but the truth w

3/12/2026

I felt a bit sorry for poor old “Bob” (Rock Hudson) in this. Sure, he’s an obnoxious and selfish playboy but when he gets involved in an accident that requires the resuscitator he awakens to quite a lot of disdain from those in the hospital. Why? Well it seems that at the same time, a local surgeon got into difficulties of his own and as the machine was busy elsewhere, well he perished. “Bob” is fairly upset by this news, so offers the hospital $25,000 to pay his bill and get it another gadget. This only seems to make matters worse for the recently widowed “Helen” (Jane Wyman) who gives him short shrift. Then she, herself, gets into an accident that robs her of her memory and her sight. Determined more than ever to help, “Bob” resurrects his own former medical career; assumes a fake identi