All That Heaven Allows
Universal Pictures | Release Date: December 25, 1955 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
78
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
With its touching story and stylized treatment, ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS is one of Sirk's finest films. Read full review
100
The GuardianJane Graham
This 1950s melodrama – as underscored by Todd Haynes' modern riff, Far from Heaven – offers smart insights into the American class system and carries a powerful emotional clout way beyond the usual limitations of its genre. Read full review
90
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
On the surface a glossy tearjerker about the problems besetting a love affair between an attractive middle class widow and her younger, 'bohemian' gardener, Sirk's film is in fact a scathing attack on all those facets of the American Dream widely held dear. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Ageism, sexism, classism, and unabashed snobbery rear their ugly heads in a provocatively told story by probably the greatest film melodrama stylist who ever lived. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineEric Henderson
The frothy May-September (well, closer to June-July) romance All That Heaven Allows is the fountain from which directors as disparate as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Todd Haynes, and John Waters have all drunk, marking it as the most influential of the 20-plus films Sirk directed during the 1950s. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyTim Purtell
Boiling over with heated acting and schmaltzy scores, Douglas Sirk’s ’50s melodramas tap neatly into our collective trash psyche. Read full review
80
EmpireDavid Parkinson
Romance novel in narrative this transcends its genre with visual depth and perceptive socio-cultural insights. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Ian Johns
A sharply observed indictment of 1950s country club conformity. [07 Jul 2013, p.45]
80
The TelegraphStaff (Not Credited)
Rather dated now of course but absorbing none the less. [01 Jan 2011, p.31]
70
The New YorkerPauline Kael
Hudson and Wyman are hardly an electric combination, but this Ross Hunter production is made with so much symbolism that some people actually see it as allegorical.
60
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Although this story of a long-suffering woman who, at 40 or so, finds romance with a man between 10 and 15 years her junior, is hardly designed to ignite prairie fires, scripter Peg Fenwick nevertheless has managed to turn the Edna L. and Harry Lee story into a slightly offbeat yarn with some interesting overtones that accent the social prejudices of a small town. Read full review
40
The New York TimesBosley Crowther
Solid and sensible drama plainly had to give way to outright emotional bulldozing and a paving of easy clichés. Read full review
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