'All That Heaven Allows'

My parents were divorced when I was about 15. Since, my sainted mother has been wooed and courted by a handful of older gentlemen. Apparently, my mother is a pretty hot piece in the senior citizen sets in local churches.

Anyway, despite various relationships, she's never gotten married and I've never blamed her for remaining single. Frankly, the guys she was seeing were a bit on the losery side. I'd like to think my sweet mother could do better than these chumps.

My mother likes going to musicals, traveling, visiting museums and being generally active. One guy she kind of dated could barely walk and was suspected to be pretty unable to walk within a couple of years.

I look back now and realize maybe I was a bit too critical of my mother. I never said anything to her face, but I didn't like these guys. I'm too protective. But I was probably too over the top. Why should I overprotect my mother and prevent her from finding happiness and companionship?

That'll drive you mad while watching All That Heaven Allows. Jane Wyman's a well-to-do widow with a social life and two college-age children. And a gardener.

Of course, Wyman's gardener happens to be none other than Rock Hudson, the hunk of all Hollywood hunks. They meet and get to know each other. They fall in love despite his ascetic, Thoreouian lifestyle and him being significantly younger than him.

Nobody approves. The kids think Hudson's after her money and dear ol' mom is trying to replace dear ol' dad.

Of course, the social circle sparks with the scuttlebutt of Wyman banging a younger, hotter guy. Who is a gardener.

It's a comment on 1950s values. Not only of how we conduct relationships, but how we judge the people that conduct them. It's one thing to disagree with the relationship. It's another to be a dick about it.

This is a good movie because the director and actors make you love the characters. You really end up hoping for the best by the end of the film. Even thought we know that Hudson was gayer than a parade.