All That Heaven Allows is a 1950s melodrama that lives up to its genre but also is much more than that. There are many overly dramatized scenes and dramatized language like “I can’t bear”. However, underneath all of that are messages and themes that are still relevant today. In this movie, people are restricted because of class, social norms, and tradition. Two people from different classes and different backgrounds fall in love but aren’t accepted by society due to their differences. One of the prominent elements in this film is editing. They didn’t have digital editing back then, so the film had to be physically cut and spliced together which makes the editing that much more impressive. Continuity editing was something this film employs a lot. One specific instance that stood out to me was an example of elliptical editing. In the frame there is just a tree and the shot dissolves into the same tree but with
Figure 1
Figure 2
fewer leaves on it, indicating a passage of time. The film’s runtime is only 89 minutes, meaning elliptical editing is almost necessary to support the narrative. These characters are supposed to be developing a relationship over months. The continuity editing helped make this development very clear, easy to recognize, and realistic. This film felt very straightforward to me, at least more so than the other films we watched that maybe had a slightly faster, slightly more abstract form of editing. Additionally, despite the dramatization, the editing helped ground the movie in realism and get the director’s message across. Another part of the editing that stood out to me was when it would cut in. I noticed that when Cary and Ron were having a moment where they were bonding the camera would cut in from a medium shot or a long shot to a medium close-up shot. This signified how they were becoming closer and also amplified the romantic tension between them. This happened many times throughout the film and helped highlight the more intimate moments.
Figure 3
Figure 4
In the figures above Cary and Ron were having coffee together after just formally meeting. The viewer can already see them start to fall for each other through the cut to the medium close-up. This technique also helped isolate the pair from other characters. For example, when Cary and Ron are at his friends party Ron starts singing her a song. Even though there are all these other people in the room, it feels like a very intimate moment between the two of them. The camera starts out far away, showing everyone else in the room around them dancing. But then it cuts into them being very close, isolating them.
Figure 5
Figure 6
This film, although not as digitally advanced with its editing as present-day films, was still able to use it in a way to enhance the narrative and the themes. Through that, Douglas Sirk managed to convey a compelling message through a genre generally dismissed as cheesy, sappy, or corny.
Hey Rowan! I enjoyed reading your blog post. I also agree with most of the points you discussed. I, too, noticed when the camera would zoom in to a medium close-up shot between the two. I also noticed something weird as well. I do not know if you noticed it, too, but it seems like, at the end of each scene, the whole screen would change color. I do not know if it was like a filter they were doing or what. I just found it very odd when it did occur, and to me, it seemed like it would occur during the most “dramatic moments.” I know there was no digital editing at the time, but I just thought it was interesting that this phenomenon occurred throughout the movie on multiple occasions.
I absolutely loved how the film conveyed the passage of time through its editing choices! I don’t watch a lot of older movies so the dissolve editing particularly caught my attention just because I don’t see it used in many contemporary films. I think it really made the movie feel more romantic because I feel like the development of a relationship is never abrupt. It waxes and wanes. And I could really understand how Cary felt because the dissolve made me think of how much time must drag on for her in the absence of Ron. It made the yearning feel real and I feel like many romance films as of late kind of miss that part so I hope they employ the technique more.