Top 10 Douglas Sirk Movies

10. Lured (1947)

Sandra Carpenter (Lucille Ball) is a London-based dancer who is distraught to learn that her friend has disappeared. Soon after the disappearance, she's approached by Harley Temple (Charles Coburn), a police investigator who believes her friend has been murdered by a serial killer who uses personal ads to find his victims. Temple hatches a plan to catch the killer using Sandra as bait, and Sandra agrees to help. But complications arise when Sandra becomes engaged to a nightclub owner.
9. All I Desire (1953)
An actress (Barbara Stanwyck) comes home to the husband (Richard Carlson) and children she abandoned years before.

8. Magnificent Obsession (1954)
Reckless playboy Robert Merrick (Rock Hudson) is in a boat accident, and his condition requires a resuscitator to save his life. Soon afterward Dr. Phillips has a heart attack and needs the same machine. Without it, Dr. Phillips dies. Due to his philanthropy and his wife Helen's accident, she (Jane Wyman) has very little money. Merrick then tries to right his wrongs with Helen --falling in love with her in the process -- and decides to turn to the study of medicine to become a surgeon.

7. Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1952)
When a 1920s millionaire (Charles Coburn) tests the fiber of his Vermont family, a young lady (Piper Laurie) and her boyfriend (Rock Hudson) feel the repercussions.

6. The Tarnished Angels (1957)
Story of a friendship between an eccentric journalist and a daredevil barnstorming pilot.

5. There's Always Tomorrow (1956)
Feeling neglected by his wife (Joan Bennett) and children, a toy manufacturer (Fred MacMurray) has a fling with an old flame (Barbara Stanwyck).

4. Written on the Wind (1956)
Mitch Wayne (Rock Hudson) is a geologist working for the Hadleys, an oil-rich Texas family. While the patriarch, Jared (Robert Keith), works hard to establish the family business, his irresponsible son, Kyle (Robert Stack), is an alcoholic playboy, and his daughter, Marylee (Dorothy Malone), is the town tramp. Mitch harbors a secret love for Kyle's unsatisfied wife, Lucy (Lauren Bacall) -- a fact that leaves him exposed when the jealous Marylee accuses him of murder.

3. All That Heaven Allows (1955)
Predicated on a May-December romance. The difference here is that the woman, attractive widow Cary Scott (Jane Wyman), is considerably older than the man, handsome gardener-landscaper Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson). Throwing conventional behavior to the winds and facing social ostracism, Cary pursues her romance with Ron, who is unjustly perceived as a fortune-hunter by Cary's friends and family -- especially her priggish brother Ned (William Reynolds).

2. A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958)
Retreating from the Russian front after the failure to take Moscow in 1944, German soldier Ernst Graeber (John Gavin) is granted a three-week furlough. He returns to his home village for the first time since he left two years before and is shocked to learn that his parents are among the thousands left dead or missing by the Allied bombing raids. Then he falls for the beautiful Elizabeth Kruse (Lilo Pulver), and the two attempt to begin a romance amidst the devastation and despair of the war.

1. Imitation of Life (1959)
Lora Meredith (Lana Turner), a white single mother who dreams of being on Broadway, has a chance encounter with Annie Johnson (Juanita Moore), a black widow. Annie becomes the caretaker of Lora's daughter, Suzie (Sandra Dee), while Lora pursues her stage career. Both women deal with the difficulties of motherhood: Lora's thirst for fame threatens her relationship with Suzie, while Annie's light-skinned daughter, Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner), struggles with her African-American identity.