21 Books That Inspired Douglas Sirk Films
A selection of books recommended by one of the great masters of screen melodrama
One of my most happy discoveries while reading Sirk on Sirk: Interviews with Jon Halliday –which I reviewed on my YouTube channel– was that Douglas Sirk was not only a master of melodrama but also a voracious reader, drawing inspiration from a diverse range of literary works. In this first post of my new The Best Before Supplement, I invite you to dive a little deeper into each of these literary gems.
From undisputed classics to forward-thinking plays or searing thought-provoking titles, in this post I have put together a list of 21 revered-reads curated by Sirk himself –and a little by me, accompanied by a brief explanation to reveal the intellectual foundation that was behind his celebrated films and his unique cinematic universe. A rare opportunity to share the bookshelves of a filmmaker of classics such as All That Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind or Imitation of Life.
If I piqued your curiosity, this journey doesn’t stop here —there will be upcoming publications providing an in-depth look into each of these literary recommendations, offering comprehensive analyses and a deeper understanding of how these narratives influenced Sirk's storytelling. Your subscription ensures that you won't miss a single chapter in this literary and cinematic voyage.
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1/21. First Love by Ivan Turgenev
First Love is Russian writer Ivan Turgenev’s most famous novella. It was first published in 1860 and tells the story of a man looking back on his first love, as the title indicates. However, there are also elements of love socially conditioned under extreme circumstances which was a concern of Douglas Sirk, as evidenced by several his films. It was the inspiration for his screenplay for the German film Dreiklang (1938) which he was keen on making but he had already fled Germany.
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2/21. The Piazza Tales by Herman Melville
The Piazza Tales –from the author of Moby Dick– is a collection of six short stories, that were first published in Putnam's Magazine, between 1853 and 1855, before they were printed as a book in 1856. It contains works in a maritime scenario like Bartleby, Benito Cereno or The Encantadas. For Sirk, the work of Melville was a revelation and he considered his work as one of the greatest in American literature. He had the intention of adapting one of these tales at one point.
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3/21. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
A classic Gothic horror novella that was serialized in about 12 issues in Collier's Weekly in 1898. It has become overtime a highly influential and much analyzed story so it is no wonder that Douglas Sirk was also profoundly impressed with it, specially because of its ambiguity and underlying themes. So much so, he wished he could have made it into to a movie before the wonderful The Innocents (1961).
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4/21. Pylon by William Faulkner
William Faulkner was an author that deeply changed Sirk’s outlook on life, as he reveals in his book of interviews mentioned above. The idea of adapting Pylon into a movie had been in his mind for many years. He was able to accomplish that along with producer Albert Zugsmith with a film like The Tarnished Angels (1957) which remained amongst his personal favorites. This was Faulkner’s eighth novel, published in 1935. It deals with a team of airplane barnstormers and a reporter taking note of their different way of life.
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5/21. Dark Laughter by Sherwood Anderson
Dark Laughter is a 1925 novel which has gradually fallen into oblivion but in its day, it was Sherwood Anderson’s only best-selling work. It presents a theme of morally and socially questionable romantic attachments and other situations that also fall within the realm of Douglas Sirk’s work and focus. Thus, this was also a story that at one point Sirk thought of bringing to the big screen.
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6/21. Laughter in the Dark by Vladimir Nabokov
First published in 1932, Laughter in the Dark explores a relationship between an older man and a young girl, similarly to Lolita –Nabokov’s later novel, but to a different extent and effect. From all the books that Douglas Sirk thought of turning into a film, this was perhaps the most controversial. It was later on adapted into a film with the same title, directed by Tony Richardson and released in 1969.
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7/21. The Shooting Party by Anton Chekhov
The Shooting Party was Chekhov’s only full-length novel, published in 1884. It tells the story of a crime committed during a hunting party, and the efforts to find who is responsible while several mysteries are revealed in the process. This was also a literary work that Douglas Sirk wanted to translate into a film but this time he was able to materialize his wish, with the film Summer Storm (1944), starring George Sanders and Linda Darnell, in a role that would change the public’s perception of her.
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8/21. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
Precisely for Summer Storm (1944), Douglas Sirk hired James M. Cain to adapt Chekhov’s novel. He ultimately discarded Cain’s work but he highly praises the author, specially for The Postman Always Rings Twice which was amongst his favorite. First published in 1934 it is a crime fiction short book that has become highly influential and certainly also has a place in the history of big screen book adaptations.
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9/21. Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara
This book also has a link to Douglas Sirk’s Summer Storm (1944). He had just finished reading Appointment in Samarra when he came up with the pen name Michael O’Hara for his work in the adaptation of Chekhov’s novel for the film, along with screenwriter Rowland Leigh. This book, published in 1934 was O’Hara’s first novel and also presents themes of decay and hypocrisy of a certain stratum of American society. O’Hara was also the author of Pal Joey, From the Terrace or BUtterfield 8, all of which were subject of adaptations.
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10/21. Othello by William Shakespeare
On describing the characters in his films and specially, their ambiguity, Douglas Sirk cites two plays as major inspiration. One is Othello, Shakespeare’s classic. A powerful tragedy in which Sirk observes how the characters are ‘written at a double level’, alluding at the complexity and ambiguity of the play. Moreover, there are other themes present in the play that can be found in several Sirk films.
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11/21. El alcalde de Zalamea by Pedro Calderón de la Barca
El alcalde de Zalamea (the Mayor of Zalamea) is another classic play which served as inspiration for Douglas Sirk in his construction of characters and again, their ambiguity. This play became and has remained one of the most popular examples of Baroque theatre in Spain. It is a tale of morality, honor and justice, but also a ‘piece of tremendous social criticism’, according to Sirk’s own words. That’s another point in common with Sirk’s work.
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12/21. Alcestis by Euripides
Mentioning irony, and the employ of dramatic irony, Douglas Sirk cites Alcestis by the great Greek tragedian Euripides. He references the plot of Alcestis in relation to Magnificent Obsession (1954) and the tragic and melodramatic situations it presents. According to Greek mythology, Alcestis sacrificed her own life in order to bring her husband back from the dead. Sirk also mentions Euripides’ Bacchae as another play he would have wanted to stage during his career as a theatre director.
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13/21. Oresteia by Aeschylus
Another classical Greek reference with the mention of the Oresteia by Aeschylus which is a trilogy of tragedies focused on the pathetic, poignant and cathartic downfall of great heroes. Sirk extrapolates the dramatic mechanisms of the Oresteia to contemporary melodrama, concluding that these structures have been in place for centuries only being transposed into different worlds. Much like his most memorable movies and their ongoing influence.
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14/21. Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Walden was an absolute favorite of Douglas Sirk and it was even featured briefly in his film All That Heaven Allows (1955). He reveals he read the book when he was young because his father gave it to him and it immediately exerted so much influence on him. The novel was first published in 1854 and through the years, it has been equally times admired as it has been questioned but its influence and relevance is undeniable.
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15/21. My Ántonia by Willa Cather
My Ántonia is also a book prominently featured in a Douglas Sirk film, in this case in The Tarnished Angels (1957). Published in 1918, it is the third novel in what is sometimes refer to as Cather’s “The Prairie Trilogy” or “The Great Plains Trilogy”, characterized by her featuring European immigrant families and their pioneer life. For Sirk, this novel perfectly captured the concept of circularity within the story and his early love for America discovered through literature and novels like this one.
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16/21. Winds of Morning by Harold L. Davis
When Douglas Sirk recounts his love for the West and particularly for Oregon, he mentions this novel by Harold L. Davis, published in 1952. He speaks almost melancholically of sheltering woods, an open country, a certain oldness… He also mentions two other novels by Davis which are Team Bells Woke Me and Honey in the Horn, the latter winner of the Pulitzer Price. He loved them all and it is clear that, at some point, he would wanted to make an adaptation of one.
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17/21. Tamburlaine the Great by Christopher Marlowe
Tamburlaine the Great is a play written in the 16th century. Contemporary of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe’s work is loosely inspired by the life of the Asian emperor Timur. The play –written in two parts, was another tale which Douglas Sirk had wanted to adapt while at Universal but the opportunity fell through. He expresses in his book of interviews that Christopher Marlowe had ‘exercised a great effect on him, early in his life.’
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18/21. A Time to Love and a Time to Die by Erich Maria Remarque
This novel by Erich Maria Remarque is one he did adapt for the big screen with a film of the same title released in 1958. The story is set during the Second World War and it starts when German Private Ernst Graeber, in the Russian front, receives a three-week leave and aims to visit his family in Germany, only to find that the country has dramatically changed. Remarque was Sirk’s personal friend and he even has a part in the film which focuses on the love story between Ernst and Elizabeth.
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19/21. Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Bertolt Brecht
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny is the title of the political-satirical opera by Kurt Weill with its libretto written by Bertolt Brecht. The story sets the plot in an imaginary city in the U.S. and it generated controversy right from its first performance in 1930 in Leipzig, Germany. A jab at capitalism and at bourgeoisie’s self-complacency and shallowness. This libretto had influence in the story of La Habanera (1937), the last film that Sirk directed for UFA before fleeing Germany.
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20/21. Tales from the Vienna Woods by Ödön von Horváth
Bearing the same titles as Johann Strauss II’s beautiful waltz, Tales from the Vienna Woods is another play of 1931 by Ödön von Horváth, a little-known author –as Sirk himself refers to, “except to a narrow circle of ardent admirers.” His work was melodramatic and satirical, presenting a series of characters victims of society and of the terrible times they were living. Sirk also mentions the play Faith, Love and Charity that bore a lot of resemblance thematically to the story written by Samuel Fuller for his film Shockproof (1949) which he admired, despite being changed by Columbia.
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21/21. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot
“By the way, you know that Faulkner was much influenced by Eliot,” Douglas Sirk further emphasizes “that great American-English poet, who was a huge influence on my and Faulkner’s generation.” This poem titled The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock was Eliot’s first professionally published poem in Poetry magazine in 1915. Sirk specifically references it when discussing William Faulkner’s Pylon and the effect it had on him.
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“And I think that’s it. A long day’s journey… The end of a circle.
Now, don’t take this as resignation. There’s still a lot that heaven allows.
Douglas Sirk
If you have made it thus far, I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart as I think this might be the beginning of a magnificent obsession! What did you think of this list? Were some titles more surprising or interesting than others? You can leave a comment here but you can also find me through my YouTube channel, Instagram and Twitter.
This list comes from notes taken from reading Douglas Sirk book of interviews Sirk on Sirk: Interviews with Jon Halliday and it has been a work of love and curiosity. I have aimed to include as many different titles as possible but keeping it somewhat manageable. By today’s standards, it lacks in female author representation but I will try to make up for that with exclusive in-depth discussion of each book and the addition of more books in future posts.
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