This is a summary of key scenes from the film 'All That Heaven Allows'.
The main theme of this film is obvious. It’s about defining happiness for yourself and not allowing others to define your happiness.
Cary Scott (Jane Wyman) is a widow living the life defined for her by her children, her friends, and her community. Her husband was a businessman and leaves her financially secure. Her friends and children are mindful of what others think and constantly remind their mother of staying within the accepted norms from the length and color (red) of the dresses she wears to whom she dates. At the outset of the film, she is being taken out on a date with a man her age, a man her children believes is proper for a woman her age. The soirée itself is full of gossip, particularly on the red dress Cary wears and other suggestions that she hasn’t given the proper amount of time to grieving her husband. An man of her age there finds her in a secluded spot and tries to force himself on her assuming that she is lonely and desperate. She politely refuses his advances. Later, Harvey takes her home and proposes to marry her, catching her completely off guard. Cary life is carefully ordered around what’s expected of her but the irony is that those whose opinion she covets do not have much time for her. A trophy her dead husband won sits on the mantle of the fireplace to remind her of her position in her society and what is expected of her.
Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson) has been maintaining Cary’s property since taking over the business from his father who passed away. Ron follows his own heart and has gotten off of life’s merry-go-round, now finding joy in gardening, particularly, growing trees. The autumn leaves are turning and this will be his last year as Cary’s gardener as he plans to grow trees full time. He asks her over to his place. Kirby, here, represents the life Cary wants but is afraid of because of what others may think. Her life consists of evening parties, social clubs, the right crowds, sending her kids to college, etc. By contrast, Ron’s life is like the trees he loves, patient and simple.
He lives in a greenhouse with a clear view of the night sky. There’s an old mill next to this greenhouse. Inside of it is dusty and full of cobwebs. There’s a broken teapot on the floor, a Wedgwood. This old mill is Ron and the broken teapot is his heart that she will eventually fix, break, and fix again later in the film. The mill is simple, like Ron. He is content without all of the material things that define her life. She falls in love with him but this invites conflict into her life and she has to make difficult choices as Ron is from a lower social class than she belongs to.
Cary has a guest over named Sara when Ron drops by unexpectedly to ask Cary out with some friends of his. It is an uncomfortable moment for Cary as she introduces him to Sara. Cary dating her gardener is the furthest thing from Sara’s mind at this point but when Cary passes on Sara’s invite to a party that evening, Sara gets the hint. The cinematography by Russell Metty in this film is exceptional. When Cary opens the door, the camera uses the doorway to separate her world from Ron’s world. Behind Ron, you see trees and shrubs and other greenery; behind Cary, you see all the material man-made things that define her existence, nice furniture, etc. Also, note the direction by Douglas Sirk. Ron is smiling and Cary, with all of the material things behind her, looks unhappy. This scene represents the clashing of their worlds. Her world will not accept him.
But, by contrast, his world accepts her easily and graciously. His friends Mick (Charles Drake) and Alida (Virginia Grey), invite them to a clambake. Like Ron’s Mill, Mick and Alida’s place is simple but warm and comfortable. The men go to get wine out of the cellar and leave the women who strike up a short conversation on a poem out of Mick’s “Bible,” a book of memoirs called Walden by Henry David Thoreau (which I have not read):
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer,
Let him step to the music which he hears,
however measured, or far away.”
Mick and Alida used to be on life’s merry-go-round until Mick met Ron, who taught him the most important lesson of all: “To thine own self, be true.”
Meeting Mick and Alida and seeing how happy they are makes a profound impression on Cary as she begins to question her own carefully planned life. But on the other side of this revelation are insecurities about their age differences when Mary Ann enters the picture. Alida and Mary Ann are cousins and Mary Ann, who is much younger than Cary, invites Ron to go sailing with Cary within earshot. Cary is obviously upset and her jealousy adds to the tension of the story.
She breaks the news of her relationship with Ron to her best friend Sara. Sara suggests for Cary to invite Ron to one of their soiree’s to get their society to accept them. Ron doesn’t like the idea but goes along with it to please Cary. The evening is a disaster. Cary introduces him to her children and Ron tells them of his plan to marry her. They reject him and remind their mother of her image and what other people will think of her marrying a gardener who worked for them while their father was living.
Ron shows Cary the work he has done to the mill, fixing it up so that she could move in with him when they married. But Cary now has 2nd thoughts and wants to put off marriage to give everyone time to adjust to them being together. She leaves.
But now that she is no longer dating Ron, her children and friends have no time for her and go about their lives. Kay shows Cary the engagement ring Freddie gave her. Kay (Gloria Talbott) has on a red dress in this scene and remember the red dress Cary wore in the beginning of the movie. This suggests that red represents love, life, and youth. Cary has on a black dress in this scene, representing mourning or death after her breakup with Ron. Ned (William Reynolds) gives Cary a new television for Christmas. He is taking a scholarship oversees and will be leaving soon. She has become an afterthought and she realizes that she has thrown away her own happiness with Ron to please others.
She goes to see her doctor (Hayden Rorke) because she is not feeling well and he tells her to Marry Ron. Ron isn’t his old self either and Mick tells him to go back to Cary. Cary drives over to the Mill to make up to Ron who sees her car and falls off a cliff into a snowbank. Alida and Mick finds him and a doctor treats him for many days. When Ron finally wakes up, Cary is there with him and he smiles and says to her, “Cary, you’ve come home.”
