All That Heaven Allows

All That Heaven Allows (1957) questions the social and political consensus that is often seen as a defining characteristic of 1950s America. Beneath this consensus, the film suggests, there dwelt a profound social anxiety concerning issues of gender and class. Gender and class divide people and distribute power and authority in the film. What appears as consensus is revealed to be a forced conformity, subordinating individual wills and aspirations to the dictates of social stability. Cary lives a life of affluence, with a large, well-decorated house, nice clothes, and a country-club membership. Ron is her flannel-wearing gardener. The class distinction is perhaps most evident when comparing the party scenes at the homes of Mick (Ron’s friend) and Sara (Cary’s friend). Mick’s guests are either working class or artists, none of whom display the trappings of wealth. Mick’s apartment is one room with attached kitchen, heated by a large fireplace (over which they cook dinner) and lit by a wide skylight. The natural light and heat imply an authenticity to the existence of Mick and his friends. This authenticity is also suggested by the use of close-up shots giving the audience a more direct experience of the revelers. Each guest brings something to the party, which involves joyous dancing and ends with a group feast, a traditional celebration of community. In contrast, Sara’s party takes place in her large, fashionably decorated house. There is no natural lighting, and the people are all dressed in fancy clothes, exhibiting an artificiality in contrast to the authenticity of Mick’s house. The shot selection tends to stay at a medium shot, keeping the audience at a distance from the party-goers, and reinforcing the lack of authenticity. There is neither dancing nor feasting. It is a cocktail party in which people huddle together to gossip and judge. One group of men mock Ron before he arrives for his lack of money, while the young bride who is the guest of honor cattily chides Cary that Ron may be after her money. The consensus of the 1950s shatters over the divisions of class that separate Cary and Ron, and Mick and Sara and their respective guests.
Gender distinctions are linked to class, with upper class men weakened and dominated by their women. Comparing the two party scenes is again instructive. The men at Mick’s party are all robust, standing erect and joking with one another. The men at Sara’s party all slouch or collapse into chairs, as does Howard under the onslaught of local gossip Mona. Mick and Alida seem to share duties, both helping get the party ready and prepare the table. The women at Sara’s party dominate the men, who are ordered to fetch them drinks, or who fail to speak when the women are present. Howard’s collapse into a chair when Mona suggests he had propositioned Cary and been rejected is an image of emasculation.
Class and gender divide, creating anxieties about gender and individualism beneath the façade of consensus. To be a strong masculine individual seems impossible for the upper class. Cary understands this when she asks Ron, “You’d like me to be more of a man, wouldn’t you?” Sara’s party demonstrates that the affluence that underscored the 1950’s consensus emasculated men. To challenge the consensus, however, leads to social coercion. Howard’s attempt to rape Cary at Sara’s party is only the most extreme form of this coercion. Mona, the town gossip, and Cary’s children become the agents of conformity, forcing Cary to choose between her love for Ron and her belonging to the social class. It is only when her children have abandoned her and Cary is alone that she can go back to Ron. But Cary’s acceptance of Ron has, in many ways, made him less of a man. He has turned the natural, rustic old mill into a replica of a middle class home. Her initial and aborted return leads Ron to lose his footing and seriously injure himself. Only when he is weakened does Cary return as his nursemaid and caretaker. While the film seems to end on a positive note, with Cary and Ron together at last, Ron is much less than he was, having been first domesticated, and then bedridden.
All That Heaven Allows challenges the consensus culture of the 1950s, demonstrating that there were strong divisions of class and gender. The linkage of class and gender in this film create a layer of anxiety to the tranquil world of 1950s America. The film’s end, with the natural, individualist male domesticated, weakened, and dominated by the upper class woman, is not a message of hope for the traditional icon of American culture. It suggests instead that there is little hope for a powerful individual to withstand the unsubtle attacks of a Mona, or the more subtle manipulations of Cary. To thine own self be true has been replaced by join the club.