Nobody made films quite like Douglas Sirk, at least until Todd Haynes made his rather wonderful Sirk homage Far From Heaven in 2002, in the list of films that defined the director's style, his 1954 Magnificent Obsession must sit close to the top.

Reckless playboy Bob Merrick (Rock Hudson, in his breakthrough role) crashes his speedboat, requiring emergency attention from the town's only resuscitator – at the very moment that beloved local Dr. Phillips has a heart attack and dies waiting for the life-saving device. Thus begins one of Douglas Sirk's most flamboyant master classes in melodrama, a delirious Technicolor mix of the sudsy and the spiritual in which Bob and the doctor's widow, Helen (Jane Wyman), find themselves inextricably linked to one another amid a series of increasingly wild twists, turns, trials, and tribulations. For this release, Criterion also presents John M. Stahl's 1935 film version of the Lloyd C. Douglas novel, starring Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor.

Magnificent Obsession has been announced for a US DVD release in January 2009 (exact date to be confirmed) by Criterion as a 2-disc Special Edition with a new restored high-definition 1.33:1 digital transfer, Dolby Digital mono 1.0 sound and the following special features:

• Audio commentary featuring film scholar Thomas Doherty;
• Magnificent Obsession (1935, 102 minutes): a new digital transfer of John M. Stahl's complete earlier version of the film;
• Douglas Sirk: From UFA to Hollywood (1991): a rare 80-minute documentary by German filmmaker Eckhart Schmidt in which Sirk reflects upon his career;
• Video interviews with filmmakers Allison Anders and Kathryn Bigelow, paying tribute to Sirk;
• Theatrical trailer;
• A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien.