returned to the producer) of $4.3 million () in North America alone. Critical reception Alan Brien, reviewing the film for the Evening Standard following its British release in October 1956, commented on its glossy appearance, writing: "All of the characters in Written on the Wind talk like, act like, and even look like the characters in a woman's magazine serial. The men have the same improbably over-bronzed, regular faces, and wear the same outsized draped suits so dear to the heart of fiction illustrators." In his review in The New York Times upon the initial release of the film, Bosley Crowther said: "The trouble with this romantic picture ... is that nothing really happens, the complications within the characters are never clear and the sloppy, self-pitying fellow at the center of the whole thing is a bore." Variety praised the "outspoken drama" and said: "Intelligent use of the flashback technique ... builds immediate interest and expectancy without diminishing plot punch. Tiptop scripting ... dramatically deft direction ... and sock performances by the cast add a zing to the characters that pays off in audience interest. Hudson scores ... [Stack], in one of his best performances, draws a compelling portrait of a psychotic man ruined by wealth and character weaknesses.... Malone hits a career high as the completely immoral sister." On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of 31 reviews are positive, and the average rating is 7.7/10. On Metacritic — which assigns a weighted mean score — the film has a score of 86 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Accolades Home media The Criterion Collection released Written on the Wind on DVD on June 29, 2001. Criterion released a remastered 2K Blu-ray edition of the film on February 1, 2022. Legacy In 1998, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called the film "a perverse and wickedly funny melodrama in which you can find the seeds of Dallas, Dynasty, and all the other primetime soaps. Sirk is the one who established their tone, in which shocking behavior is treated with passionate solemnity, while parody burbles beneath.... To appreciate a film like Written on the Wind probably takes more sophistication than to understand one of Ingmar Bergman's masterpieces, because Bergman's themes are visible and underlined, while with Sirk, the style conceals the message. His interiors are wildly over the top, and his exteriors are phony—he wants you to