Why William Faulkner called this 1957 drama the best adaptation of his work

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Douglas Sirk’s The Tarnished Angels was dismissed by critics upon release, yet it remains a masterclass in artistic ambition. Adapted from Faulkner’s Pylon, the film captures the desperate, itinerant lives of Great Depression-era barnstormers. Despite a lukewarm box office, it is now celebrated as one of Sirk’s most sophisticated, haunting creations.

The Tarnished Angels, released in 1957, follows the lives of Roger Shumann, a disillusioned World War I flying ace, and his wife LaVerne. Set during the Great Depression, the story depicts their nomadic existence as they travel to rural airshows. The narrative tension escalates when a reporter, Burke Devlin, becomes fascinated by their lifestyle, leading to a complex web of moral compromise, neglect, and tragic consequences. The film was directed by Douglas Sirk, who had long admired the source material, William Faulkner’s 1935 novel Pylon.

The production process was marked by creative friction. Sirk, having previously collaborated with producer Albert Zugsmith on Written on the Wind, secured the project by leveraging the success of his earlier work. While the studio, Universal-International, lacked confidence in the story—forcing Sirk to shoot in black and white—the director successfully resisted the pressure to include a conventional happy ending. Instead, he opted for a somber, realistic conclusion. The title itself was a last-minute invention by a salesman, chosen after Sirk rejected the studio’s preferred, sensationalist title, Sex in the Air.

Initial critical reception was harsh. Reviewers like Bosley Crowther of The New York Times and the trade publication Variety panned the film, labeling the acting absurd and the script lacking in punch. However, the film has undergone a significant critical reappraisal. Modern scholars and critics, such as Dave Kehr and the writers at TV Guide, now praise the film for its microscopic subtlety, bravura filmmaking, and emotional depth. Remarkably, William Faulkner himself considered it the finest screen adaptation of his literary work, a testament to Sirk’s ability to capture the essence of the characters while adapting the narrative for the screen.

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