Leave Her to Heaven (1945)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

John M. Stahl

Writers:

Jo Swerling (screenplay)
Ben Ames Williams (novel)

Release Date:

20 December 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

Hers was the deadliest of the seven sins.

Plot:

Writer Richard Harland unhesitatingly marries lovely Ellen Berent. He soon finds his life blighted when...

Plot Keywords:

Writer | Jealousy | Train | Beautiful Woman | Love

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Gene Tierney	...	Ellen Berent Harland
Cornel Wilde	...	Richard Harland
Jeanne Crain	...	Ruth Berent
Vincent Price	...	Russell Quinton
Mary Philips	...	Mrs. Berent
Ray Collins	...	Glen Robie
Gene Lockhart	...	Dr. Saunders
Reed Hadley	...	Dr. Mason
Darryl Hickman	...	Danny Harland
Chill Wills	...	Leick Thome
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Guy Beach	...	Sheriff (unconfirmed)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | UK:U | Canada:PG (video rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #11042)

Filming Locations:

Bass Lake, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The original choice for the role of Ellen was Rita Hayworth, who turned it down

Goofs:

Factual errors: There is no legal way that Cornel Wilde's character Richard Harland could have been sentenced as an accomplice after the fact, for the crimes his wife had committed. Under the law he couldn't testify against his spouse, and was not under legal obligation to report on her.

Quotes:

Russell Quinton: I loved you. And I'm still in love with you.
Ellen Berent Harland: That's a tribute.
Russell Quinton: And I always will be. Remember that.
Ellen Berent Harland: Russ, is that a threat?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "M*A*S*H: House Arrest (#3.18)" (1975)

Soundtrack:

Deedle Deedle Dum Dum

Rainbow noir...

Can a film noir be effective in glorious colour or is that a contradiction in terms? Anyway I found this lesser-known thriller to be as exciting and involving as any other black-and-white-mean-streets scenario that the 40's threw up. Tightly plotted, well acted and above all, beautifully photographed, I was gripped from first to last. My only caveats might have been the "framing" device of Cornel Wilde's lawyer's top-and-tail introduction and epilogue, which just takes away a little of the dramatic tension, an over-intrusive musical score, particularly at Wilde and Tierney's first "strangers on a train" meeting and also the fact that more wasn't made of the conclusion of the otherwise tautly drawn crucial trial scene. The acting is top-rate, with no discernible weak links. Wilde, as the duped author, shows hidden depths to his handsome exterior, Crain, in a sub De-Havilland part modulates her performance winningly as her character's importance to the plot develops and Vincent Price is absolutely excellent as Tierney's abandoned fiancé, a lawyer on the make who convincingly destroys Wilde and Crain in his vengeful piece-de-resistance as the prosecuting counsel. What a shame he was later reduced to his stereotype cackling mad-man persona of seemingly dozens of horror films. He's a revelation here, almost stealing the movie in said trial scene where he's made to recite long pieces of staccato dialogue which he delivers pitch-perfect. Gene Tierney, of course, is enthralling in the pivotal role of the possessed / possessive Ellen, who uses her obvious beauty and sophistication to ensnare Wilde, before taking off into psychopath territory, which sees her effectively kill Wilde's disabled but adored younger brother and devise an almost perfect beyond-the-grave trap for Wilde and Crain to fall into. Great as all these pluses are, I keep coming back to the cinematography which captures like no other film I've ever seen tones of radiant beauty in almost every shot, both interior and exterior. In fact all I can say to finish is that I could find very little to fault this glorious but unheralded example of the golden age of Hollywood.