Leave Her To Heaven 1945 -Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, Vincent Price

️ BEST MOVIE EVER!!!!!️ Does anybody have any recommendations of similar movies?? ️ ️ ️

There is not a technicolor film quite like this one that I know of. The style, the quality of acting. I think this is a one of a kind film because of Gene Tierney! I have a LOT of film noir - I try to make a post when I find something particularly interesting, so scroll down my posts and hopefully you will find some good recommendations. I am making a list...

Have you seen Out Of The Past?

I haven't seen this yet! I'm gonna watch it now! Thanks so much!!!

OMGGGG!!!! That was soooooooo good! (Out of the Past) Ty! Ty! Ty!! ️️

Yes!! I knew you would love it - truly a classic if there ever was one!!

Ellen always wins." is what Ray Collins says to Richard Harlen (Cornel Wilde) when she wins a swimming contest against two small children in what could be a foreshadowing of what was to come. In 1945, the critics and the public both agreed that Leave Her To Heaven was a Tour-De-force for Gene Tierney. She had never looked so ravishing onscreen before. Tierney has this other worldly quality about her that makes her performance as Ellen Berent who loved a little too much all the more real. The success of Leave Her to Heaven belongs foremost to Gene Tierney. She had this preternatural ability to be alluring and icy at the same time not too many people can balance that out. Tierney could change emotional colors with a magnificent yet subtle clarity. Wasn’t she sweet and warm a moment ago? Maybe, but now she’s ready to do harm. She was at the top of her game in Leave Her to Heaven, and alongside Laura, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Heaven Can Wait, Whirlpool and The Razor’s Edge, she amassed a list of credits to stack against any others of the late 1940s. It all adds up to the intriguing enigma that was this woman's greatest attraction. Her appeal which intrigued from the start never totally disappeared. In the film The Ghost And Mrs. Muir (1947, 20th Century-Fox) who else could be so believably be in love with a ghost then Gene Tierney. Leave Her To Heaven is Tierney's finest hour it was a role and a film that suited her to perfection. Tierney underplays the role of Ellen Berent understandably giving us a chilling portrayal of evil on film like no other for it contains one of cinema’s greatest monsters, where Tierney is driven to destruction with such a single-minded, inhuman ferocity that it seems downright supernatural. Technicolor loved Gene Tierney, showcasing not only her enchanted and flawless beauty but also the currents of thought and passion pulsing behind that exquisite mask. But its her knowing mother played by Mary Phillips that sums up Ellen with this quote, “There’s nothing wrong with Ellen. It’s just that she loves too much." The title of the novel and film was from Shakespeare's Hamlet. In Act I, Scene V, the Ghost urges Hamlet not to seek vengeance against Queen Gertrude, but rather to "leave her to heaven, and to those thorns that in her bosom lodge to prick and sting her. "The film opens with novelist Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde) coming home after two years in prison. Most of the film is told through extensive flashback, detailing Richard’s relationship with the beautiful socialite Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney). After the war when film noir was gaining in popularity most were always filmed in black-and-white and to see one done in full glorious Technicolor was unusual to say the least. Scenes are filled with warm, natural (or natural-looking) light, evenly diffused and softened with vague leafy shadows or watery reflections. Much of the film was shot outdoors, far from dark alleys and cheap apartments, in the spectacular scenery of Arizona and the Sierra Nevada Mountains (standing in for Jacinto, New Mexico and Bar Harbor, Maine). The color palette though luminous and rich is tastefully subdued: beige and sandstone and terra cotta, dark pine-greens, silvery blues, and peachy skin tones are used.

For instance, the film lives largely in daytime and sunlight as opposed to the night and rain we are accustomed to in the black-and-white noir films. Also, the film takes advantage of its color photography by setting the action in beautiful non-urban environments of cottages and lakes. Leave Her To Heaven was made in an era when the costly Technicolor process was typically reserved for musicals and historical epics since it added much to the budget of the film. The scene that shocked 1945 audiences back then still packs a pretty good punch. The scene depicts Ellen in a row boat as she watches her husband’s crippled brother Danny drown just a few feet from her. In a state of trance, she becomes a pure object–she is as cold, impassive, and frozen as a marbled statue. It’s impossible not to notice the smooth, marble planes of Tierney’s face and the clothes she wears.The absence of background music and the natural sounds ofthe outdoors make the sequence feel even more realistic.Ellen’s deviance is monstrously frightening, because she commits murder by taking an active inaction rather than engaging in an act of violent killing. Her blank expression and statue-like posture are underlined by her heart-shaped sunglasses, which conceal not only her eyes but also her soul. Tierney's costumes, by Kay Nelson, perfectly characterize Ellen with a feminine yet oddly antiseptic wardrobe of quilted satin pajamas, fitted lace peignoirs, and a monogrammed white pantsuit ensemble, sumptuous fur coats, sheath dresses and wide shouldered blouses, to wide-bottomed trousers and checked shirts, which embodied the idea of 1940’s high fashion. Leon Shamroy won an Academy Award for Best Color Cinematography for Leave Her to Heaven. With eighteen Academy Award nominations and four wins, Shamroy was among the most celebrated cinematographers of the Hollywood studio era, admired for his meticulous craftsmanship, technical virtuosity, and especially for his mastery of color. He was the reigning Director of Photography at 20th Century-Fox for three decades. Shamroy’s other Academy Award wins were for: The Black Swan (1942, 20th Century-Fox), Wilson (1944, 20th Century-Fox), and Cleopatra (1963, 20th Century-Fox). The decision by 20th Century-Fox to film Leave Her to Heaven in color indicates the prestige of the source novel, a 1944 best-seller by Ben Ames Williams, and the studio’s desire to showcase Gene Tierney’s beauty. The film was made by one of the melodrama genre’s greatest directors, John M. Stahl, who directed the original versions of Imitation of Life (1934, Universal) and Magnificent Obsession (1935, Universal), both films were later remade by another melodrama maestro, Douglas Sirk. In many of Stahl’s features, the heroines are super - real individuals, frustrated by their dull surroundings and unimaginative men. Society might see these women as unnatural and mentally ill, but Stahl perceives them as strong, provocative, and unfulfilled. In 1945, Tierney competed for the Best Actress Academy Award with Joan Crawford who won for Mildred Pierce, Ingrid Bergman in “The Bells of St. Mary’s,” Greer Garson in “The Valley of Decision,” and Jennifer Jones in “Love Letters.”

Wow!!!! I'm in awe! You have such a vast array of knowledge and of your writing talent!! Awesome info, ty for taking the time to share all of this!