Film Friday: 'Leave Her To Heaven' directed by John M. Stahl, starring Gene Tierney

In 1944, 20th Century Fox made Laura, turning Gene Tierney into the studio's number one star and setting the ground rules for film noir. Her next film really gave her a chance to show off her talents in what turned out to be one of the most unique noirs ever made: Leave Her To Heaven.

Based on a novel by Ben Ames Williams, Leave Her To Heaven is your typical tale of an obsessed woman who will do whatever she has to in order to get what she wants. Ellen Bernet (Tierney) is a woman with desire, the epitome of the femme fetale. She is in love with novelist Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde) and decides to marry him, jilting lawyer Russell Quinton (Vincent Price) just days before their wedding. She will stop at nothing to make sure that their perfect life together is not interrupted, taking extraordinary measures to ensure that Richard doesn't devote any time to his handicapped brother (Darryl Hickman) or fall in love with her younger sister Ruth (Jeanne Craine).

There are a few aspects of the 1945 production that make it unique, but what really sets it apart is that it was filmed in Technicolor at a time when most dramas were made in black and white. In addition, it was helmed by John M. Stahl, a man better known for Universal's romantic melodramas in the '30s that would be remade by Douglas Sirk in the '50s. (The best of these being Imitation of Life - both Stahl's and Sirk's films are absolutely essential.)

Fox head Daryl Zanuck produced Leave Her To Heaven himself, making sure that no expense was spared. The film features stunning, Oscar-winning cinematography from Leon Shamroy, who captures the beauty of Tierney and the Maine scenery behind her. Kudos also have to be given for the sumptuous production design, which makes even the train car look inviting. This is Hollywood glamour at its finest, which is ironic because that's not the way dramas were made in 1945.

At the time, Technicolor was saved for animated shorts (plus the features Disney was making), expensive musicals and Westerns. So for Stahl and Zanuck to have the guts to make a film noir – the genre B&W was practically made for – in color is a gutsy move. But that doesn't mean that it's absent of really dark, creepy moments. The scene where Tierney is in her rowboat and just watches Richard's brother drown is one of the most disturbing moments in Golden Age Hollywood. Tierney really puts on a show here with that stare of death behind those sunglasses. It's more horrific than anything seen in a Universal monster movie.

Tierney is surrounded by some of the best actors Fox had to offer at the time. While Cornel Wilde deservedly gets bashed for his horrendous performance in The Greatest Show On Earth, he actually reveals himself to be a pretty adept actor alongside Tierney. Then there's Jeanne Crain, Fox's other '40s beauty, and Vincent Price, who takes full control of the film's convoluted trial scene at the end.

By the way, that trial sequence at the end is a little weird. Somebody has to love somebody and another person has to be the fall guy/girl for whatever crimes took place in the previous hour and 40 minutes, per the usual Hollywood convention of the time. There also has to be a happy ending, which doesn't quite make sense, unless you're OK with a guy falling for the sister of his evil dead wife.

Leave Her To Heaven, which takes its title from a line in Hamlet, isn't perfect, mostly because of that last act. But Tierney is one of the essential Hollywood actresses. She earned her one Oscar nomination for this film, but Joan Crawford's stunning performance in Mildred Pierce won that year. Leave Her To Heaven is a prime example of how good Hollywood could be if it took risks, but also what had to happen because of the restrictions at the time.

On Home Video: Leave Her To Heaven is on DVD from Fox and on Blu-ray from Twilight Time. My Blu-ray is in the mail, so I'll add some words on that once it arrives.

You can talk about this film and others at the Film Friday Facebook page. You can check out past Film Friday columns here.

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