A film noir: Leave Her to Heaven

[UTUSN]

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leave_Her_to_Heaven

Leave Her to Heaven

is a 1945 American psychological thriller film noir melodrama[2] directed by John M. Stahl and starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, and Vincent Price. It follows a socialite who marries a prominent novelist, which spurs a violent, obsessive, and dangerous jealousy in her. It is based on the 1944 novel of same name by Ben Ames Williams, adapted by screenwriter Jo Swerling. ....

Shot in Technicolor, filming took place in several locations in California, as well as Arizona and New Mexico[citation needed] in the summer of 1945. Leave Her to Heaven was released in the United States theatrically on December 20, 1945. The film was a box-office hit, grossing over $8 million, and was Twentieth Century-Fox's highest-grossing film of the entire decade.

In the decades following its release, Leave Her to Heaven garnered a cult following and has been the subject of film criticism for its unique blurring of genres, featuring elements of film noir, psychological thrillers, and melodramas. It has also been noted for its numerous visual and narrative references to figures in Greek mythology. The film's title is drawn from William Shakespeare's Hamlet, in which 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." ....

Leave Her to Heaven is often described as the first film noir to be shot in color,[2] although film scholars and critics have characterized the film as a thriller, a melodrama (Walker), a psychological melodrama (Turim), a women's film (Morris), or a romantic drama (Bourget). Scholar Emanuel Levy notes that the film embodies both "conventions of the noir and psychological melodrama," blurring the distinction and resulting in a unique, one-of-a-kind work.[7] ....

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[Baked Potato]

1. One of my all-time favorites... free here:

[UTUSN]

3. Oh wow, *thanks* - will definitely check it out!

[UTUSN]

10. *SAW* it from your link, thanks again!

[Baked Potato]

12. My pleasure!

🤛🏼

[brush]

2. A Film Noir in color?

[montanacowboy]

4. One of my top flicks

ultra beauty Gene T. so consumed by love and possession of her husband, willing to do anything to keep him all to herself including murder. Saw this movie as a kid and never forgot it.

[UTUSN]

5. Thanks for getting the point of everything.

[montanacowboy]

6. Ask me anything about these old movies

I spent every Saturday afternoon at the theater with my Auntie Blanche who took me to see movies I probably never should have seen, but she gave me such an appreciation for movies that has lasted until today.

[UTUSN]

7. What a wonderful legacy for you. Seems like here, explanations are seldom enough.

Last edited Fri Mar 17, 2023, 12:25 AM - Edit history (2)

ON EDIT so as not to Kick. I don't know what counts as spoilers since the summary in Wiki says it all. Just saw the YouTube and it kept the interest going the whole way despite having the summary, perhaps that's the germ of "noir" like The Third Man (one of the only one or couple/three i've seen). I was prepared to have to adjust to people acting in the 1940s, but it was certainly different. I don't think any of the actors blinked in the whole thing. And, yes, it's in color, but manages to convey the noir atmosphere in broad daylight with the creepy water, and Stepford-like mannerisms, horseriding in street formal clothes (men's suits in all activities, women in (tailored?) things and totally coifed and make-up). Besides the unblinking eyes, completely *stylized* lack of physical movement. Really high end rusticity in cabins and country mansions, all with decor out of what-Town&Country? Not to mention that all the furnishings and housekeeping was done without "servants" just by the characters in formal clothes (although actually *doing* the upkeep was never shown). And the courtroom depiction was nothing like what we have now, being *fast* and badgering and somebody put away for two years just on hearsay from himself - all without a single Objection by anybody.

I'll divulge something that will scandalize buffs and connoisseurs - that I couldn't tell the two actresses apart - Gene TIERNEY/Jeanne CRAIN - are their given names a coincidence, I think not!

And the musical score's masterful trait (Alfred NEWMAN) of NOT being *INTRUSIVE* - doing what it should do, not DISTRACT unlike tons of "modern" soundtracks.

Yet, it kept the attention, gripping in a lethal way. I'm usually against remakes, but if SPIELBERG could waste his time remaking West Side Story, maybe this one would be a candidate (by somebody else, not SPIELBERG). Critics of Sinclair LEWIS said he was a crappy writer who had good ideas for being written up - BY SOMEBODY ELSE. (LEWIS had nothing to do with this movie, am making the case for a remake.)

I haven't seen a full movie in years, have fallen asleep in the few attempts, but this one kept me interested while both it and I were distanced. (What I view now are YouTubes of history/biography/talk-news, 20 minutes each tops, seldom anything an hour or more in length.)

[XanaDUer2]

8. Great movie

Saw it in France in 92. It was great to, for a change, know the film's original language and not need subtitles!

Love when she rides out to spread her father's ashes

[panader0]

9. And Ray Collins---Lt Tragg inPerry Mason. I will watch.

[UTUSN]

11. And he looked just about as old in this 1945 movie as in Perry Mason!1