Leave Her to Heaven (1945)

A writer meets a young socialite on board a train. The two fall in love and are married soon after, but her obsessive love for him threatens to be the undoing of both them and everyone else around them.

Director:

John M. Stahl

Writers:

Jo Swerling (screenplay), Ben Ames Williams (novel)

Stars:

Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain

Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

Novelist Richard Harland and socialite Ellen Berent meet on a train to New Mexico. They are immediately attracted to each other, soon fall in love and decide to get married, about which everyone they know is happy except Ellen's fiancé back home, politician Russell Quinton. However, Richard and Ellen's love for each other is different than that of the other as Ellen demonstrates in the manner which she tells everyone of their impending marriage. Ellen's love for Richard is an obsessive, possessive one, much like the love she had for her now deceased father, who Richard physically resembles. Ellen wants Richard all to herself and resents anyone who even remotely takes a place in his life and heart, even if his love for that person is not a romantic one. These people include most specifically Richard's physically disabled teen-aged brother Danny Harland, Ellen's own adopted sister Ruth Berent, and a young man neither has gotten a chance to really know yet. After time, Richard learns to ...

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Plot Keywords:

love | train | writer | lake | jealousy | 

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Taglines:

Hers was the deadliest of the seven sins.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 December 1945 (USA)

Also Known As:

Que el cielo la juzgue

Filming Locations:

Bass Lake, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title is taken from a line from William Shakespeare's "Hamlet".

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Goofs

Ellen's method of scattering her father's ashes (flinging the urn from side to side during a horseback ride through the desert) would leave both her and the horse covered in her father's remains.

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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?

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

"Deedle Deedle Dum Dum"
Sung by Chill Wills and Darryl Hickman

User Reviews

Color Time Travel - A film that must be experienced on the Big Screen

No one can watch this without remembering Gene Tierney's searing blue eyes, Jeanne Crain's face of innocence, or Cornel Wilde (lightyears from The Naked Prey) here looking like a photo of Pierre & Gilles come to life. It's 110 minutes of color-time-travel basking in the surreally saturated Technicolor palette of the mid 40's.

For those who have been denied the experience of watching the recently restored version with a rapt audience on a big screen as happened April 26, 2008 at San Francisco's Castro Theatre, I can only hope you'll contact a film preservation-minded theater in your area.

Though I've watched this film on DVD, nothing prepared me for the impact of the big screen. The closeups alone will take your breath away.

Is it melodrama or is it noir?--leave that to Heaven!