I love Gene Tierney. I love Gene Tierney so much that there's a chance I start every review of any Gene Tierney movie by stating my love for her. It doesn't make it any less true though. I've seen a fair few Gene Tierney movies, but there have been some blind spots that I should have seen long before now. Thankfully, I have friends to remind me of the many movies that I should make a priority, and last week I was told that I should definitely fit Leave Her To Heaven into my viewing schedule.
Tierney plays the beautiful and captivating Ellen Berent, a woman who captures the heart of a writer named Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde). Things move along quickly, a bit too quickly for the ex-fiance of Ellen, Russell Quinton (Vincent Price), and it's not long until the happy couple are living in wedded bliss. Well, there's the happy couple and Danny (Darryl Hickman), the polio-crippled younger brother of Richard. Ellen doesn't like to share though, and that isn't necessarily a good thing for a healthy relationship. It's also not a good thing for those who may take up some of the time and attention of her husband.
Based on a novel by Ben Ames Williams, Leave Her To Heaven is a good enough story that it would have been a great film in many different forms. It's directed well by John M. Stahl, who shows the right amount of confidence in the screenplay and his stars, and the writing from Jo Swerling does well to move viewers from a fairly standard opening act to the wild and heightened melodrama of the finale.
Nobody really puts a foot wrong in front of the camera, although Hickman has to lean into the vulnerable and innocent "patient" persona as he tests the patience of Tierney's character. Speaking of Tierney, she conveys her willpower and steely resolve so well that it's easy to imagine her carrying the whole movie on her own. She essentially plays someone who is truly monstrous, but the edges are softened slightly by the fact that she's, well, Gene Tierney. She's ably supported by Wilde (even if he has to be a bit of a damn squib), a delightful Jeanne Crain, and a suave Price. There are a few other people populating this tale, but that central quartet is the reason for it being such a memorable and enjoyable experience.
While I wouldn't place this alongside the absolute best Tierney films you could watch, that's only due to other specific titles setting a very high bar indeed. This would definitely be jostling with a few others just below the very best though, and it's certainly something you come away from with no questions about why it is so highly thought of. The runtime may be a bit longer than most noirs from this era, it's 110 minutes, and the bright colours may seem incompatible with the growing darkness of the plot, but don't let either of those things put you off. This is a classic. I'd love to spend much more time picking out specific highlights, but that would ruin the experience for anyone else yet to get around to it.
9/10
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