I know im not alone in the opinion that foxs top grossing film of the 40s, john stahls leave her to heaven is one of the all time great technicolor movies. The costars almost faded in the background at times in comparison to tierneys performance. These themes collide in leave her to heaven, the oddly sunny dramaturned film noir directed by. Cozying up to film noir across the spectrum the lady from shanghai and leave her to heaven are ideal isolation viewing. This is a chilling work that lies beneath a facade of sirkian splendor. Is the film, leave her to heaven 1945 a film noir or a. Leave her to heaven 1945 not rated drama, film noir, romance, thriller. On femininity as a prison in laura and leave her to heaven, a great noir double feature the images from 1940s film noir that stick with us so often exist in darkness. Naturally, the supremely filmic, highly saturated technicolor was avoided for the majority of golden age noir. Leave her to heaven is far from perfect but its sudsy romance turned sour and discerning film noir elements build up a strong. Leave her to heaven 1945 pj on september 6, 20 at 2.
In this technicolor film noir masterpiece, gene tierney stars as one of cinemas most dangerous and sympathetic femmes fatales, a woman who finds it impossible to conform to postwar gender roles. Leave her to heaven criterion collection, dvd, full frame, restored, special edition, subtitled, drama, mystery suspense, 715515242912. Stahls leave her to heaven is a technicolor marvel, with gene tierney delivering her finest performance ever in all its bipolar glory. Leave her to heaven has many points of interest in its favor, but one thing that always seems to come up is that its routinely described as a film noir, despite the apparently automatic disqualification of being shot in welllit technicolor. The archetypal possessive femme fatale of film noir, ellen leaves a trail of death in her wake. Gene tierney, cornel wilde, jeanne crain, vincent price, darryl hickman release.
Though rooted in some of the conventions of the noir and psychological melodrama genres, leave her to heaven is a one of a kind work. Stahl, blazing technicolor cinematography by leon shamroy, and a chilling performance by tierney, whose ellen is a femme fatale unlike any other. In leave her to heaven, gene tierney, who had the title role in otto preminger s classic 1944 blackandwhite film noir laura, stars as ellen, a beautiful woman who falls madly and i mean madly in love with a novelist wilde. Gene tierney, cornel wilde, jeanne crain, with vincent price, darryl hickman, and chill wills. Written by jo swerling, based on the 1944 novel by ben ames williams. But her obsessive love for him threatens to be the undoing of them both, and everyone else around them. A writer falls in love with a young socialite and theyre soon married. That noted, there seems to be some misinformation regarding the transfer. Leave her to heaven criterion collection full frame. So this just shot straight through the upper echelons of film noirs for me. At the time these movies were actually being made in hollywood they were simply known as.
The new criterion bluray solves a single problem, which is availability of the twilight time original. Recently on twitter, i was asked if classic film noir can be in color. If laura represents noir in the vein of the perfect, albeit disturbing, male fantasy, leave her to heaven uses the genre to construct the ultimate male nightmare. The story was adapted for the screen by jo swerling, having been based on the best selling novel of the same name authored by ben ames williams. Leave her to heaven is a 1945 american technicolor film noir starring gene tierney, cornel wilde, jeanne crain, with vincent price, darryl hickman, ray collins, and. Stahl, blazing technicolor cinematography by leon shamroy, and a chilling performance by tierney, whose ellen is a femme fatale unlike any othera woman whose love is. Leave her to heaven 1945, an unsettling psychological noir thriller and lush technicolored melodrama from director john m. On femininity as a prison in laura and leave her to.
Stahl and starring gene tierney, cornel wilde, jeanne crain, and. Foster hirsch, the dean of film noir leave her to heaven monday, march 23 at 7. Cornel wilde was a good foil for her as her unsuspecting husband, richard hartman. Actress ruth chatterton made her first appearance on broadway in fifteen years. It follows a socialite who marries a prominent novelist, which spurs a violent, obsessive, and dangerous jealousy in her.
According to variety, leave her to heaven was the second highestgrossing film of the year, a blockbuster by todays standards. Its claim to fame is an audacious storyline that would only be allowed by the production code in the wake of double indemnity, the film that finally broke the dam visavis. A writer falls in love with a young socialite and they are married soon after, but her obsessive love for him threatens to be the undoing of both. Ive seen the film a number of times before, but never on the big screen, so this was a. As it was raining very hard last night and there was really nothing to do but go to a movie, i decided to go to the classic movie theater and watch the film leave her to heaven, starring gene tierney, one of the most spectacularly beautiful actresses ever onscreen who does not get the credit she deserves. A singular hollywood masterpiece that draws freely from the womens picture and film noir alike, leave her to heaven boasts elegant direction by melodrama. As film noirs go, leave her to heaven is perhaps one of the most disturbing. Leave her to heaven exists at the fascinating intersection between film noir and several other genres. This movie is about the rare breed of human who has feelings for no one, consumed by their own selfish desires. A singular hollywood masterpiece that draws freely from the womens picture and film noir alike, leave her to heaven boasts elegant direction by melodrama specialist john m. The new criterion bluray package includes a halfhour long interview with critic imogen sara smith about stahl, the directors previous womens pictures, his visual signatures, how film noir connects to melodrama, and an analysis of tierneys performance in leave her to heaven, as well as the cinematography and production design. Stahls leave her to heaven is a technicolor marvel, with gene tierney.
Leave her to heavens cast is comprised of superb players from fox inhouse roster, especially vincent price, who tended to excel at cold, arrogant shits, or in this case, a scorned exfiance who uses his position as a district attorney to personally prosecute the man who stole his wife, and blemished his social standing at the time. Leave her to heaven is a 1945 american film noir about a writer who falls in love with a young socialite and theyre soon married. The criterion collections bluray of leave her to heaven is listed as a new 2k digital restoration by twentieth century fox, the academy film archive, and the film foundation. A technicolor film noir may seem to be a contradiction in terms, but its that sort of disinterest in convention that helps ensure leave her to heaven is as memorable as it is. Stunning 1940s pinup gene tierney stars as ellen, a scheming psychopath who has a problem with jealously. After an intense bidding war, studio head darryl f. The hays office was created as a reaction to the dark, mature wave of film making and then ww2 delayed realistic moving making for a short time. Ive compared it with the earlier, out of print twilight time disc from 20. Directed with confidence and a rare precision, leave her to heaven at no point feels like a movie ive watched time and again, continuing to remain uniquely compelling.
The term film noir was coined back in 1946 by a french movie critic, but it didnt come into common usage in america until the 1970s. In 1945, at the end of wwii, a cycle of films known as film noir dealt with the issues of obsession, addiction, and jealousy, including the lost weekend, mildred pierce, spellbound, the picture of dorian gray, the woman in the window, and leave her to heaven. Leave her to heaven letterboxd social film discovery. Leave her to heaven novel by ben ames williams director. Leave her to heaven is a 1945 american psychological thriller film noir directed by john m. One of the most intensely cruel and lurid film noir ever made, john stahls excessive melodrama features gene tierney in an oscar nominated performances as a coldblooded murderess. Not rated 1h 50min drama, filmnoir, romance january 1946 usa. This article is part of the the film noir blogathon hosted by the midnite drivein. Stahl and starring gene tierney, cornel wilde, jeanne crain, and vincent price. Leave her to heaven is a 1940 play by the british writer john van druten. Twilight time does it again with the release of the 1945 melodrama film noir leave her to heaven ive had this on my tcm top 12 since april, and im glad i waited for the bluray release which lovingly preserves and enhances the threestrip technicolor process. Leave her to heaven dvd, 2005 for sale online ebay. This is important, as leave her to heaven is an important film, that should be available. Leave her to heaven1945 twentieth century fox110 min.
In the less witty leave her to heaven, tierney herself plays the. As most classic movie fans know, film noir was a genre that thrived in the shadows. Set in england, it was based on a reallife story about a woman who took her older husbands chauffer as a lover, only for the younger. This may explain why it has become a cult movie, frequently shown in retrospectives film forum showed a new restored print a year ago and festivals.
With gene tierney, cornel wilde, jeanne crain, vincent price. Stahl, was based on the recentlywritten novel by bestselling author ben ames williams. Leave her to heaven shows a glossy new strand of film noir. Leave her to heaven was at the vanguard of film noir and the result of the lost generation of writers coming out of ww1 and being the core of serious movie scripts in hollywood. Leave her to heaven 1945 720p gene tierney, cornel wilde. It premiered at the longacre theatre on broadway on 27 february 1940. As part of the academy of motion picture arts and sciences gold standard series, the academy foundation will present the premiere of the newly restored film noir leave her to heaven on friday, april 20, at 8 p. Of course, there were mixedup families all along and melodrama was nothing new joan crawford won the best actress oscar for.
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