Leave Her to Heaven

Year: 1945
Genre: Drama
Directed: John M. Stahls
Stars: Gee Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, Vincent Price, Mary Philips, Ray Collins, Gene Lockhart, Reed Hadley, Darryl Hickman, Chill Wills
Production: Twentieth Century Fox

Leave Her to Heaven (1945) marked famed Cinematographer Leon Shamroy’s third out of four Academy Awards. Winning first for The Black Swan (1943), he was nominated seventeen times between 1939 and 1966 winning for Wilson (1944) and Cleopatra (1963). Shamroy liked to work almost exclusively in color, using the camera like a brush to paint glorious canvasses of rich hues. Leave Her to Heaven must have been a sight to see back in the day, with its complex sets and outdoor locales. Even today its hyper-naturalistic design is reminiscent of Michael Powell’s Black Narcissus (1947).

Both movies also feature crazy redheads

John M. Stahl’s Leave Her to Heaven also has another thing in common with Black Narcissus; both films delve into the inner psyche of women unable to control their surroundings. Gene Tierney plays Ellen, a doting woman whose recent loss of her father is rectified by a handsome young writer named Richard played by Cornel Wilde. Turning down an engagement to a future district attorney (Vincent Price), Ellen quickly marries her writer and hopes to enjoy an idyllic life by his side. Things change however with the discovery of Danny (Darryl Hickman), Richard’s wheelchair bound younger brother. He, along with her family and Richard’s book begin to take more of his time and Ellen grows frustrated, then downright dangerous.

You know sunscreen is just a scam right Danny?

I sat down and watched Leave Her to Heaven with my girlfriend who became melancholy by the film. She didn’t like it one bit largely because she felt it hit a little to close to home. I assured her she was no Ellen Berent Harland as I doubt she would have it in her to kill (well purposely fail to act in saving one’s life). Still I understand her pensive attitude towards Gene Tierney’s stellar performance.

I feel like she connects to Leave Her to Heaven much like I connect to Taxi Driver (1976). I don’t sit to watch Taxi Driver for the entertainment value or the artistry in the filmmaking. I watch it mainly because it is a disturbing look into the mind of a man isolated by his neurosis and altered perception. While Travis Bickle’s (Robert

DeNiro) disturbing world view is skewed by New York City (as well as his war experience as eluded to in the beginning of the film), Ellen’s perception is twisted by the couples isolated home known as Back of the Moon, as well as the death of her father. In that respect, Ellen isn’t a villain you can’t relate to, nor is a monster that smuggles empathy, Ellen's a kindred spirit; a woman who takes that leap from composure to anger and inches across that line just enough to cause harm, and all for the sake of love; hateful, jealous love.

We see ourselves in the character of popular fiction all the time. Some are purposely designed to be our surrogates and they transfer their emotions and hardships on the audience. We in turn react and feel elation when they finally succeed at the end of the movie or book. But Ellen is a surrogate of a different breed. We sympathize with her plight and when things get dangerous we are forced to face our own dark side. We face our fears, our anger and our prejudices.

In the book of Genesis, God creates man in his image. Consequently, we seem to create everything in ours. But unlike God who has that whole omnipotence thing going for him, we cling to the things we think we can control, like where we live, what we do and who we love, while avoiding things we can’t like death. Yet just like the tides or the wind, life ultimately carries with it a sense of danger and unpredictability. My advice, plan what you can, accept the things you can’t and leave the rest to Heaven.