Leave Her to Heaven

USA, 1945
Length
110 minutes
Director
John M. Stahl
Cast
  • Gene Tierney
  • Cornel Wilde
  • Jeanne Crain

Content

On a visit to friends in New Mexico, writer Richard Harland is introduced to beautiful, headstrong
socialite Ellen Berent, who he has met on the train. He finally succumbs to her desire to marry
him. But Ellen’s possessiveness puts a crimp in their life, as she begrudges the attention Richard
shows his disabled brother and even her own sister, Ruth. As Ellen’s jealousy turns pathological,
she accuses her husband of being in love with Ruth. Ellen wants Richard all to herself and she’ll
stop at nothing to achieve that end … Arguably the first film noir made in colour. Film professor Scott
Higgins described the hapless hero as “chromatically overwhelmed” upon first seeing Ellen on a
train; her aqua eyes perfectly match the train’s decor, awakening Richard’s cravings. Later, he will
be surrounded by the same colour in the courtroom. The Technicolor camerawork does a masterly
job of stoking the tension between the overt and the subtext. White robes are an early warning sign
of Ellen’s chilling iciness, while the red of her lips signalizes her erotic abandon. Douglas Sirk was
influenced by the film, Martin Scorsese is a fan, and echoes of it can be seen in Todd Haynes’ Far
from Heaven.
 

Gallery

Credits

Original title
Leave Her to Heaven