Leave Her to Heaven

Hers was the deadliest of the seven deadly sins!

Based on the 1944 novel of the same name by Ben Ames Williams, Leave Her to Heaven is a 1945 film starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, and Vincent Price. This is an odd one because it can be considered a film of different genres. Some see it as a film noir and one of the first film noirs shot in colour. Some may call this a psychological thriller or maybe simply a drama. For me, this movie is perhaps a psychodrama/film noir as it intertwines obsessive and dangerous jealousy along with a bit of violent behavior. What would be your thoughts? Read on...

As the film begins, Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney), a wealthy socialite from Boston, travels by train with her mother (Mary Philips) and her cousin, Ruth (Jeanne Crain), to New Mexico to spread her father’s ashes per his wishes. While traveling, she meets novelist Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde), and is immediately drawn to him as he strikingly resembles her deceased father to whom she had an obsessive attachment.

Ellen and Richard meet on the train

When they arrive in New Mexico, Richard and Ellen discover they are both staying at the same home of mutual friends. Their new attraction to each other is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Ellen’s fiancé, attorney Russell Quinton (Vincent Price). In the presence of Richard and Russell, Ellen makes an out-of-the-blue announcement that she and Richard are going to be married right away which comes as a total surprise to Richard. Of course, Russell Quinton is a bit surprised as well!

Ellen, Ruth, and mother arrive in New Mexico; Ellen tells Russell she's going marry Richard; Ellen and Richard

So, Ellen and Richard get married and then stay at his lodge on a lake in northern Maine. Their domestic life is palatable at first, but it becomes gradually apparent that she is pathologically jealous of anyone and anything Richard cares about, including his family and his writing career.