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Leave Her to Heaven (1945)

Rate: 4
Viewed: 8/26

LeaveHeav
8/26: Martin Scorsese remarked, "Gene Tierney is one of the most underrated actresses of the Golden Era."

That's a laugh! No matter how beautiful Gene Tierney was, she couldn't act, bringing a new meaning to the word: "wooden." Case in point: Leave Her to Heaven. Everything about it is utterly impossible: the clothes, the makeup that's punctuated by the flawless red lipstick, the hair, the settings, and the maintenance of such lavish properties without servants. Despite the beautiful cinematography which rightfully won an Oscar, the story never comes together in the logical sense.

Nothing happens during the first hour. All characters are lifeless Therefore, it's safe to fast-forward the film. Unfortunately, there's not much improvement in the next fifty minutes with the exception of Vincent Price. I thought he, a valuable asset, was wasted early on but stole the show during the trial, putting two bland thespians to shame: Gene Tierney and Cornel Wilde. Let's be real: shouldn't the district attorney recuse himself because he knew the deceased intimately?

The ending of Cornel Wilde and Jeanne Crain embracing each other is super weird because they look like father and daughter. In reality, they were thirteen years apart in age. Plus, their love was never manifested for once throughout the film. Cornel Wilde's chemistry with Gene Tierney is nil, too. The following trivia is taken from IMDb:

"For the proposal scene, Cornel Wilde had trouble reacting convincingly to Gene Tierney's advances, but each time they did a take the crew was so impressed, they whistled at her. Finally, John M. Stahl said to Wilde, 'They all seem to understand how the scene should be played. Why can't you?'"

All in all, with the exception of photography, Leave Her to Heaven is superficial.