Gene Tierney As A Psycho Narcissist???????????? Darlings, You Have GOT To See "Leave Her To Heaven!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                                                                    

                                  Having seen this film awhile ago, I had forgotten how good it was.

                                  Long before Glenn Close was born, long before anyone ever heard of Alex Forrest, there was Gene Tierney as Ellen Berent, and what a piece of work she is.  Of course, when you look as stunning as Gene Tierney--and who wouldn't want to look like this, girls????????--you can get away with almost anyth9ng.

                                      The funny thing is Ellen's mother, played by Mary Phillips and her adopted sister, played by Jeanne Crain, seem to have Ellen's number but think nothing of warning Cornell Wilde, who gets trapped in her web.  Mrs. Berent, Ellen's mother, says her problem is "Ellen loves too much."  That is the picture's understatement.  She gloms on to men and psychologically, if not physically, sucks them dry, like a black widow spider.

                                          This was a daring film to present to a 1945 audience, but it must have worked, because it earned Tierney her only Oscar nomination.  She lost to Joan Crawford in "Mildred Pierce, another film that has GOT to be dealt with on here!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                            But there is another star besides Gene Tierney in the film, and that is the rich color cinematography of Leon Shamroy.  He was one of the top cinematographers at Twentieth, and he personally photographed Jennifer Jones' screen test for "The Song Of Bernadette," as well as having been married to one of that film's co-stars, Mary Anderson.  See?  It all comes back to 'Bernadette.'

                                                The outdoor scenes of the lake are breathtaking, and the carefully lit interiors highlight each mood of the story.  John M. Stahl's direction saves this from being sheer camp, but he does not manage to restrain Vincent Price, who, as Russel Quinton, Ellen's ex, and now an attorney, overacts all over the place in a courtroom scene unlike any on "Law And Order."

                                                    Otherwise, Stahl has done a marvelous examination of a troubled woman, and the consequences thereof, which include two children being murdered.  Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                        But that title, "Leave Her To Heaven" is questionable.  Heaven has no place for Ellen Berent.  Satan is roasting a spit in Hell just for her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                           Oh, girls, don't be Ellen Berent, but let's all try to get our hair and wardrobe like Gene Tierney here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!