Review of Leave Her to Heaven (1945) by Michael L — 30 Mar 2008

The first thing you notice about Leave Her to Heaven is the color. With the bright hues, the perfect lighting and the unblemished actors one gets the sense that they're watching one of the grand MGM musicals of the 1940's. All of this is by design, a ploy to lull you into the illusion that you're witnessing a fairy tale brought to life. And just about the time you've bought into the rich, glamorous visuals, that's when director John Stahl starts to show you glimpses of the dark underbelly of the story. Without giving too much away, there is one climatic scene, when Gene Tierney is in a rowboat in the middle of the lake, when the true darkness of the film is laid bare for the entire world to see. To say it's shocking would be an understatement.

To watch this film is like finding a perfect, brilliantly red, shiny apple. Admiring that apple. Polishing that apple. Imagining how sweet and juicy that apple is going to taste. And then cutting it open only to discover that inside is a worm... not just any worm but a knarly, slimy one. One with an overbite and a pastel wardrobe. Ewwwww!!