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| Dvdivas
was founded by John Gabbard in 2000. It's purpose has been and
remains to be to provide you, the entertainment community with
the latest dvds and movie reviews. It will continue to be your
link to the most popular dvd movies. |
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“Leave
Her To Heaven”
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Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Drama |
| Video: |
1.33:1 full
screen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
2.0, 1.0 |
| Languages |
English,
Spanish |
| Subtitles |
English,
Spanish |
| Length |
110 minutes
|
| Rating |
NR |
| Release Date |
2/1/05 |
| Studio |
20th Century
Fox Home Entertainment |
| Commentary:
|
by Darryl
Hickman and Film Critic Richard Schickel |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
Two Vintage newsreels:
Film Premiere and Oscar Presentations |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Theatrical trailer plus
trailers for the Studios Classics Series including In Old Chicago,
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Snake pit, The Three Faces
of Eve |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
Restoration
comparison, Stills gallery |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Gene Tierney,
Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, Vincent Price, Darryl Hickman, Ray
Collins |
| Written
By: |
Jo Swerling
based on the novel by Ben Ames Williams |
| Produced
By: |
William A.
Bacher |
| Directed
By: |
John M. Stahl |
| Music:
|
Alfred Newman
-- |
| The
Review: |
A fascinating film noir suspense
thriller that’s part of Fox’s Academy Awards series of DVD
releases (the film won for its beautiful color cinematography
by Leon Shamroy), “Leave Her to Heaven” was one of the earliest
(and rare) film noirs in color. Writer Richard Harland (Cornel
Wilde) meets Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney) on a train (shades
of “Strangers on a Train”!) to Maine. He falls in love with
her and marries her. Shortly after their marriage a number
of tragedies happen to Harland ncluding the death of his brother
and the loss of his son. Soon Harland begins to suspect that
his wife may be mentally unbalanced and is behind these deaths.
---
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| Image
and Sound: |
Featuring
a wonderful restoration by Fox, “Leave Her to Heaven” looks
positively yummy with the deep, rich Technicolor hues so common
to films of the period. A comparison between an earlier film
transfer demonstrates the amount of work that went into cleaning
up the print, enhancing the fading color from the negative and
improving the clarity and sharpness of the images. The soundtrack
has also been restored with a nice stereo mix of the original
sound elements (you can hear the original mono mix by for comparison
sake on a second audio track). |
| The
Extras: |
We get
two brief Movietone newsreels concerning the premiere of the
movie with lots of shots of stars from the era and a staged
sequence where the Academy Awards are presented to winners
for their Fox films by Bob Hope. There’s also the original
theatrical trailer and a restoration comparison giving the
viewer an ideas as to how much work went into color correcting
and improving the image. ---
|
| Commentary:
|
We get an
audio commentary by child actor Darryl Hickman who appeared
in the film and Film Critic Richard Schnickel from Time Magazine.
It’s clear that the two were recorded separately as there isn’t
any interaction which is too bad as I think Hickman’s rambling
(but interesting) commentary would have benefited from Schnickel’s
knowledgeable questions about the era and the film. Hickman
comments on everything from growing up as a child actor in Hollywood
(including telling us about his friendship with the late Roddy
MacDowall, Elizabeth Taylor and Shirley Temple), working on
the movie, his first date (arranged by his best friend MacDowall
because Hickman was too shy to ask Elizabeth Taylor himself)
and orking with the various producers/directors throughout his
career. Schnickel’s comments range from a discussion of the
actors in the film and their careers (his observations about
Cornel Wilde are particularly interesting. His comments about
Wilde’s “innocence” as an actor and how that also benefited
the unusual movies he directed later including “The Naked Prey”
are also quite interesting) and the trials that Academy Award
winning actress Gene Tierney (best known for the film “Laura”)
faced when she suffered from depression and sought shock treatment
in the 50’s are also quite insightful. --- |
| Final
Words: |
A terrific
vintage film noir with beautiful cinematography, strong performances
and a great commentary track, “Leave Her to Heaven” continues
to work as a thriller because of the great screenplay by Jo
Swerling (“Guys & Dolls”, “Lifeboat”) and the sharp direction
of John M. Stahl (“Imitation of Life”, “Magnificent Obsession”,
“The Keys of the Kingdom”). The strong performances by Tierney
and the supporting cast make this vivid film noir successful.
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