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Leave Her to Heaven

Play trailer Poster for Leave Her to Heaven Now Playing 1h 51m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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85% Tomatometer 68 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
While on a train, writer Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde) strikes up a relationship with the gorgeous Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney). Ellen quickly becomes obsessed with Richard and abandons her fiancé, Russell Quinton (Vincent Price), to be with him. The couple rushes into marriage, with both of them caught up in romance and Richard intrigued by Ellen's intensity. Only after settling into marriage, however, does Richard realize that she is psychotically jealous and highly unstable.
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Leave Her to Heaven

Leave Her to Heaven

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Critics Consensus

Leave Her to Heaven suffers from a surfeit of unlikable characters, but the solid cast -- led by an outstanding Gene Tierney -- makes it hard to turn away.

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Critics Reviews

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Kevin Maher The Times (UK) Mar 25, 2024
5/5
This demented relationship drama by John M Stahl, starring the golden era actress Gene Tierney, is the original Fatal Attraction but better, deeper and darker. Go to Full Review Eleanor Wilson Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com Sep 29, 2021
Leave Her to Heaven is a well-done picture and rates as good screen entertainment. Go to Full Review Wanda Hale New York Daily News Sep 29, 2021
3.5/4
Director Stahl has certainly made the most out of the book and done well directing the young players. Go to Full Review Sean Burns Crooked Marquee Aug 19, 2024
Oft-befuddled critic Bosley Crowther called the film ‘a piece of cheap fiction done up in Technicolor and expensive sets,’ as if that isn’t what’s so awesome about it. Go to Full Review Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand Aug 5, 2022
Part Technicolor film noir and part dark romantic melodrama with a psychotic beauty at its center, John Stahl’s gorgeous Leave Her to Heaven is the original Fatal Attraction as a lush melodrama in a picture-perfect world of affluence... Go to Full Review Virginia Wright Illustrated Daily News (Los Angeles) Sep 29, 2021
Overlong In the telling and continuously melodramatic, Leave Her to Heaven is nevertheless a plausible version of the book. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Martin B @RT44235356 Jul 24, 2026 Thought the first half dragged and the second half an ladder of illogical choices. Too little nuance, too much hammer. See more Joel H @786Joel May 9, 2026 I thought Leave Her to Heaven was a drama. I was wrong. This movie is a psychological thriller and it didn’t take long before I was captivated by the story and the performances. I could not take my eyes off of Gene Tierney. Not just because she’s strikingly beautiful, but also because I never quite knew what her character, Ellen, would do. And I was definitely shocked multiple times by what Ellen did. I was also surprised by Vincent Price’s behavior in the courtroom. I’m no lawyer, but he commits some serious breaches of court etiquette. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly disturbed by Leave Her to Heaven. See more Stephen C @bob25009 Apr 8, 2026 The worldwide gross is $2,326.00. See more j F @LiberteBurrows Oct 21, 2025 The boy was a little annoying…I don’t entirely blame Gene Tierney for that one. See more Mark H. @Zeppo Oct 20, 2025 Slow burn climaxes in somewhat out-of-place trial act. Red lipstick alone will give you the creeps. See more revolver.0 8 @Revolver08 Jul 4, 2025 gorgeous actress and cinematography See more Read all reviews
Leave Her to Heaven

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Cast & Crew

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John M. Stahl

Director

Gene Tierney

Ellen Berent Harland

Cornel Wilde

Richard Harland

Jeanne Crain

Ruth Berent

Vincent Price

Russell Quinton

Mary Philips

Mrs. Berent

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Leave Her to Heaven

Leave Her to Heaven (1945) Leave Her to Heaven (1945) Leave Her to Heaven (1945) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis While on a train, writer Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde) strikes up a relationship with the gorgeous Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney). Ellen quickly becomes obsessed with Richard and abandons her fiancé, Russell Quinton (Vincent Price), to be with him. The couple rushes into marriage, with both of them caught up in romance and Richard intrigued by Ellen's intensity. Only after settling into marriage, however, does Richard realize that she is psychotically jealous and highly unstable.
Director
John M. Stahl
Producer
William A. Bacher
Screenwriter
Jo Swerling
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Twentieth Century Fox
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 20, 1945, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 10, 2018
Runtime
1h 51m
Sound Mix
Stereo
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