Leave Her to Heaven

1945, Crime/Drama, 1h 51m

66 Reviews 2,500+ Ratings

What to know

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. Read critic reviews

You might also like

See More
The Gospel According to St. Matthew
Howards End
The Pride of the Yankees
A Tale of Two Cities
The Search

Rate And Review

User image

Verified

  • User image

    Super Reviewer

    Rate this movie

    Oof, that was Rotten.

    Meh, it passed the time.

    It’s good – I’d recommend it.

    Awesome!

    So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

    What did you think of the movie? (optional)

  • You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

  • User image

    Super Reviewer

    Step 2 of 2

    How did you buy your ticket?

    Let's get your review verified.

    • Fandango

    • AMCTheatres.com or AMC AppNew

    • Cinemark Coming Soon

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Regal Coming Soon

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Theater box office or somewhere else

    By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.

    You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

  • User image

    Super Reviewer

    Rate this movie

    Oof, that was Rotten.

    Meh, it passed the time.

    It’s good – I’d recommend it.

    Awesome!

    So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

    What did you think of the movie? (optional)

  • How did you buy your ticket?

    • Fandango

    • AMCTheatres.com or AMC AppNew

    • Cinemark Coming Soon

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Regal Coming Soon

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Theater box office or somewhere else

    By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.

Leave Her to Heaven Photos

View All Photos (13)

Movie Info

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.
  • Genre:
    Crime, Drama
  • Original Language:
    English
  • Director:
    John M. Stahl
  • Producer:
    William A. Bacher
  • Release Date (Theaters):
     original
  • Release Date (Streaming):
  • Runtime:
  • Distributor:
    20th Century Fox
  • Sound Mix:
    Stereo

Cast & Crew

Gene Tierney
Ellen Berent Harland
Cornel Wilde
Richard Harland
Jeanne Crain
Ruth Berent
Vincent Price
Russell Quinton
Mary Philips
Mrs. Berent
Ray Collins
Glen Robie
Darryl Hickman
Danny Harland
Gene Lockhart
Dr. Saunders
Reed Hadley
Dr. Mason
Chill Wills
Leick Thome
Paul Everton
The Judge
Olive Blakeney
Mrs. Louise Robie
Addison Richards
Bedford
John M. Stahl
Director
William A. Bacher
Producer
Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for Leave Her to Heaven

All Critics (66) | Top Critics (25) | Fresh (56) | Rotten (10)
Full Review… Eleanor Wilson Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com Full Review… Wanda Hale New York Daily News Full Review… Edwin Schallert Los Angeles Times Full Review… Mae Tinee Chicago Tribune Full Review… Len G. Shaw Detroit Free Press Full Review… Jack Balch St. Louis Post-Dispatch Full Review… Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand Full Review… Virginia Wright Illustrated Daily News (Los Angeles) Full Review… Marcy Townsley Austin American-Statesman Full Review… Virginia Wilson Modern Screen Full Review… Herbert Cohn Brooklyn Daily Eagle Full Review… Frank Morriss Winnipeg Free Press
View All Critic Reviews (66)

Audience Reviews for Leave Her to Heaven

  • Apr 05, 2022
    A really strange technicolor noir/melodrama. As silly as a lot of the movie is, there is something strangely beguiling about it. I think the key ingredient is Tierney who gives a performance that sidesteps a lot of the era's conventional femme fatale traits (more subtle and unnerving than outwardly evil) even after she's exposed to the other characters. Also, everyone involved plays this thing straight without much overacting which invites the audience to take all of this seriously.
    Alec B Super Reviewer
  • Apr 18, 2015
    Gene Tierney plays the woman who's got it all ... except upstairs between her ears, and Cornel Wilde and Jeanne Crain endeavor mightily to tolerate her. They hardly can bear up. Vincent Price does a great job however as an abusive District Attorney, stealing the film. The action happens in that popular magazine cover perfect world that ruled in Hollywood film at that time. There's one scene, for instance, where Tierney, supposed pregnant (altho that's impossible to see) looks in a mirror horrified: "I look terrible," she says, when she doesn't look that way at all, when nothing in the film looks that way.
    Kevin M. W Super Reviewer
  • Nov 20, 2013
    Similar to her turn in Laura, Gene Tierney shows up in this equally great melodramatic performance. One of the first film noirs in colour from what I understand, it is a post war masterpiece.
    John B Super Reviewer
  • May 16, 2013
    Gene Tierney succeeds playing against character, substituting her angelic presence for a childish, treacherous and venomous femme fatale. Noir in blazing technicolor, beautifully shot.
    Pierluigi P Super Reviewer
See All Audience reviews

Movie & TV guides

View All