Leave Her to Heaven, 1945

Either this is to be considered a turgid overripe Hollywood melodrama about very rich people suffering family problems with a minimally sophisticated Freudian twist (and obligatory bombastic high-Hollywood music punctuation), or, alternately, you can take it as a textured and beautiful old fashioned drama with grand sweep and gorgeous actors featuring bodacious Technicolor-stylized lighting of a big doomed romance. Indeed, there are some good bits, including a terrific disturbing drowning scene by Tierney. After a bit of mental resistance, I think I am willing to fall on the side of guilty pleasure on this one. ------ (And pause to remember that this production of unperturbed American glossiness---rich, detached, and externally orderly---was created when the the roughest going of World War II was not yet over; Germany was several months away from surrender. Is this proof of denial, commercial cunning, or the ongoing strength of semi-idealizing national character? It was also made only six months after the premiere of the absolutely unforgettable "Double Indemnity" -- which at the time received only middling reviews from prominent critics, by the way. [Although it--that is, Barbara Stanwyck in her mesmerizing blonde dye job--got appreciative popular whistles at early Westwood previews according to a 1944 L.A. Times story.] Although "Heaven" may be easily taken as just romantic melodrama, some people consider both films to be noir classics, albeit with differently effective nuances and social milieux, and of course spectacularly contrasting palettes.) 7.08

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