History Film / LeaveHerToHeaven

Richard Harland (Wilde) is a writer who meets beautiful Boston socialite Ellen Berent (Tierney) on a train to New Mexico. As it happens, they're both going to the same house; Richard to take a break from his forthcoming novel, and Ellen, who's with her mother (Mary Philips) and cousin Ruth (Crain), to scatter the ashes of her late father. They quickly fall in love, and although Ellen is engaged to Russell Quinton (Price), a prosecutor, she breaks off the engagement to marry Richard instead. However, it turns out she doesn't want to share him with anyone else, including her mother, Ruth, or Richard's crippled brother Danny (Darryl Hickman). And Richard eventually grows to realize just how pathologically (and dangerously) possessive she is.

[[TheFilmOfTheBook Adapted]] by screenwriter Jo Swerling from Ben Ames Williams' 1944 novel of the same name, the film received four UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations, winning for Leon Shamroy's color cinematography. Remade as the 1988 MadeForTVMovie ''[[https://youtu.be/r0KmWTn5OeQ Too Good to Be True]]'', with [[Series/{{Dallas}} Patrick Duffy]] as Richard and [[Series/WKRPInCincinnati Loni Anderson]] as Ellen.

[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/leaveher.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:280:''"I'll never let you go, Richard. Never, never, never."'']]

''Leave Her To Heaven'' is a 1945 PsychologicalThriller directed by John M. Stahl, starring Creator/GeneTierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, and Creator/VincentPrice.

Richard Harland (Wilde) is a writer who meets socialite Ellen Berent (Tierney) on a train to New Mexico. As it happens, they're both going to the same person's house; Richard to take a break from his forthcoming novel, and Ellen, who's with her mother (Mary Philips) and cousin Ruth (Crain), to scatter the ashes of her late father. They fall in love, and despite the fact Ellen is engaged to Russell (Price), a prosecutor, she breaks off the engagement with him and marries Richard. However, it turns out she doesn't want to share him with anyone else, including her mother, Ruth, or Richard's brother Danny (Darryl Hickman), a cripple. And Richard eventually grows to realize just how obsessive she is.

[[TheFilmOfTheBook Adapted]] by screenwriter Jo Swerling from Ben Ames Williams' novel of the same name, the film received four UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations, winning for Leon Shamroy's color cinematography. Remade as the 1988 MadeForTVMovie ''[[https://youtu.be/r0KmWTn5OeQ Too Good to Be True]]'', with [[Series/{{Dallas}} Patrick Duffy]] as Richard and [[Series/WKRPInCincinnati Loni Anderson]] as Ellen.

* TheRemake: A 1988 MadeForTVMovie titled ''Too Good to Be True''.

[[TheFilmOfTheBook Adapted]] by screenwriter Jo Swerling from Ben Ames Williams' novel of the same name. Was remade as the 1988 MadeForTVMovie ''[[https://youtu.be/r0KmWTn5OeQ Too Good to Be True]]'', with [[Series/{{Dallas}} Patrick Duffy]] as Richard and [[Series/WKRPInCincinnati Loni Anderson]] as Ellen.

* TheRemake: A MadeForTVMovie titled ''Too Good To Be True''.

Was remade as the 1988 MadeForTVMovie ''[[https://youtu.be/r0KmWTn5OeQ Too Good to Be True]]'', with [[Series/{{Dallas}} Patrick Duffy]] as Richard and [[Series/WKRPInCincinnati Loni Anderson]] as Ellen.

* SayingTooMuch: When Ellen is trying to get the doctor to convince Richard not to bring Danny along to their cottage, at first, she's trying to be reasonable about all the difficulties he'll have up there (no doctor around for miles, no phone), but then, she blurts out, "After all, Danny's a cripple!" She immediately sees her mistake, telling the doctor she didn't mean to say it, and the doctor agrees, but he doesn't look convinced.

* DeathOfAChild: Danny and Richard and Ellen's unborn child.

* GreenEyedMonster: '''Ellen'''.

* IncestSubtext: [[spoiler:It's implied that Ellen and her father may have been a little closer than they should have been. To the point where part of the reason she pursues Richard is because of his resemblance to the man]]

->''"[[ArcWords There's nothing wrong with Ellen. It's just that she loves too much.]]"''

-> '''Ruth''': I don't envy you, Ellen. All my life, I've tried to love you, done everything to please you. All of us have -- Mother, Father, and now Richard. And what have you done? With your love, you wrecked Mother's life. With your love, you pressed Father to death. With your love, you've made a shadow of Richard. No, Ellen, I don't envy you. I'm sorry for you. You're the most pitiful creature I've ever known.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Ruth gives one of these to Ellen when the latter tries to blame her for her failing marriage, pointing out that it's ''her'' and her actions that have driven Richard away.

->'''Mrs. Berent:''' ''"[[ArcWords There's nothing wrong with Ellen. It's just that she loves too much.]]"''

Was remade as the 1988 MadeForTVMovie ''Too Good to Be True'', with [[Series/{{Dallas}} Patrick Duffy]] as Richard and [[Series/WKRPInCincinnati Loni Anderson]] as Ellen.

->''"[[ArcWords There's nothing wrong with Ellen. It's just that she loves too much.]]"''

* TheRemake: A TVMovie titled ''Too Good To Be True''.

* SherlockScan: {{Lampshaded}} and {{subverted}}; Ellen tells Richard that she knows about him after reading his novel because every book is a "confession." She then rattles off a bunch of facts about his life, to which he bewilderingly responds, "Shades of [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Sherlock]]." But then she admits she just got all that from the bio on the book's dust jacket.

[[quoteright:283:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/leaveher.jpg]]

''Leave Her To Heaven'' is a psychological thriller starring Creator/GeneTierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, and Creator/VincentPrice.

Richard Harland is a writer who meets socialite Ellen Berent on a train to New Mexico. As it happens, they're both going to the same person's house; Richard to take a break from his forthcoming novel, and Ellen, who's with her mother and cousin Ruth, to scatter the ashes of her late father. They fall in love, and despite the fact Ellen is engaged to Russell, a prosecutor, she breaks off the engagement with him and marries Richard. However, it turns out she doesn't want to share him with anyone else, including her mother, Ruth, or Richard's brother Danny, a cripple. And Richard eventually grows to realize just how obsessive she is.

Was remade as a MadeForTVMovie in 1988, titled "Too Good To Be True", with [[Series/{{Dallas}} Patrick Duffy]] as Richard and [[Series/WKRPInCincinnati Loni Anderson]] as Ellen.

* HystericalWoman: Ellen bursts into tears and flings herself on the floor every time Richard walks out on her. It finally bites her ass when she's legitimately ill and Ruth dismisses her, thinking she's just CryingWolf.

* InfantImmortality: Averted, with Danny, and with Richard and Ellen's unborn child.

* GenreSavvy: Ellen and Ruth's mom. After Ellen miscarries, she mutters, "First his brother, now his son.", revealing that she knows full well that Ellen was indirectly, if not flat-out responsible for both tragedies.

* UsefulNotes/AcademyAward: Tierney was nominated for Best Actress (she lost to Creator/JoanCrawford for ''MildredPierce''), and the film won Best Color Cinematography.

-->''"[[ArcWords There's nothing wrong with Ellen. It's just that she loves too much.]]"''


''Leave Her To Heaven'' is a psychological thriller starring Creator/GeneTierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, and VincentPrice.