Leave Her to Heaven

It may be the most dramatic scene ever filmed in Sedona. Gorgeous but deeply troubled Ellen (Gene Tierney) gallops furiously down Schnebly Hill to scatter her beloved father's ashes to the wind, the emotion of the moment whipped to the max by nine-time Oscar-winning composer Alfred Newman's thundering musical score. The ashes swirl all around steely Ellen as she rides, oblivious to the particles falling back onto her, until her task is done and she breaks down. The breathtaking scene, which Ellen later describes as having been "like riding across the front lawn of heaven," says it all about the character: outer beauty and inner turmoil, with a deep-rooted Oedipal complex.

Clearly, in Sedona movie history, 1945's Leave Her To Heaven was a horse of a different color. While observant moviegoers were familiar with the local landscape by the mid-'40s, it was mostly as a backdrop for middle-of-the-road westerns. Heaven, for the first time in a long time, used the terrain to frame a contemporary story, a disturbing psychological melodrama driven by a sociopath with major

Freudian issues -- who just happened to be portrayed by the actress legendary Hollywood mogul Darryl F. Zanuck called "the most beautiful woman in movie history."

Gene Tierney's stunning beauty was both a blessing and a curse: It defined her star quality, yet often overshadowed her considerable talent throughout her 40-year film career. While her signature will always be the title role in another proto-noir, 1944's Laura, it was her riveting turn in Heaven that brought her only Oscar nomination, and she would name it as her favorite among her 37 feature films.

Gene Tierney's stunning beauty was both a blessing and a curse: It defined her star quality, yet often overshadowed her considerable talent throughout her 40-year film career. While her signature will always be the title role in another proto-noir, 1944's Laura, it was her riveting turn in Heaven that brought her only Oscar nomination, and she would name it as her favorite among her 37 feature films.

Text © 2006 Sedona Monthly

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