I got a chance to watch these two unforgettable classic movies one long weekend and was struck on the awesome charm of this gorgeous and stunning actress of the 40s. Acclaimed as one of the great beauties of her day, Gene Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was best-remembered for her performance in the title role of Laura (1944) and her Academy Award-nominated performance for Best Actress in Leave Her to Heaven (1945). Both movies are cinematic gems that should be made available and appreciated by new generations of fans and movie enthusiasts.
"Laura" (1944) and "Leave Her To Heaven" (1945)
Still from "Laura" (1944)- In film noir, the central character often becomes obsessed with a woman, the femme fatale who is often the cause of his downfall or death. In "Laura," police detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) falls asleep in front of a portrait of the dead Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney) only to wake to find her in the room.
Still from "Leave Her to Heaven" (1945)- Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney) will stop at nothing to make sure no one comes between her and her husband Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde). This includes letting his crippled brother Danny (Darryl Hickman) drown, and aborting her pregnancy by throwing herself down the stairs.
Source: Film Noir/ by Alain Silver & James Ursini/ Paul Duncan (Ed.)/ 2004
Simon,
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting. I like Gene Tierney too and I love Film Noir. One of the great beauties of her time, and supposedly courted by Howard Hughes, who's weakness was beautiful brunettes, like Jean Peters, Terry Moore and Katharine Hepburn. Unfortunately, I have not seen both movies. I definitely must see Leave Her to Heaven, because Jeanne Crain is a favorite of mine. I've seen most of her movies. I love those film noir movies, I just saw And The Rains Came with Tyrone Power and Myrna Loy. I've recently discovered Myrna Loy who I didn't know before. Now I must watch the Thin Man series.
Rod
Rod, also try to see "Laura," definitely one of my best 10 film noir(s).You will not be disappointed.
ReplyDeleteSimon,
ReplyDeleteWhat's your top 10 Film Noir? I'll try to see all of them. Does it include The Postman Always Rings Twice with Lana Turner? Linda Darnell is another Film Noir beauty that I've watched many times.
Rod
Simon & Rod:
ReplyDelete20th Century Fox released most of their film noir collections on DVD.
Gene Tierney was indeed one of the most striking beauties in Hollywood, who, despite her angelic beauty, had proven to be an actress who could play jealous, conniving women very effectively. And she did just that in several of the three-dozen films she made in the 1940s and '50s, most of them for 20th Century-Fox.
What's good about Otto Preminger was that he would never side with any of his characters, nor allowed the viewers to identify with anyone.
This way, we keep learning there's more to each of them than we initially assumed.
Apart from Laura & Leave Her to Heaven, the other film noir you might also want to see again are:
• Whirlpool
• Kiss of Death
• Black Widow
• Out of the Past (highly recommended)
• Murder My Sweet
• The Asphalt Jungle
• The Set Up
Definitely, the Columbia and 20th Century Fox collections are among the best ones.
Simon, JM,
ReplyDeleteLike Howard Hughes, I am a fan of beautiful brunettes, hahaha. Gene Tierney, Jean Peters, Linda Darnell, Ruth Roman are a few in Film Noir, in later years, I had crushes on Debra Paget, Natalie Wood, and among the current actresses it's Jennifer Connelly. In Pinoy movies, it was Mila Ocampo and Amalia Fuentes. Believe it or not I watch movies for the actresses. I'll watch out for those Gene Tierney movies.
BTW, I just bought Curse of the Vampires with Amalia Fuentes, Romeo Vasquez and Eddie Garcia. They're all young and in their prime in this Gerardo de Leon directed movie. Would you believe it was produced by Amalia Fuentes. I got it cheap at Amazon. I don't really care much about the story line, it's a vampire movie, but it's good to see Amalia so young and beautiful.
Rod
Then you must also get THE BLOOD DRINKERS. It also starred Amailia Fuentes, plus Ronald Remy & Celia Rodriguez.
ReplyDeleteThis one is more stylized and has a surreal look to it. Celia Rodriguez is fantastic here.
Except for that FAKE looking bat (Tiva Lava's pet), this film would have been a perfect horror feature.
The bat, actually, made me laugh.
I don't know if you have a copy of TERROR IS A MAN, another De Leon work. The film is amazing, until the producers made it so cheesy by adding a ringing sound to warn the viewers of the impending horror scene. Such a no-brainer idea that just ruined the film. However, if you just ignore the ringing, I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it.
Rod, JM, here's my list of 10 best film noir--- http://video48.blogspot.com/2007/09/video-48s-top-ten-noir-films.html
ReplyDelete--- The Maltese Falcon, (i am a Bogie fan, too) Double Indemnity and Kiss Me Deadly (this movie rocks-- ahead of its time)top my list.
JM,
ReplyDeleteYes, I got Blood Drinkers too, with Amalia, Celia Rodriquez all looking young. This one was the most expensive at $5 bucks. I was thinking of Terror is a Man too. Maybe I'll get it.
Simon,
Yes, you did post your list before. I'm not much of a Bogie fan though, hahaha, as I said I watch the ladies not the men. I'm trying to find Laura and that other movie, and others by Gene Tierney. Seems there's not much around.
Rod