How was it that Thomas Carlyle referred to Robespierre? As “the sea-green incorruptible”? It’s hard not to think of Vincent Price’s extremely self-righteous prosecutor Russell Quinton in such a way, as he floats, haughtily, inside the most improbably-colored courtroom in screen history.
The screen cap above, taken from a 2004 DVD, does not, I insist, does not, do anything near to justice to what you’ll see in the new Technicolor restoration of John M. Stahl’s ineffable 1945 Leave Her To Heaven, which opens at New York’s Film Forum today. The revamp, done under the aegis of Fox and Scorsese’s The Film Foundation, is literally breathtaking in both the richness of color and picture detail. I talk more about the film today over at The Auteurs’. But, as Bryan Ferry once sang, I could talk talk talk talk talk myself to death; seeing is believing.
Where have all the Vincent Prices gone? Sorry, I’ve been watching a lot of his stuff lately, and I just hate the fact that, if there even are actors like him around these days, there’s not place for them anymore.
Having seen this in a very good print a few years ago, I can’t wait to see this restoration.
@ Bill: I hear ya. It’s particularly fun to see Price in this context, that is, a non-horror film. He brings something really unusual to the whole tone of the film.
And if it’s any consolation, Steven Soderbergh recently told an interviewer that yours truly could be a Victor Buono for the 21st century. We’ll have to see how that works out…
Yeah, I just watched “Laura” again over the weekend. He was truly versatile, which, as beloved as he is, he doesn’t really get credit for.
I look forward to seeing you in Soderbergh’s remake of “The Mad Butcher”.
“I look forward to seeing you in Soderbergh’s remake of ‘The Mad Butcher’.”
Oh, wait, he already did. It was called “Che”. Ba-dum tish!
Sorry, that one just occurred to me.
Glenn: Hope you get cast as King Tut in the next Batman flick.
Leave Her to Heaven is great indeed – time to pop in the DVD again. A correction to your fine write-up: That’s Darryl Hickman as Danny, not his brother Dwayne (the immortal Dobie Gillis). I know – you just didn’t feel like looking up that odd spelling of “Darryl.”
Since we’re speaking of color, the most visually interesting thing for me about this film–at least from a design standpoint–was the repeated use of an aqua-and-red color scheme, which carried absolutely throughout the movie, from red-lips/blue-dressing gown to pink-china/periwinkle-napkin combinations. Nor was it in any way confined to Gene Tierney’s character; it was in the interiors, clothing, props, everything. The aqua courtroom at the end of the film is actually a terrific bookend to the cerulean train car at the beginning.