Blood of the Vines: LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN

Randy’s wine obsession is too much. Or is it?

Is Gene Tierney obsessive, or does she just “love too much?”  Trailers From Hell guru Neil Labute poses that question about Gene Tierney’s character in “Leave Her To Heaven.”

If you Google (or Yahoo, or Bing) “Too Much Love,” you find references to dance parties, song lyrics and advice from eHarmony.

The dance party seems safe enough, but I suppose that depends on where the dance is held and whether or not someone is shooting at your feet, ordering you to dance, a la Yosemite Sam.

The lyrics are from Queen’s song, “Too Much Love Will Kill You.”  It seems that observation concerns pursuing a love when another love is on your mind.  In that instance, it’s more likely you’ll be killed by one of the lovers than by the mere excess of love.

That brings us to the eHarmony article, in which we are told right away that you cannot love too much.  The author is quick, however, to draw a line between “loving too much” and “smothering.”  Now we’re beginning to see Gene Tierney’s character up close and personal, in beautiful Technicolor.

Smothering someone with love, according to eHarmony, is the selfish, oppressive, demanding act of an insecure individual.  Loving is a “give” act.  Smothering is all “take.”

Tierney’s Ellen certainly takes from Cornel Wilde.  She takes his beloved brother from him.  She takes his unborn child from him.  She ultimately takes his freedom from him.  The film shows us the bright colors of a love story, and then darkens it into film noir.

“Leave Her To Heaven” is a great movie, but Ellen’s obsessive love is really hard to watch.  I’m tempted to be one of those people who talks to the screen and pleads with the person in trouble to get out of the freakin’ basement.  Despite all his trouble, Wilde does end up with the girl – just not the one he came in with.  In this case, that is for the best.

Ironstone Vineyards‘ Obsession fits nicely here.  Made from Symphony grapes grown in Lodi and the Sierra Foothills AVA, it’s a sweetly floral quaff best served cold.  As it warms up, it tends to turn a little spicy and tart.  It’s seductive and cheap.  You’ll love it.  Just don’t love it too much.

Obsess on these:

Cold Heaven Cellars – Morgan Clendenon makes three complex Santa Barbara County Viogniers, from Santa Maria, the Sta. Rita Hills and the Santa Ynez Valley.

7 Heavenly Chards – A California Chardonnay with redemption in mind.

Two Angels Petite Sirah – Bob Pepi’s High Valley PS is described as “dark as the night” – might be perfect for the noir of this film.

Randy Fuller writes about wine at NowAndZin.com. He has spent a career broadcasting, writing, tasting wine and watching movies. In one fell swoop, this multi-media multitasking has converged to a single point – Blood Of The Vines. He writes the printed version on the blog and also voices the podcast version available at NowAndZin.com. He’s always ready to open a bottle of wine and watch a movie. Ask him about it on Twitter.