MovieChat Forums > Leave Her to Heaven Discussion > 'Last one in's a sissy!' Yes, I would li...

'Last one in's a sissy!' Yes, I would like to see a remake.

posted 12 years ago by bron-tay
14 replies | jump to latest

I'm curious whether people actually talked that way in those days. Would a savvy writer have such maudlin conversation with his teenaged brother? Do we really need such an annoying Little Nell in order to appreciate Gene Tierney's evil?

I'd like to see a remake of this film that takes advantage of today's greater tolerance of cynicism. Now please don't lecture me about those more innocent, honorable days and how we've gone all ugly. I'm not looking for another movie that drips meanness and profanity, but I think today's sensibilities could breathe some much-needed subtlety and disorder into this story (Cornell Wilde's tucked-in shirts and perfect hair, meh). Oh, and an actor with more talent and testosterone than Wilde.

As for Danny, please give me a child actor that I *don't* want to drown.

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[–] skipper 12 years ago

Actually, there has been a remake. It was a 1988 TV movie called Too Good To Be True. It starred Loni Anderson, Patrick Duffy and Neil Patrick Harris.

[–] bron-tay 12 years ago

Yikes, a remake, not a bastardization.

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[–] skipper 12 years ago

HA HA! Yeah, it's not good.

[–] Zuider_Zee 11 years ago

It's possible that people spoke that way in the forties. We used the same exact phrase in the sixties.

[–] gbennett5 11 years ago

Give me a break. Please. Every generation has stupid phrases and
dialogue. There is just as much bad dialgogue in movies today. And we don't
need to "remake" a movie just 'cause the kid said the word "sissy." Get
over yourself. And, anwyay, at least in classic films (or any film
made before 1980), we don't have to hear characters utter the incredibly
lame "awesome!" every other sentence, do we?

[–] bastasch8647 10 years ago

Exactly what you said ^

"Sissy" passed out of common use probably in the turbulent Sixties, but I was raised with the term being "in the air", in the media, in books, comedies, dramas, etc. Much later it took on the connotation of "effeminiate gayness". Up until that time, it mean anyone - male or female - who was overly squeamish, unathletic, fussy, recessive, afraid "to get their hands dirty", etc. Probably the term is derived from "sister" originally, but it became univerally applied to both genders, as in, "Mary, quit being such a sissy!". The term "pansy" probably took its place post-Sixties.

[–] HalfBloodPrincess1967 10 years ago

I wouldn't mind a remake, if it were done by HBO, and had a good script. They did do a respectable job with Mildred Pierce. I just read that James Ellroy is penning a remake of Laura, which also starred Gene Tierney, so a remake doesn't seem that unreasonable.

AVADA KEDAVRA!!!

[–] bron-tay 10 years ago

I don't care about contemporary PHRASES. Bring 'em on. It's the corny sentiment. As I said, I'd like to drown Danny myself. Give me a remake with David Fincher directing and a few stalks of cynicism instead of the corn.

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[–] ChristianeK 10 years ago

I don´t want remake. No lush Technicolor, nor Gene or Jeanne... I mean what´s the point? 😭 Le sigh.
But yea, the movie children in those days were not children, they were... Victorian scrap cutouts.

[–] OccasionalPoster 9 years ago

But yea, the movie children in those days were not children, they were... Victorian scrap cutouts.

I have to agree with you here. I just watched Leave Her to Heaven for the second time today and noticed when I watched the scenes with Danny that he sounded like he was trying to impersonate Mickey Rooney than actually trying to act. Also, I snickered and couldn't stop during the one scene when Danny was in the water and said to Ellen, "Come on in, Ellen. The water's SWELL."

On the other hand, I liked this movie. I read the book first and having seen the movie afterwards, I noticed a lot was left out from the novel by Ben Ames Williams. Oh well! They did a good job of at least capturing the general plot of the story even though the book explained things a lot better given the novel was 429 pages long. But wow - what a beautiful movie! Gene Tierney was terrific in this - her body, her movements, her facial expressions. I also liked her articulation as this posh New England type. I can't forget about Jeanne Crain. Even when she had no dialogue, such as the scene when she lifts her eyebrow when she first meets Richard at the train station - priceless.

I'm not a fan of remakes. But if they were to do a remake (not saying they will or will ever do so), I'd love to see it as an HBO 4-5 part miniseries given the book was 400+ pages long and could really delve into the characters more.

Cast Away...It's like Forrest Gump, but on an island.

[–] owlfy 9 years ago

Honestly, I don't think any film should be remade. Most of the time they're butchered even if the original material is sub-par.

[–] Funky12345 9 years ago

^I agree with this. I don't think this movie should be remade and I don't particularly care if the word "sissy" bothers some people. It's a great movie and should be left alone.

He won. Get over it.

[–] Gus-69 9 years ago

We wouldn't have Wyler's BEN-HUR, Cukor's GASLIGHT or Minnelli's GIGI if filmmakers followed your advice.

Many remakes are leaps and bounds better than the originals.

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[–] liscarkat (18897) 4 years ago

People, especially kids, actually did say "sissy" and "swell" in the 1940s. In fact, when I was a kid in the 1960s those expressions were still around. The concept of a movie being "dated" is ridiculous. It was made in the 1940s, so it looks like the 1940s and sounds like the 1940s. What did you expect them to do, correctly anticipate what the 21st century would look and sound like so their movie wouldn't seem dated to immature viewers sixty or seventy years in the future?