What makes it different from others?

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

I remember this movie very well, and I always liked both movies, but since I saw it as a child...I got confused between the Gone to Earth original and the Wild Heart version.....I did like the version where the dogs jump on her dress that causes her to fall to her doom while holding her pet fox....and I truly didn't understand the meaning Gone to Earth at the end, but now...i realize that is what is yelled when they can't find the little fox for hunting it down....it had disappeared off the face of the earth....that sort of thing.... but, I always enjoyed this movie...Jennifer Jones is always a delight to watch....and this film always made an impression.

The films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger are celebrated, not necessarily for their story lines, but for their exquisite attention-to- detail. 'Gone to Earth (1950)' was shot on-location at Much Wenlock in Shropshire, England (with some interior filming at Shepparton Studios), and you'll rarely find a more glorious example of a natural setting used to evoke atmosphere. Even from the opening sequence, there's something magical about the English countryside – the wind seems to whisper with the music of a harp; the trees shudder in the breeze as though awaking from a stupor; the clouds stir overhead, signalling discontent in the heavens. Christopher Challis' stunning Technicolor photography captures every natural detail and imbues it with a mystical charm that is stifling and almost oppressive. The Archers produced the film in association with Alexander Korda and David O. Selznick, the latter of whom was so disappointed with the end result that he commissioned Rouben Mamoulian to extensively re-shoot scenes for the film's North American release, which was retitled 'The Wild Heart (1952).'Even though Powell and Pressburger effectively ignored Selznick's insistent recommendations for improvement, the producer's influence is still readily seen. For one, the film starred Jennifer Jones, by then Selznick's wife, who looks luminous while retaining that earthy homeliness of an English country girl. Her character, Hazel Woodus, in many ways recalls Pearl Chavez from 'Duel in the Sun (1946),' Selznick's costly Western epic. Both women, at first naive and uncorrupted, must choose between marriage to a reliable if unexciting suitor (Joseph Cotten in one film, Cyril Cusack in this one) and the embrace of an unpleasant, morally-barren scumbag (Gregory Peck or David Farrar). In Selznick's Western, Pearl's half-Injun ethnicity is shamelessly exploited to offer her character some sort of uncontrollable base sexuality. In 'Gone to Earth,' that Hazel's mother was a gypsy is utilised for similar purposes, her physical attraction to the repulsive Jack Reddin apparently stemming from this shady half-heritage, in direct opposition to the noble Christianity of her parson husband.Being mostly about atmosphere, 'Gone to Earth' doesn't have the exquisitely well-rounded characters of 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)' or 'I Know Where I'm Going! (1945).' Nevertheless, the main cast is to be commended for their understated roles. Jennifer Jones' British accent wavers on occasion, but her character is gorgeous and sympathetic, one whose transgressions we're willing to forgive on account of her general innocence; there's certainly a childlike naiveté in her unashamed affinity with nature, particularly her affection towards a pet fox. Less affable is David Farrar, whose oppressive, fox- hunting squire is a perpetual affront to Hazel's virginity. His character, at times, reminded me of Vincent Price's role in 'Dragonwyck (1946),' in which Gene Tierney's virtuousness is similarly destroyed by a uncouth and opportunistic nobleman. Cyril Cusack's clergyman, however honourable, embodies the adage that "nice guys finish last." The film quietly rebukes Edward Marston's unwillingness to take charge of his marriage to Hazel, and yet he overcomes his timidity only to lose everything he's ever cared about.

In making GONE TO EARTH Powell built on his childhood memories of rural England. The finished film owes a lot to Christopher Challis' superb photography and Brian Easedale's music. But it owes even more to Jennifer Jones' portrayal of an adolescent girl in tune with the prechristian countryside: her love for a tamed fox symbolizes this special relationship with the pagan past. She was 30 years old when she romped over the Shropshire hills and the Shepperton studio but she has the energy and bodily rhythms of a 16-year-old as she plays her pagan princess. This doomed princess has the ironic fate of being forced into relationships with two contemporary masters of the present-day Christian landscape: one is a mother-haunted cleric, the other a bodice-ripping squire.Playing these stereotypes is not easy and the two actors, Cyril Cusack and David Farrar, make an ill-balanced pair. Like Powell's earlier BLACK NARCISSUS, this film works on a symbolic and psychological level; but both story and dialogue have painful weaknesses made worse by censorship and the dreadful U.S.commercial cut. Avoid older versions of GONE TO EARTH: they usually contain censorship cuts which change the rhythm of several scenes and mutilate the climax. See the whole film - now available on DVD - on the largest screen you can obtain. Then you will appreciate Powell's skill in capturing the colours of the English countryside and projecting Jennifer Jones' energy as the pagan princess.

'Gone to Earth', in its original form (not as revised and reordered under the helm of Reuben Mamoulian), is a powerful realisation in shimmering Technicolor of both Mary Webb's novel and the savage pull of the forces of nature.Hazel (Jennifer Jones, imported from Hollywood, as you would expect from Selznick's involvement in this film), is an innocent, an animal lover with a head full of fantasy, fairies, and spells. Her father (played beautifully by Esmond Knight), plays the harp while she sings in strange, ethereal tones.Enter the sacred and the profane in the forms of Cyril Cusack as the minister (understated as ever), and David Farrar as the lusty Squire (in his third appearance in P&P films, and in some ways the character is a close cousin to Black Narcissus's Mr Dean). Hazel is desired by them both, but in very different ways, and her naiveté and innocence may well prove to be her undoing.Against the backdrop of country fairs, fox hunts, flowers trodden into the mud, fairgrounds, parish councils, and disapproving parents (Sybil Thorndike, memorable as the parson's mother), this film proves to be a gem.There's a couple of nice roles for Hugh Griffith and George Cole as well. And Jones, despite a sometimes dodgy accent, always seemed to look half her age and inhabits the Shropshire hills perfectly as the ill-fated Hazel, in close company with her pet fox.In many ways. 'Gone to Earth' is as much a potboiler as any Catherine Cookson, but it has enough to keep you watching.