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The Heiress (1949)

Another gem from William Wyler. This is the director of so many sparkling, flawless interpersonal dramas it's hard to believe he isn't lionized alongside more famous greats. The problem (as he admits in interviews) is he had no real style of his own. And yet, as the years go by, his "style" begins to clarify a little. Watch "The Little Foxes" or "Detective Story" or this one, "The Heiress," and you'll see an astonishing, complex handling of a small group of people with visual clarity and emotional finesse.

There is no overacting here, and no photographic flourishes to make you gasp. There are no murky shadows or gunfights or even ranting and raving. No excess. What you have here is terrific writing (thanks in part to Henry James who wrote the source story, Washington Square) and terrific acting.

The three leads are all first rate actors, surely. Montgomery Clift a young and rising star, Olivia de Havilland already famous for earlier roles (including a supporting one in "Gone with the Wind"), and the terrific stage actor Ralph Richardson, who received an Oscar nomination for his role. It is de Haviland who is the heiress of the title, and she does tend to steal the show with a performance that you would think would tip into campy excess but which just veers this side of danger and makes you feel for her scene after scene. And she took the Best Actress award for it.

A good director manages to bring the best from the actors, which Wyler clearly does. But he also finds ways to make those performances jump out of the film reality into the movie theater. His fluid, expert way of moving actors around one another, of having them trade positions or look this way or that as they deliver some intensely subtle comeback line, is really astonishing. And easy to miss, I think, if you just get absorbed in the plot. So watch it all.

The story itself is pretty chilling and oddly dramatic (dramatic for Henry James, not for Wyler, who likes a kind of soap opera drama within all his focused restraint). The heiress (de Havilland) is being pursued by a fortune hunting and rather handsome man (Clift) and she doesn't realize his love isn't for real. But the father, with his slightly cruel superiority, sees it all and tries to subtly maneuver his daughter to safety. The result is a lot of heartbreak and surprising twists of motivation.

By the end almost anything can happen, within this upper class world of manners and appropriate reactions, and de Havilland rises to the challenge. It's worth seeing how. Terrific stuff from the golden age of the silver screen, for sure.

What a lavish history of films we are fortunate enough to have in this country. And I count "The Heiress" as one of the best. Combine a wonderfully told story with a masterful director (William Wyler), and add to that superb cast, and you have the formula for a masterpiece as we do here.

Olivia de Havilland gives the performance of her life as Catherine Sloper, the socially awkward and homely daughter of surgeon Dr. Sloper (played by Ralph Richardson). She brings such a strong performance as her character evolves from a timid, shy and innocent young lady to a hardened, disappointed and bitter woman. I don't know that I have ever seen an actress give such a convincing evolution, before or since. She truly earned her Oscar win for Best Actress. Richardson also delivers a believable performance as the ruthless father that is extremely disappointed in his daughter, and never fails to let her know it. At the same time, there is a hint of fatherly love below the surface trying to protect his daughter from what he perceives is a fortune hunter in the suitor of Montgomery Clift's character, Morris Townsend.

The photography in the film is amazing as it conveys the deep emotions in the film so adequately. You feel Catherine's loneliness and awkwardness, and the scenes involving the elopement, and later the final rejection, are quite hauntingly portrayed.

One of my favorite lines in movies is from this film when Catherine's Aunt tells her "Can you be so cruel?" to which Catherine coldly replies "Yes, I can be very cruel. I have been taught by masters." This is a film you will want to see multiple times to uncover all the layers and details of the very deep and tragic story of "The Heiress".

Certainly among the finest literary adaptations, "The Heiress" was based on Henry James's novel, "Washington Square" and features arguably Olivia de Havilland's finest screen performance. Morris Townsend , a handsome young man with ambiguous motives pursues Catherine Sloper, a plain spinster, who is slightly past marriageable age and possesses limited social skills. The young woman, who is the heiress of the title, is vulnerable prey for a penniless fortune hunter.

However, Montgomery Clift plays Townsend in an enigmatic manner, and viewers can debate his true intentions. Catherine's father, played by Ralph Richardson, and her Aunt Lavinia, played by Miriam Hopkins, take opposite sides in Townsend's pursuit of Catherine. Although both her father and her aunt appear to see through the handsome suitor, Aunt Lavinia is practical and sensitive to her niece's emotional needs, and she counsels compromise in pursuit of happiness, if only fleeting. However, Catherine's father is unyielding and essentially unloving in his opposition to the match. Throughout, Dr. Sloper compares his daughter's virtues to those of his late wife, and Catherine comes up lacking in every quality that he values. Sloper threatens to disinherit his daughter if she marries the suitor.

Montgomery Clift may appear shallow and transparent to some, but in essence those are the traits of his character. While Morris is slick and obviously fawning, he is not intelligent enough to be totally deceptive. Only someone as naive and needy as Olivia could fail to grasp that Morris may want something more than her love. Olivia de Havilland transcends her other performances and skillfully and convincingly evolves from a shy, introverted girl into a strong, vengeful woman. De Havilland has often portrayed women who appear genteel and soft on the outside, but whose hearts and backbones can harden into pure steel (e.g. Gone with the Wind; Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte), and Catherine Sloper is the finest of those roles. With able support from Richardson and Hopkins, Clift and de Havilland make the most of an outstanding screenplay, which was adapted from a stage play. William Wyler directs with a sure hand, and the atmospheric cinematography captures 19th century New York life. Period films are often unraveled by their hairstyles, which generally owe more to the year in which the film was made rather than that in which the story is set. However, even the coiffures excel in "The Heiress." De Havilland's hair looks authentic 19th century and underscores Wyler's fastidious attention to detail.

With an award-winning de Havilland performance, a handsome Montgomery Clift on the brink of stardom, and an engrossing Henry James story, "The Heiress" is one of the finest films of the 1940's. Without qualification, the film holds up to and merits repeat viewings if only to better argue the underlying motives of Clift and the fateful decision that de Havilland has to make.

The Heiress has to be one of the greatest movies ever made. There is nothing about it that I would change. The cast is perfect. Montgomery Clift is so wonderful as Morris Townsend. His physical beauty makes it easy to understand how someone as gauche as Catherine Sloper could overcome her shyness and respond to him. Olivia de Havilland is almost too good looking to be the unattractive Miss Sloper, however her great acting overcomes her beauty, and the viewer readily accepts her in the part. Ralph Richardson is perfect as Dr. Sloper. With his disdain for his daughter and his idealization of her dead mother, it is easy to see how his attitude has frozen his daughter in her insecurity about everything that she does. Miriam Hopkins is the perfect airhead social climber who does have affection for her niece, but becomes so wrapped up in the overall romance of the situation that she doesn't act in the best interests of her niece but in the best interests of the romantic drama that is unfolding around her. In her biography, Edith Head talks about researching and designing the clothes for this movie. Certainly the costumes greatly enhance Olivia de Havilland's ability to play this part and be accepted as the plain and graceless Catherine Sloper. A great movie that shouldn't be missed.

Rewatching The Heiress after remembering nothing but great things about it, the film was every bit as brilliant as remembered and even better in fact. It is one of William Wyler's best, in a list that includes Ben-Hur, Roman Holiday and Dodsworth, and while there are some fine film adaptations of Henry James' work, like The Innocents and The Wings of a Dove my vote for the best goes to this, The Heiress.

Visually, it looks absolutely beautiful and is rich in atmosphere. The Gothic set design is atmospheric and strikingly handsome (never getting in the way of the characters or the story), the costumes are elegantly evocative, the shadowy lighting adds so much to the atmosphere without making it obvious and The Heiress really does have to be one of the most exquisitely shot films of the late 40s, not only being very easy on the eyes but also very expansive which allows us to really be part of the action and be really engrossed in how all the characters interact with one another. Aaron Copland's haunting Oscar-winning score is some of his best work, and Wyler directs immaculately, his work worthy of winning the Oscar rather than just being nominated.

The Heiress is also superbly scripted, with sharp, sometimes cruel but always compellingly realistic, dialogue, the subject matter explored intelligently, poignantly and sometimes chillingly. The story is chillingly intense and also absorbingly intimate, always powerful and never less than interesting, while the characters actually feel like real people (Morris is the least interesting one of the bunch, but only because of how compellingly written Catherine and Dr Sloper are. Wyler is also well-known for drawing out great performances and ensemble work, and not only do we get both here across the board but they're more than great. Olivia de Havilland won her second Oscar for this film, and it was richly deserved, it is a very meaty role with a character transformation from shy to cruel that could have rung false but de Havilland plays the shyness with poignant nuance and the cruelness to spine-chilling effect, by far my favourite performance from her.

Montgomery Clift has had more interesting characters in his career, but he plays the role with control and subtlety, even also with an unsettling ambiguity as well. Ralph Richardson, like de Havilland, also delivers his finest screen work in this film, the character's coldness played to perfection. Dr Sloper and Catherine's father/daughter relationship is somewhat the core of the film and is played with brilliant passion by both Richardson and de Havilland. Miriam Hopkins is amusing and charming, but in a way that doesn't jar at all, despite how it sounds in comparison to the story.

In conclusion, a brilliant film, one of Wyler's best films and the finest screen adaptation of Henry James with career-best work from de Havilland and Richardson. 10/10 Bethany Cox