The Heiress (1949)

A young naive woman falls for a handsome young man who her emotionally abusive father suspects is a fortune hunter.

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

Ruth Goetz (written for the screen by), Augustus Goetz (written for the screen by),

Stars:

Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson

Won 4 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Olivia de Havilland	...	Catherine Sloper
Montgomery Clift	...	Morris Townsend
Ralph Richardson	...	Dr. Austin Sloper
Miriam Hopkins	...	Lavinia Penniman
Vanessa Brown	...	Maria
Betty Linley	...	Mrs. Montgomery
Ray Collins	...	Jefferson Almond
Mona Freeman	...	Marian Almond
Selena Royle	...	Elizabeth Almond
Paul Lees	...	Arthur Townsend
Harry Antrim	...	Mr. Abeel
Russ Conway	...	Quintus
David Thursby	...	Geier

Storyline

In the mid-1800's, the wealthy Sloper family - widowed surgeon Dr. Austin Sloper, his adult daughter Catherine Sloper (Dr. Sloper's only surviving child), and Dr. Sloper's recently widowed sister Lavinia Penniman - live in an opulent house at 16 Washington Square, New York City. They have accrued their wealth largely through Dr. Sloper's hard work. Despite the lessons that Dr. Sloper has paid for in all the social graces for her, Catherine is a plain, simple, awkward and extremely shy woman who spends all her free time alone doing embroidery when she is not doting on her father. Catherine's lack of social charm and beauty - unlike her deceased mother - is obvious to Dr. Sloper, who hopes that Lavinia will act as her guardian in becoming more of a social person, and ultimately as chaperon if Catherine were ever to meet the right man. The first man ever to show Catherine any attention is the handsome Morris Townsend, who she met at a family party. Catherine is initially uncertain as to ...

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Plot Keywords:

money | fortune | inheritance | fortune hunter | wealth | 

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Taglines:

A truly great motion picture (one-sheet)

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

10 February 1950 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Die Erbin

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,600,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although the score is credited to Aaron Copland, director Wyler disliked it, and had it heavily rewritten and reorchestrated, possibly by Hugo Friedhodfer who had orchestrated many of Max Steiner's and Korngold's lush operatic Warner Bros. scores, and Wyler's "The Best Years of Our Lives." What distinguished Copland from the usual Hollywood brand of orchestration was the simplicity and transparency of his scoring, and it was its spareness that so disturbed Wyler. The music sounds completely unlike any other piece of music Copland ever wrote, and it is no wonder he disowned it. Alex North, Copland's pupil, was more successful using this chamber music sound, notably in North's first film score "Streetcar Named Desire." But Copland was ahead of his time.

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Goofs

In the scene in the rain, Catherine takes Morris' cloak off herself and wraps it around him. After the next cut the cloak is missing, then in the following closeup it reappears and Catherine buttons it around Morris' neck.

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Quotes

Aunt Penniman: Can you be so cruel?
Catherine Sloper: Yes, I can be very cruel. I have been taught by masters.

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Connections

Version of Lux Video Theatre: The Heiress (1954)

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Soundtracks

"Queen of the Flowers"
(uncredited)
Music by Eugène Ketterer
Dance music at the party

User Reviews

Outstanding Henry James Adaptation

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.