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.
Contains the script for the 1948 play 'The Heiress' in which Catherine Sloper falls in love with a charming conman, and fails to realize that he is more in love with her money than he is with her.
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. I saw this film about 10 years ago and have never forgotten it.
Why it is not available on DVD - I just don't understand it. Olivia de Havilland is heart-breaking as the woman who is so badly treated by her suitors and her father. I felt the portrayal of her father and the cruel way he treats her was so well played out and you could see how her soul is slowly being crushed.
I was so amazed and touched by the film, I went and got the book it is based on, Henry James' Washington Square. It was superb but nothing will make me forget the look on Olivia De Havilland's face at the end of the movie where you can see her features harden and all her youthful sweetness is gone. Brilliant film!
One of my favorite movies, based on one of my favorite books. Henry James sitting in the audience would have been proud of this insightful filming of his novel, 'Washington Square,' because the film retains so much of the subtlety of his own writing. Usually, Hollywood eliminates any of the subtlety of a great author's voice (see the recent remake of 'Washington Square' if you want to see a real Hollywoodization of a novel – it actually depicts a young Catherine peeing her pants in public – an inane 'Animal House'-type Hollywood requirement that degrading a woman by showing her peeing is an erotic boost for any movie). But 'The Heiress' is pure James. Olivia de Havilland is perfect as James' unlikely heroine, going from an awkward gawky girl eager to please her beloved father, to a simple, loving young woman who steadfastly stands by her lover, to an embittered middle-aged woman who understands that, as Henry James says, 'the great facts of her career were that Morris Townsend had trifled with her affection, and that her father had broken its spring.'
If you liked this movie, read the novel. Listen to James' descriptions of Catherine and her father and see if this isn't exactly what Ralph Richardson and Olivia deHavilland portrayed: 'Doctor Sloper would have liked to be proud of his daughter; but there was nothing to be proud of in poor Catherine.' 'Love demands certain things as a right; but Catherine had no sense of her rights; she had only a consciousness of immense and unexpected favors.' ' 'She is so soft, so simple-minded, she would be such an easy victim! A bad husband would have remarkable facilities for making her miserable; for she would have neither the intelligence nor the resolution to get the better of him.'
' 'She was conscious of no aptitude for organized resentment.' 'In reality, she was the softest creature in the world.' 'She had been so humble in her youth that she could now afford to have a little pride. Poor Catherine's dignity was not aggressive; it never sat in state; but if you pushed far enough you could find it. Her father had pushed very far.'
Clifton Fadiman, in his introduction to 'Washington Square,' says that the novel's moral is: 'to be right is not enough. Sloper is 'right'; he is right about the character of Townsend, he is right about his own character, he is right about the character of Catherine. But because he can offer only the insufficient truth of irony where the sufficient truth of love is required, he partly ruins his daughter's life, and lives out his own in spiritual poverty.' Sloper's contemptuous 'rightness,' penetrating and accurate as it is, is no substitute for the kindness and love his adoring daughter craves from him. In 'The Rainmaker,' a great Katharine Hepburn movie, also about a plain woman seeking love, only this time with a loving father, the character of Hepburn's father sums up this moral that 'to be right is not enough' when he says to his self-righteous son: 'Noah, you're so full of what's right that you can't see what's good!' To call this film well-acted is like calling 'Citizen Kane' a nice movie and Alfred Hitchcock an 'okay' director.
William Wyler was known for eliciting excellent performances from his actors (he's responsible for them receiving a record 14 Oscars in acting; more than twice as many as any other director) and in 'The Heiress' he's in top form. This movie should be played in every acting class ever taught to show the brilliance of subtlety and range of expressions possible when one is conveying a character's inner emotions. Olivia De Havilland is a beautiful woman, but you believe she's an ungainly bundle of shy awkwardness in the role of Catherine Sloper. And her transformation to a cruel wounded creature is perfectly believable. And Ralph Richardson as Dr. Sloper and Miriam Hopkins as Aunt Lavinia are letter perfect beside her. Sir Ralph (at least, I THINK he was knighted) can do more with stillness and a flick of an eyebrow than any actor I've ever seen (including Brando, Penn and any other method actor you care to toss into the mix).
He was robbed at the Oscars. Montgomery Clift was beautiful and seductive and, except for a couple of moments where he seemed too 1950s instead of 1850s, just right for the part. He almost holds his own with Sir Ralph when they meet to discuss him marrying Catherine, but he did do better work in 'A Place In The Sun' and 'From Here To Eternity.' Wyler's simplicity and grace in directing only enhanced the story. The use of mirrors to deepen emotional content (as in when Dr. Sloper, now ill, goes to his office after getting the cold shoulder from Catherine) is stunning.
So is his willingness to let a scene play out rather than force along the pacing of the moment, as so many directors do, today (as in when Catherine offers to help her father rewrite his will). There are no easy answers in this movie. You can think Dr. Sloper is right about Morris and only wants to protect his daughter, or you can see his actions as those of a vindictive man who blames her for the death of his beloved wife (in childbirth). Morris could be a fortune hunter, or he could be a man who does care for Catherine, in his own way, and would make her happy. Or all of the above.
The whole movie is so beautifully composed, it's breathtaking. A definite must see for anyone who appreciates great stories well-told. I had the pleasure to watch again 'The Heiress' 1949 movie tonight, and it is absolutely brilliant!; what a gem! The script, the directing, set designs, lighting, but above all the acting, are all extraordinary. The performances by the three main characters are simply superb. Olivia De Haviland is utterly convincing in her transition from a, not so young, unwanted and unloved woman, into 3 different phases of her personality as the plot unfolds; all her acting is beautiful.
Montgomery Cliff delivers a great performance and mastery at portraying deceit with a charming smile. Ralph Richardson commands respect and holds an air of definite authority as Catherine's father. His aristocratic demeanor is also very well portrayed for a prominent New York gentleman of the late 1800's. The human tragedy of miscommunication between beings unfolds with impeccable timing. The film by today standards may be considered as slow, but underneath is found a study of characters that runs very deeply. The contrast between the real Love and the pretense is striking.
You cannot help but feel sorry for the way the characters are held captives to a set of stiff conventions and untold feelings. A human tragedy at its best. Because he so identified with England in his last thirty years (and even became a British citizen during World War I) people tend to forget that Henry James was an American - as American as his celebrated psychologist/philosopher brother William (the 'good' James Boys, as opposed to their non-relatives Frank and Jesse), and his fellow Gilded Age novelists Sam Clemens/'Mark Twain' and William Dean Howells. His early writings, including 'The American', 'The Portait Of A Lady', and 'The Europeans' were written while he was an American citizen.
His later classics, 'The Spoils Of Poynton', 'What Maisie Knew', 'The Ambassadors', 'The Golden Bowl', and 'The Wings Of The Dove', were written when he resided in England. The novels he wrote through 1897 ('What Maissie Knew' being the last of these) were short and controlled in terms of descriptions. But his final set of novels (beginning with 'The Ambassadors')had a more flowery writing, as James struggled to find 'le mot juste' in every description. Many like this, but I find it a peculiar failure. It takes him three pages of description in 'The Wings Of The Dove' to show Mily Theale is looking down from an Alpine peak to the valley thousands of feet below.
'Washington Square' was written in the late 1870s, and was based on an anecdote James heard about a fortune hunter who tried to move in on one of James' neighbors in Manhattan. The neighbor, when a young woman, was wealthy and and would be wealthier when her father died (she was an only child). The father did not think highly of the daughter's choice of boyfriend, and a war of wills between the two men left the young woman scarred. James took the story and fleshed it out. One has to recall that while ultimately this is based on James' great novel, the film proper is based on the dramatization by the Goetzs. So there are changes (one of which I will mention later).
But the basic confrontation between the father and the suitor remains true. On stage the father was played by Basil Rathbone, and in his memoirs ('In And Out Of Character'), Rathbone makes a case that Dr. Sloper (his role) was not the villain in the novel - it was Sloper who was trying to protect his naive daughter Catherine from the clutches of fortune hunting suitor Morris Townshend. It's a nice argument, and one can believe that Rathbone/Sloper was less villainous than Morris. But his desire to protect Catherine does not prevent his cold and aloof treatment of her - he has little respect for her personality.
This is tied to the Doctor's constant mourning of his wife (Catherine's perfect mother). It enables Dr. Sloper to compare and belittle his daughter. The Goetz play and screenplay show (as does the novel) that the battle of wills between the two men only hurts poor, simple Catherine.
There are only two major changes from the novel. First, in the novel Dr. Sloper does not discover how his contempt for his child loses her love. He only sees that Catherine will not see reason about what a loser Morris is. So he does disinherit her (she only has her mother's fortune of $10,000.00 a year, not her father's additional $20,000.00). Secondly, when Morris does return in the end in the novel, years have passed, and he is a querulous fat man.
The dramatic high point when Catherine locks the door of the house on Morris is not in the novel. Olivia De Haviland's performance as Catherine is among her most sympathetic and satisfying ones, as she tries to navigate between two egotists, and manages to avoid a shipwreck that neither would totally disapprove of for their own selfish reasons).
Her second Oscar was deserved. Ralph Richardson's Sloper is a curious combination of cultured gentleman, egotist, and caring father, who only realizes what his behavior costs him when he is dying and it is too late. Montgomery Clift's Morris is a clever scoundrel, able to hide his fortune-hunting tricks behind a mask of care and seeming devotion to Catherine. Only when he learns that she has broken with her father does Morris show his true colors - suggesting that a reconciliation may still be possible. Finally there is Miriam Hopkins as Aunt Penniman, a talkative blood relative who does have a sense of reality and romance in her - she does try to make a case with Dr. Sloper that he accept Morris for Catherine's emotional happiness, but Sloper rejects the idea because he distrusts Morris so much. These four performances dominate the film, and make it a wonderful, enriching experience - as only 'the Master's' best writings usually are.
Henry James novel of spinster daughter of wealthy doctor being wooed by a fortune hunter is meticulously brought to the screen by Wyler and a stellar cast. The beautiful de Havilland, made to look plain and dull, is quite good in her Oscar-winning title role. Also fine are Clift as the gold digger and Hopkins as de Havilland's understanding aunt. However, the best performance is given by Richardson as the cold, domineering father who wants to protect his daughter but also despises her meek existence. Brown, who plays the maid, looks like a young Grace Kelly.
The cinematography is excellent and there's a fine score by Copland. It is often said that when something seems too good to be true, it probably is. That may be so, but there are exceptions to every rule.
THE HEIRESS is certainly cause for exception. This film carries with it an emotional power that is unequaled by so many films in the history of American cinema. There really are no bad roles in this film, and all of the supporting players turn in good performances with what they are given. Miriam Hopkins and Montgomery Clift give tremendously adept performances as Aunt Penniman and Morris, but the film is carried to completely different heights by Olivia de Havilland and Ralph Richardson. As Catherine walks up the stairs after being abandoned by Morris, it is wholly possible for the viewer to feel the weight of her pain and the burden of her struggle.
It almost seems like the staircase is interminable, and that she will never make it to the top. When Catherine fumbles around for her dance card, nervous and excited due to Morris' attentiveness, one might be able to sense her giddiness, and want to reach through the screen and assist her. So real and so palpable is de Havilland's performance, that even her most seasoned fan can watch this film and completely forget that he is watching Olivia de Havilland; this film is about Catherine Sloper, and she is the only one de Havilland presents from the opening frame to the end credits. Ralph Richardson gives a performance of equal magnitude in his portrayal of Dr. Austin Sloper.
Richardson creates a rather believable, rather human duality in the character of Dr. Sloper - after countless viewings of this film, I am still not completely sure if he is more guided by love ('I don't want to disinherit my only child!' ) or spite ('Only I know what I lost when she died.and what I got in her place.'
Richardson tackles each facet of the character with great integrity, never once wavering in his skill and performance. On a technical note, this film is fascinating for director William Wyler's use of space. When several people are conversing in one area, he does not always have them relating to each other all on one level. In the bon voyage scene, for example, Dr. Sloper stands nearest to the camera, gazing away from the action happening to his left. The viewer then has the opportunity to see Morris and Catherine's tender parting moment, Sloper's disgusted reaction, and Aunt Penniman's giddy/uncertain response.
Numerous things occur simultaneously, just as they would in a real-life situation. The multiple layers of action allow even someone who has seen the film countless times to spot something new and different with each viewing. Further, Wyler's use of mirrors and lamp light is stunning as well, and serve to set the mood in a rather large, rather empty (physically and emotionally) mid 19th century home.
I have said so much already, and I know I could say much more in praise of this film if I allowed myself. Suffice it to say, this film is a must-see for all classic film fans, and even for people who don't know they are. It is certainly one of the finest in Hollywood history, and I am confident it will be discussed for many years to come. I have seen this film many times and each time draw a new facet from the Catherine - Dr Austin Sloper - Moris Townsend non-love triangle. But it is my opinion after all these years that everybody underrates Catherine. Many children grow up in the shadow of an esteemed parent whose legend reaches near mythical proportions.
Certainly that's Catherine's misfortune. While her mother was not a world famous starlet, she was worshiped by Dr Austin Sloper and even rambling air-headed Aunt Pennyman cautions Dr Austin that he has elevated Catherine's mother to near Goddess stature to which no woman dare compare. Yet in spite of his open wound constantly gnawing at him whenever Catherine cannot ascend to her mother's level, Dr Austin sees himself as a pure rationalist, one who even contrives to control his own death and the security of Catherine's fortune thereafter. But here's how everyone underrates Catherine: everyone looks at the hard lesson she's dealt without excusing her youthful inexperience and almost no one sees how she's able in the ante-bellum period to be an independent woman, to run a household, give commands to subordinates including the interfering Aunt Pennyman and interact with Maid Moriah (called Maria in the credits but consistently pronounced Moriah in the film) taking charge without talking down to her. Her true voice comes out in the foiled elopement but it is her father's voice: rationality and command. Her father was waiting in vain for her mother reincarnate.
She is her father's daughter, without the musical talent of her mother or her mother's sociability (then called gaiety in times spoken of.) Catherine even inherited her surgeon father's talent for stitch-work which is put to embroidery. The costuming and music is fantastic.
The love song though composed for this film sounds like a tune from the ante-bellum era. 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. 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'. There is no doubt that 'The Heiress' was a triumph for two great stars - Olivia de Havilland and Ralph Richardson.
Made over 50 years ago, this film is still extremely watchable, and the performances stand up as good as anything today. De Havilland's Oscar was well and truly warranted, as this is an acting achievement which covers every range of emotion from innocence to cruelty in an amazing way.
As the plain daughter of a very bitter man, she is able to convey the frustrations, hurt and bitter revenge in a way that is completely believable - just a stunning characterization. As the unfeeling father Ralph Richardson shows his class, and warranted Best Supporting Actor recognition.
Montgomery Clift was miscast to a certain degree, but under William Wyler's direction, he got through Okay. But truly, the film belongs to the two headliners alone. It's a tour de force for Olivia de Havilland as she plays Catherine Sloper, the pathetically mousy daughter of a wealthy doctor (Ralph Richardson) in 19th century New York. Catherine has grown up with her father telling her how clumsy and unattractive she is compared to her late mother, so when a dashing, though penniless, young man (Montgomery Clift) comes to call, she falls head over heels.
De Havilland rightly won Best Actress of 1950, for her stunning portrayal of the meek and frightened girl who, older and wiser, becomes a steely and confident woman. Everything about her changes in the transformation, from her posture to her voice, and above all, her inner bearing.
She's unforgettable. Richardson is also superb as the cruel father and Clift is perfectly cast as the oily suitor.
The magnificent gowns and detailed sets capture the period beautifully and the literate script overflows with memorable lines about harm done in the name of love. This is a very satisfying movie that can be enjoyed again. 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. 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. William Wyler directed the Henry James adaptation of the short story, 'Washington Square' with musical score by Aaron Copeland and starring Oliva de Havilland as Catherine Sloper, Ralph Richardson, Dr. Sloper her father, Montgomery Clift, the fortune hunter Morris Townsend, and Mirriam Hopkins, Aunt Livenia. Set in mid-century New York, it is a character study of Catherine, a guileless, plain, dull, and enormously wealthy only daughter of Dr.
Slocum, a widower. Catherine has been raised without a mother, who in Dr. Slocum's memory was perfection. Unlike her mother however, Catherine is an embarrassment as she is sans social graces, and incapable of achieving a respectable marriage to any man of her social class and wealth.
Her only talent according to Dr. Slocum is she 'embrodiers neatly.' Meeting the handsome Morris Townsend at a family affair, Catherine is enchanted with the smooth, attentive, and socially clever but penniless young man. He is too good to be true and they quickly initiate a whirlwind courtship that culminates in Dr. Slocum refusing to allow Catherine to marry Morris, and taking her to Europe to forget him. On their return, Catherine secretly meets Townsend who has been charming Aunt Livenia in the Slocum house while the family was abroad, and she facilitates the couple's secret rendezvous and plans to elope without the consent of Dr. Threatening to disinherit Catherine from her enormous fortune on his death, Slocum cruelly informs his innocent daughter that her intended is only marrying her for her money for she has nothing else to offer any man.
The truth of her father's disdain and the opportunity to break away from him by carrying out a secret elopement the night of their return from Europe spurs Catherine to agree to Morris' plans. Blindly, she informs Morris that her father will cut her off with only a third of the expected amount of her inheritance, but they will live on love and she will make him a devoted, faithful, and comfortable home. At this news and unaware to Catherine, Morris promises to return at midnight but instead deserts her. Leaving her waiting for him in the parlor, the wizened Catherine is shattered, bereft, but with her respectability intact. The resolution of Morris' actions and Catherine's newly found mature 'voice' takes on the true Henry James twist with the finest third act of the film left for the return of Morris to Catherine's parlor.
Wyler uses the manners and architecture of the 19th century upper class parlor to the full extent through the formal interior settings, panel doors, furniture, and expectations of the kinds of infringements that Morris has enacted on Catherine in subtle ways. When he leaves his gloves on the front hall table, Dr. Slocum is aware of Townsend's intention to move in to his home over his objections through courtship of Catherine. Later, Morris leaves an empty brandy cordial, cigar wrapper, and use of the private library of Dr. Slocum's home during the family's absence, an act that was akin to dogs scent marking their territory.
Instead of taking his leave from a serious father/daughter discussion between Dr. Slocum and Catherine over the objections to Morris' proposal for Catherine's hand, Townsend manipulates Catherine's unwitting interjections on his behalf to her father, and allows a woman to fight his battle instead of doing the manly and correct thing. Catherine, unaware of these signs and their meanings until her abandonment, stages her own revenge on the duplicitous, greedy suitor presenting him with his wedding gift that she's kept over the many years, and then orders the door bolted, closing the heavy brocade parlor drapes, and turning off the lights at Morris' second elopement scheme. As a lamp's light marks her movements up the staircase through a transom window and to the intimate family bedrooms upstairs, Morris is shut out from Catherine's heart, money, and the house he'd brazenly announced to Aunt Penniman was his 'home.' It is a masterful scene that is one of the most chilling in film history.
Oliva de Havilland won an Oscar for this performance which is matched by the exceptional performances of Ralph Richardson, Montgomery Clift and score of Aaron Copeland. Subtle, nuanced, and deliberate, de Havilland changes on screen from plain Jane to mature, confident and attractive simply through her voice, hair, and posture. It is a gesture that did not rely on gaining weight and shedding it for the role, nor allowing herself to don prosthetics which today's actresses rely. Instead, de Havilland's tenor of voice is audibly heard to deepen and lower signaling her new maturity in one scene between Catherine and Morris as they plan their forbidden elopement. Miss it, and you will have overlooked one of the most subtle acting performances captured on film. Worth viewing and an excellent addition to classic collections of great films, Wyler's The Heiress is a significant film to announce the entrance of the post-War American woman to film audiences. Superlative version of the James novel sharpens and refines the book.
Olivia, always a fine actress, gives one of her defining performances revealing the many layers of Catherine during her evolution from doormat to bruised and wary but empowered woman. Clift gives a sly performance, his natural beauty aiding in the belief that he could be a rake living off his looks. Sir Ralph Richardson is simply great as the thoughtlessly cruel father, hinting that in his own obtuse way he has no understanding of what he thinks of as protecting his daughter is actually crippling her and his malice towards her something he doesn't comprehend. Miriam Hopkins is perfectly cast as the flighty Aunt Penniman her fluttery gestures making her seem more vapid than she really is.
Selena Royale is also fine as the other sister even though in a smaller role, she, Miriam and Richardson share a fantastic scene that clarifies the relationship of the entire family and his inability to see beyond his own view point no matter the cost. All their superior work would be for naught though were it not for Wylers sure handed direction that keeps the sometimes heavy dramatics feeling personal and involving. 'The Heiress' is that most difficult of cinematic challenges: the filmed stage play. Some filmed plays succeed: 'Harvey,' 'Dial M for Murder,' 'Wait Until Dark,' 'Long Day's Journey into Night.' Some don't: 'The Bad Seed,' 'Bells Are Ringing,' 'Damn Yankees.' 'The Heiress' presents particular problems in that it was produced for the stage in 1947 and embodies all the classical construction of the 'well written' play. Both the play and film were written, masterfully, by Ruth and Augustus Goetz.
Director William Wyler, that genius, 'opened up' the play JUST enough, unobtrusively and plausibly, to make a true film out of a drawing room drama. The actors are superb. The lighting and cinematography add depth and emotion. But it's the Goetzs' script that ensures 'The Heiress' its place in stage and cinema history.
Not 'showy,' as Tennessee Williams was already becoming after his brilliant 'Glass Menagerie,' nor fraught with his 'titanic' and increasingly drug-addled overwrought emotions and histrionics in 'Streetcar Named Desire', 'Orpheus Descending', and 'Suddenly, Last Summer', 'The Heiress' is set in the previous century, the late 1800's, and embodies an earlier theatrical tradition, though written in the late 1940s. 'The Heiress' is entirely dialogue-based and depends wholly on words rather than Williams-esque 'nervous breakdowns' and then-'perverse' sexual undertones for its power (and its stellar performances of that dialogue). The era of its period social setting demands emotional repression, graceful self-containment and surface noblesse oblige, which make the seemingly quiet emotional whiplashes so ultimately devastating. The script is so brilliant and the characters so perfectly (and economically) delineated that, on repeated viewings, there is NO 'bad guy'! Everybody's motives and character-arcs are clearly understandable and justified. Nothing and nobody is cut-and-dried or predictable, which makes each character all too human and, finally, haunting.
Everybody loves each other. Everybody hurts each other. In little ways that subtly, inexorably, build to a shattering climax. Both on stage and screen, 'The Heiress' is truly a remarkable achievement of craft. The Heiress is directed by William Wyler, is based on the novel by Henry James and stars Olivia De Havilland, Montgomery Clift and Ralph Richardson.
This adaptation of Henry James novel Washington Square,is nothing less than a masterpiece.Filled with subtle but powerful performances this is a haunting story of psychological cruelty and a deeply moving love story. Olivia De Havilland won a well deserved Oscar for her unforgettable portrayal of a jilted and emotionally broken woman. It's 1849 and in the wealthy city block Washington Square young,shy and dreadfully plain Catherine Sloper(Olivia de Havilland)is the dutiful and deeply undervalued daughter of the respected Dr.Austin Sloper(Ralph Richardson).Austin bullies her emotionally and is forever putting her down and telling her to be more like her beautiful dead mother. Because of this she is dreadfully shy and dislikes social occasions.It falls to her kindly,romantic and highly excitable aunt Lavinia Penniman(Miriam Hopkins)to try and get her married.At an engagement party for her cousin,Catherine meets the handsome Morris Townsend(Montgomery Clift)he is attentive to her and for the first time in her life she falls in love.
Dr.Sloper objects to their plans for marriage on the grounds that he believes Morris to be after Catherines thirty thousand dollar fortune. After many struggles Morris abandons Catherine.Once this happens Catherine transforms into a hardened and cold woman who refuses to have anything to do with love and now feels all compliments directed towards her are false or jokes. One of the most unforgettable portrayals of the effects of psychological cruelty ever put onto either paper or film.The Heiress is an experience which once seen you'll never forget.A special mention must go to Edith Head's costumes and Aaron Copeland's Oscar winning score. After years of waiting to see this film, I finally saw it yesterday! Excellent film with Olivia de Havilland giving a stunning performance as spinster and heiress Catherine Sloper (though I still think she was even better in The Snake Pit). Ralph Richardson is also brilliant as her cold, cruel father, and Montgomery Clift.well, you shouldn't trust Morris Townsend for a second, but when he looks LIKE THAT, you can forgive him anything! Let's not forget Miriam Hopkins who is also very good.
Wyler has directed many of my favourite films, and he gets an intelligent screenplay from James' famous novel to work with here. The film actually deviates and, in my opinion, improves on the original source material, strengthening Catherine's character and her actions in the pivotal final scene. Just a marvellous experience.
A handsome, icy film adaptation of Henry James's novel 'Washington Square.' Olivia de Havilland is a far cry from Melanie Wilkes as Catherine Sloper, a socially awkward ugly duckling who becomes the target of a gold digger, the dashing Morris Townsend (Montgomery Clift), who loves the idea of Catherine's inheritance more than he loves her.
Catherine's father, imperiously played by Ralph Richardson, is horrible to Catherine, always comparing her to his late wife and finding her lacking, but he does feel a protective instinct for her and sees Morris for what he is. When her father threatens to disinherit her if she moves forward with marrying Morris, Morris himself takes to the hills, leaving Catherine jilted and devastated. Scorned one too many times, she becomes a bitter, hollowed out shell of her former self and displays a cold cruelty that rivals her father's.
'The Heiress' is masterfully directed by William Wyler, and it's surprisingly suspenseful. The acting is superb from everyone: de Havilland, Clift, Richardson (who can reduce someone to a shriveled husk with the raise of an eyebrow), and Miriam Hopkins, in the role of Catherine's romantic and not-so-very-practical aunt. My only quibble with the film is its abrupt ending that stops short. I wasn't ready for it, and expected the story to go further. In a way, though, that's a compliment, because it's basically saying that I didn't want the movie to end.
THE HEIRESS is now my all-time favourite film, surpassing THE GHOST AND MRS MUIR, which was the top of my list for many years. For me, everything about this film is perfection: the acting, the superb screenplay, the wonderful score, the direction, the attention to detail. THE HEIRESS gets better and better with each viewing. But the best aspect of this film is Olivia deHavilland's portrayal of the tragic, pitiful Catherine Sloper who, denied a life of being loved by her resentful father, falls in love with the first man who shows her kindness. A classic and a must for any serious film lover's collection. The pains of love last all of your life-10/10. Many people have stated that the only false note in this movie was in the casting of Montgomery Clift as Morris Townsend.
I don't subscribe to this thought. The only false note, and it's not really a false note, that I can take away from this film is in trying to believe that Catherine Sloper (Olivia De Havilland) isn't a beautiful woman. Yes, I know she's made to look very plain and awkward in comparison to the other women in town (most notably at the ballroom dance), but Catherine comes off refreshingly human while also maintaining a very subtle and innocent beauty. Catherine may be awkward outside of her own environment (doing embroidery at home), but with the right positive reinforcement (either from her Father or from a lover) she could be more like the perfect woman, her mother. That's why it becomes a source of frustration for Catherine that her father, Dr.
Austin Sloper (Ralph Richardson) is constantly belittling her character by judging her through his vision of the ideal woman, his deceased wife, throughout the film. Does he think he's protecting her from the obvious and eventual pain of rejection she would feel? Or is he in fact, just protecting her financial inheritance? In any case, Catherine has never been able to exorcise the ghostly perfected image of her deceased mother that her father keeps alive and warm by treating Catherine so coldly. Although Catherine's father is a real bastard, you get the feeling that he is trying to do the best thing for her, in his own way. One thing is certain; the performance put in by Ralph Richardson is nothing short of breathtaking. With Olivia and Ralph putting in such incredible performances, it's no wonder that Montgomery gets overlooked.
Just remember, this was Montgomery Clift's third film and he was still capable of keeping step with two very seasoned actors. While it's true that at times Montgomery Clift invokes an acting style that falls somewhere outside the time of the character, he never loses step with the scene, or with the other actors. One of the most touching scenes in the film occurs when Morris is playing a song for Catherine on the piano.
Morris speaks the words of the song directly to Catherine, seducing her while at the same time prophetically outlining both his and her fate, 'The joys of love, they last but a short time, the pains of love last all of your life'. Although it may be difficult for the viewer to figure what Morris' intentions are with Catherine, Dr.
Sloper has an idea that Morris is looking somewhere beyond love. His distrust of Morris stems from the idea that not only is Morris a likely gold digger, but that he actually doesn't love his daughter at all. Sloper cannot imagine that anyone could love his daughter for who she is. It is this belief that will ultimately be his own cross to bear during his dying days.
By the end of the film, the transformation of Catherine from a shy and awkward girl to a hardened and abrasive woman is eye opening. Where there once was a girl who hoped against hope for a midnight carriage elopement to arrive, there became a woman who had lost all hope for happiness and love while embroidering an alphabet sign made of yarn. Although Catherine has a moment when her lost love flickers anew upon Morris' return, she quickly regains an inner strength, and cunningly deceives Morris in return by leading him to believe they could rekindle their lost love. Catherine requests that Morris get them that long lost midnight carriage so they can finally get married. As Morris walks out of the Sloper house, Catherine requests that the maid shut and bolt the door. Catherine sits back down to finish her embroidery. As she cuts the last bit of yarn from the embroidery, she has effectively severed herself from Morris altogether.
As if that scene wasn't emphasis enough, we get to see Morris' reaction to being locked out. It turns out to be the biggest emotional wallop of the film. Just as the Paramount logo starts to come into frame we see Morris pounding his fists onto the front door through the fading film, trying desperately to be heard, to prolong the movie, anything just to get back inside the house. The wonderful musical score by Aaron Copland swells up loudly to drown out the pounding of Morris' fists as he pounds away silently in time with the music. Clark Richards.
—. 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 Morris' intentions, never having been called on before by a gentleman, but she quickly falls in love with him, as he does with her.
They plan to be married. Being a romantic, Lavinia does whatever she can to advance their relationship. Sloper does not trust Morris, believing him to be a fortune hunter who is only interested in Catherine for her sizable inheritance.
His beliefs are strengthened after a candid discussion with Morris' sister, Mrs. Sloper does whatever he can to prevent the two from getting married - the entire reason for his disapproval which he does not fully disclose to either Catherine or Morris - including taking Catherine away for an extended European vacation.
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Ultimately, incidents with both her father and Morris permanently change Catherine's view of life. —. Catherine Sloper lives with her father Dr. Austin Sloper, a prominent and wealthy physician, and her aunt in 19th century New York. Catherine's mother died a few years ago and her father still lives in the memory of his beloved wife.
While he is not unkind, there is little Catherine can do that in her father's eyes to meet the perfection that was her mother. Catherine is very shy and has a very limited life. Her world changes when she meets the handsome but penniless Morris Townsend.
They spend time together and it leads to love and plans for marriage. Sloper mistrusts Townsend's intentions believing that his interest is primarily in the fortune that Catherine will inherit on his death. Defiant, Catherine pushes ahead with her plans even under threat of being disinherited. —.
In 1840's New York Catherine lives with her father, Dr. Her mother died some years before, and Dr. Sloper still idolizers her, and never misses an opportunity to compare her daughter to her - a comparison the daughter can never win. When Morris Townsend, a handsome but pennyless young man, comes along, and woos and wins his daughter's heart, Dr. Sloper is sure that he is after her considerable inheritance, and opposes their marriage. Sloper takes his daughter to Europe in hopes she will forget Morris, but she does not.
After Catherine returns to New York, the young lovers plan to elope. Sloper threatens to disinherit his daughter. Will this dissuade Morris? —. Catherine Sloper is a shy and backwards young woman who lives with her father, Dr. Austin Sloper, in 1849 New York. By all accounts Catherine's mother was a beautiful and graceful creature with the charm of queens.
Catherine never knew her mother since she died while in childbirth, but her father often reminds her of all the things her mother was and that she is not. Catherine inherited a great deal of money after her mother passed and will inherit twice as much more at the passing of her father. So, when a poor but handsome and well-bred man, Morris Townsend, begins to court Catherine, her father becomes suspicious that he must be after her money. After all, Catherine is plain and boring. What could she possibly offer to this young man - other than her money? When she refuses to give up her new beau her father threatens to disinherit her. Will her father eventually convince her to give him up and wait for a suitable husband?
Will Catherine and Morris elope and live on the money left to her by her mother? Or could it be that Catherine finally finds all the grace and charm of her mother only to use it against the men in her life?