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The Heiress (1949)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
9/11, 6/22
9/11:
The Heiress is a good, if awkward, film, but it's not that great as many claim it to be.
Although Olivia de Havilland scored an Oscar win as Catherine Sloper, I don't find her impressive enough. In a way, Montgomery
Clift seems to steal the show, but really, it's Ralph Richardson who did. His character's stance against marriage makes
the most sense, yet I wonder why Catherine couldn't wait for a year or two to allow Morris Townsend's true colors to come through.
For a while, I thought I was going to be given the same old Hollywood crap at the end, but luckily, it didn't happen. So,
it's a nice treat for a change.
The big reason for my lowered rating is how awkward the plot is. It doesn't feel believable while I'm being forced
to accept that Olivia de Havilland is a plain-looking woman with dull qualities. Are you kidding me? It's Olivia freaking
de Havilland. The filmmakers should've found somebody else like...Shelley Winters. To make matters worse, an eternally
handsome guy like Montgomery Clift wanting to marry a plain woman isn't going to happen unless he's a drunkard. Either way,
there's no debate: Morris was out for her money.
Although Dr. Sloper may have expressed his feelings harshly toward Catherine, I still side with him. She shouldn't have
renounced him the way she did. So, it'll haunt her until the end of her life. For what it's worth, he's the unrecognized
hero although the situation should've been better handled such as a prenuptial agreement.
All in all, The Heiress is worth watching, but it's not a masterpiece.
6/22:
Although the acting is first-rate for The Heiress, the plot is still weird.
Young man and woman meet for a day, and marriage is suddenly in the air. He decides to abandon her at the last minute but
comes back years later and redoes the one-day proposal. The father is upset about it because of her great fortune. The whole
time, I was like, "Why not wait a year or two to get to know each other? And if the father is so concerned, then
draw up a prenuptial agreement."
I've always thought of Olivia de Havilland as a mix of homely and good-looking. Had she been more of the first part, then
what's going on and how the father perceives her would've made sense. But she leans more toward the second part,
mitigating the intended effect. Hence, it's difficult for me to believe the plot fully. In the meantime, the father is the
problem: his reliance on conditional love. That's why the daughter, having finally woke up, decided to shut him out.
Yet I thought she was supposed to have no brains?
Nonetheless, the performances are superlative. Clearly, Ralph Richardson's is the strongest, and therefore, he deserved
the Oscar. Olivia de Havilland is fine, but they should've gotten somebody else more plain-looking like Shelley Winters to
reach for 100% believability. Montgomery Clift is way, way better than he was in
The Search and Red River by
ceasing to be one-note. Believe it or not, despite their chemistry, Olivia de Havilland and Montgomery Clift never
got along during the filming. On the other hand, Miriam Hopkins is excellent as the foolish sister/aunt.
All in all, The Heiress scores well in all areas but lacks conviction and can sometimes remind
me of Gaslight.