214. The Heiress (1949)

Running Time: 116 minutes
Directed By: William Wyler
Written By: Augustus Goetz, Ruth Goetz, from the novel Washington Square by Henry James
Main Cast: Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson, Miriam Hopkins

JUMPING BACK TO THE '40S TO CHECK OUT A TRUE CLASSIC

Since deciding to go random last week and after a brief hiatus following "The Maltese Falcon", I hadn't watched a movie from the decade of the 1940s in some time. In jumping back to the decade, I wasn't disappointed and was once again reminded of the fact that they made some truly great flicks back in the day.

Olivia de Havilland plays Catherine Sloper, a very homely looking girl, who spends lonely days at home, highlighted by embroidery. She lives with her father, Dr. Austin Sloper, who is constantly comparing Catherine to her deceased mother and trying to coax her to get out of the house more and be more social. One evening, with the help of his sister, Lavinia, Austin finally convinces Catherine to go to a gathering that the family is attending. While at the gathering, Catherine meets Morris Townsend (Clift), a handsome, young bachelor who immediately sweeps her off her feet, both literally and figuratively, as they share a dance and swoon over each other, despite the hesitancy of Catherine. They go their separate ways following the party, but Morris promises that he'll visit and he does...every day, for several days. Following a series of many house calls by the suitor, Dr. Sloper decides that it would only be proper if he invited the fellow for dinner.

Over a conversation at dinner, where Morris reveals that he has no real career and has never saved a lick of money, Dr. Sloper begins to become suspicious of Morris' infatuation with Catherine, for as meager as she is, a gentleman with the looks and smarts of Morris couldn't possibly be in love with his Catherine. However, Morris continues to proclaim his love for Catherine and eventually, although again hesitant, Catherine returns the sentiment. They plan to marry, but after a talk with Dr. Sloper, where he makes his opinions heard, the plans are immediately veered into a different direction. Dr. Sloper proclaims that Morris could only possible be interested in Catherine's ample inheritance and nothing more. Catherine fights with her father and the couple plan to elope, and Catherine plans never to return to the home of her father. They set the meeting time for 12:30am and Morris fails to show up, making Catherine realize that her father was right and that Morris was indeed only interested in the financial perks of marrying Catherine.

Since I had never seen "The Heiress", watching the film with my wife (who had also never seen it) was a fun experiment. While my wife (the romantic) sided with the character of Morris through the first half of the movie, stating that surely he loves her and that the inheritance has nothing to do with his feelings, I tended to side with the father's perspective. I loved watching the film and not really knowing which one of us was right, only being able to guess and finally getting the big reveal and eventual payoff. The cast was excellent and while de Havilland and Clift shone, it was Ralph Richardson who caught my eye, as I loved him in the film and wouldn't mind seeing some more of his work. If I had to gripe about anything it would only be that I wish they had held the father's tongue for a little bit longer, before he made his opinions about Morris known. It would've given the audience a chance to draw our own conclusions about Morris, instead of having the ideas put into our head by the Dr. Sloper character. But that, my friends, is only a minor gripe and in the end, what I thought would be a film not for me, turned into a really great one and a good time for me and my wife at the movies.

RATING: 7.5/10 I constantly blab about knee-jerk ratings and that's what the '7.5' for "The Heiress" is and as I always tend to say, I definitely forsee that rating rising in the future.

MOVIES WATCHED: 139
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 862

September 9, 2010 9:33pm