A Movie You Might Have Missed #79 — The Heiress

It's been 12 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed. 

 

 

When a Woman Loves a Man . . . She Doesn't Want to Know the Truth About Him !

Montgomery Clift and Olivia de Havilland in The Heiress, 1949

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

It comes down to — is he or isn't he after her money? And if he is, is that such a bad thing?

This isn't at all the sort of film I usually like. I have steadfastly avoided Henry James in books and film so when I saw this was loosely based on his novel Washington Square I cringed. However, it was next in our family's journey through William Wyler's work so I settled in. 

What a delightful surprise it was to be so riveted by everything - the direction, acting, dialogue - and to be actively interested in the story. I was genuinely surprised to find two hours had flown by. It felt short and quick. This was practically perfect in every way, especially with the star turns from Olivia de Haviland and Ralph Richardson as her father.

Wyler, you've done it again!