Product Description
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Academy Award winner Olivia De Havilland and Montgomery Clift
light up the screen in this spellbinding, landmark drama. De
Havilland is Catherine Sloper, an aristocratic young woman living
under the scrutiny of her malevolent her. When a handsome but
penniless suitor proposes, her her believes he could only be
after her vast estate and threatens disinheritance. Can she be
rich in love and money? Based on the stage version of Henry
James' renowned novel Washington Square, this is the "****"
(Leonard Maltin) winner of four Academy Awards, featuring an
all-new, digitally remastered picture. A masterpiece of love,
deception and betrayal, The Heiress remains a shining example of
a true cinematic achievement!
Bonus Content:
* Exclusive Introduction by Turner Classic Movies Host and Film
Historian Robert Osborne
* Theatrical Trailer
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Olivia de Havilland's O®-winning performance in The Heiress
is so good that even hard-to-please critic Pauline Kael hailed it
as de Havilland's "finest work ever." Like director William
Wyler's previous masterpiece The Best Years of Our Lives, this
tightly controlled drama is an all-time classic (it was added to
the Library of Congress's National Film Registry in 1996), and as
Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne observes in his DVD
introduction, its reputation has steadily improved with the
passage of time. It was de Havilland who sought the services of
director William Wyler for this superlative film adaptation of
Henry James' 1881 novel Washington Square, after director Lewis
Milestone urged her to see the accled stage adaptation by
married playwrights Ruth and Augustus Goetz. De Havilland had
already won her first O (for her role in the 1946 drama To
Each His Own), and recognized a prestigious rtunity when she
saw one. Wyler enthusiastically agreed, and The Heiress was
fast-tracked for production in early 1949. Released on October 6
of that year, the film eventually earned eight Academy Award
nominations, winning the O® for Best Actress, Art Direction,
Costume Design, and Music (the last for Aaron Copland's splendid
score). When Martin Scorsese was preparing to film The Age of
Innocence in 1992, he cited Wyler's film as a primary influence.
(Washington Square was filmed again in 1997, with its original
title and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Catherine.)
De Havilland is heartbreaking, docile, victimized, and
ultimately cruel as Catherine Sloper, a plain-looking aristocrat
who stands to inherit a fortune from her ailing physician her
(Ralph Richardson), as well as his well-meaning but cold-hearted
demeanor. Dr. Sloper disapproves of Catherine's passionate suitor
Morris Townsend (Montgomery Clift, perfectly cast), certain that
the penniless young man has proposed marriage to win Catherine's
inheritance. Catherine's too much in love to consider this
potential betrayal, and when circumstances lead her to
misinterpret Morris's intentions, The Heiress reaches an
unforgettable conclusion that brilliantly supports the richly
psychological nuance that Wyler brings to the preceding romance.
Universal's "Cinema Classics" DVD is skimpy on extras, but
Osborne's introduction is informative (as always), and despite a
grainy quality of some scenes (typical with films of this
vintage), the DVD transfer impeccably captures the mood-setting
excellence of Leo Tover's flawless cinematography. The film's
original theatrical trailer is also included. --Jeff Shannon