Review: The Heiress

Olivia de Havilland is the title character, the meek and plain daughter of cold-hearted, domineering widowed father Ralph Richardson, whom she lives with along with her more supportive Aunt (Miriam Hopkins). de Havilland falls for young Montgomery Clift, a social climber from a lower class, much to Richardson’s cold disapproval. Clift and de Havilland want to be married, but Richardson (a successful physician by trade) sees the young man as being entirely motivated by money, as he can’t fathom why anyone should want to marry his ‘modest’ daughter for any other reason than money. So he decides to prove his point by suggesting that if the two should marry, de Havilland will be disinherited. You’ll have to watch the film to find out how well that goes down with Mr. Clift.

 

The late, great Olivia de Havilland sure did have a long innings until Father Time finally called on her in 2020 at the incredible age of 104. One of the last of the Golden Era in Hollywood to fall, she was also one of the most underrated and overlooked actresses in cinematic history, as you won’t get the same recognition from her name as that of say Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, or “Gone With the Wind” star Vivien Leigh, for instance. The Academy sure respected her though, awarding her three Best Actress awards as well as two nominees, including for Support Actress in “Gone With the Wind” (where she was the best thing, in my humble opinion). One of those Best Actress wins was for this 1949 drama from director William Wyler (“The Little Foxes”, “The Best Years of Our Lives”, “The Big Country”). Ms. de Havilland is so damn good here and so believable that you don’t even care that she probably would’ve been ten years too old for the role back in 1939 let alone in 1949. As was the case with poor Melanie in “Gone With the Wind”, de Havilland instantly earns your sympathy here. She was a perfectly beautiful woman, but de Havilland really excelled at these unglamorous, plain characters with a good heart. Here she’s a good, pure-hearted, sweet woman about to learn a very important lesson that the world isn’t made full of people like her. However, when she does finally stand up for herself, it’s completely convincing because de Havilland was a versatile and very talented actress. A lesser talent wouldn’t be able to make it work.

 

One of my other all-time favourite actors is here too, Monty Clift. He gives a very fine performance as a social climber who may or may not also genuinely be in love with de Havilland. Oh it’s obvious that he’s interested in improving his social standing, but you aren’t initially sure if he’s also genuine in his love for de Havilland, as the two could both be true. It’s to Clift’s credit that you’re not entirely sure just how much of his interest is financial and how much is romantic until the very end. Even then you might not be entirely certain, actually. Veteran British character actor Ralph Richardson (who came over from the stage version) is also solid playing an extraordinarily cold patriarch, a man who clearly doesn’t put much stock in his daughter’s physical merit nor her character. I love how for the first half of the film, Richardson’s mouth was saying one thing but his face was revealing quite another. It’s actually initially very amusing watching Richardson and Clift’s characters both putting on an act somewhat to seem more virtuous than they are. However, when Richardson can no longer bite his tongue, he strikes hard and cruel. Miriam Hopkins is excellent as de Havilland’s more sympathetic, widowed Aunt.

 

The film’s ending is absolutely brilliant. At first you might actually hate it, but on reflection you’ll realise that due to the way a certain someone plays their character, this film really couldn’t end any other way. It’s quite a bold ending for the period (or at least not ‘happy’ in the traditional sense), but any other ending just wouldn’t have worked based on what we know of the characters involved.

 

The performances are all terrific, the film is solidly made. Some of you will enjoy this a lot more than I did, as it’s not normally my kind of thing. However, a well-made film is a well-made film whatever the genre. Great ending, too. The screenplay is by Ruth and Augustus Goetz (“Stage Struck”), adapted from their 1947 play version of the Henry James novel “Washington Square”.

 

Rating: B-