"The Heiress," on 06/04/2023 at 3pm ET / 1 pm MT
Jun 5, 2023 15:17:51 GMT
topbilled, Andrea Doria, and 1 more like this
Post by Fading Fast on Jun 5, 2023 15:17:51 GMT
My take.
The Heiress from 1949 with Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson and Mariam Hopkins
Throughout time, marriages have often been based on some degree of tradeoff where one person brings wealth and/or position and the other person brings pulchritude and/or a joie de vivre.
It's so common that the arrangement can be overt as when young men used to present their financial situation to the young woman's father when asking permission to marry that man's daughter. A dowry, too, can often be just another version of this exchange.
Life is messy and love, as important as it is, does not conquer all. If there is basic good will and some genuine affection between the two betrothed and everyone acts with thoughtful moderation, these arrangements can work out.
It can also get quite ugly as seen in The Heiress, especially when a bitter, and passive-aggressive father has beaten the spirit out of his plain Jane daughter. When too many things are or get broken, there's not enough left to hold these pacts together.
Olivia de Havilland plays the plain Jane daughter of a wealthy physician, played by Ralph Richardson, who in a passive-aggressive way, regularly and unfavorably compares his unwed adult daughter to his deceased wife.
When a young and handsome man of no means, played by Montgomery Clift, takes an interest in the usually ignored de Havilland, she is elated, as is her kind but misguided aunt, played by Miriam Hopkins, but father Richardson is skeptical.
Set in fine de siecle New York, the entire courting process is ritualized, which adds to the tension as Clift is supposed to ask papa Richardson for de Havilland's hand. Further complicating things is de Havilland's finances.
She already has a substantial income left to her by her mother, but her income will triple when/if she inherits her father's money. His approval, thus, is not an absolute necessity for her marriage, but a substantial nice to have. As we'll learn, it is also leverage.
Is Clift interested in de Havilland's money, yes. Is he only interested in de Havilland's money, maybe. Does Richardson believe Clift is honorable? Richardson does some honest due diligence and the results are not conclusive, but not favorable.
That setup leads to the movie's first big climax. With her father opposing the marriage, de Havilland wants to elope with Clift on just her money. Clift, though, is hesitant on the night of the pending elopement because eloping would mean losing her father's inheritance.
On that same fateful night, Richardson, learning of his daughter's plans, drops the passive-aggressive cover and cruely (there is no other word for it) lets his daughter know how little he thinks of her.
Now reeling, de Havilland also learns that even her well-intentioned, but stupid, modestly selfish and clumsily manipulative aunt thinks little of de Havilland's prospects for a good marriage if not for her money.
It is an incredible series of emotionally crushing scenes brilliantly directed by William Wyler who put his ego aside and let Henry James' outstanding material and his talented cast drive the story with few directorial flourishes.
The writing is so strong and actors so skilled, that Wyler simply allowed it to play out relatively undisturbed, only employing tactical directorial emphasis as when he'd captured a telling look or a revealing bit of body English.
After the first shattering climax, the movie speeds through several more life-altering events. We see a wiser but now bitter de Havilland find her voice. Her transition to being her father's equal is an acting triumph that was rightfully acknowledged with an Oscar for de Havilland.
Richardson and Hopkins are also up to the material as both give outstanding performances, but Clift's performance is too sleepy at times as he is supposed to be the Tolstoy "a stranger comes to town" change agent.
He, thus, should always be rocking the staid world of Richardson and de Havilland to its core, but most of the real rocking takes place between Richardson and de Havilland with Clift on side.
The second and final climax of the movie is a sad triumph where revenge is employed with such a cold and cunning ruthlessness that it chills even the viewer. Sometimes a morally correct victory can still be a Pyrrhic one.
There are only a few sets in the movie, making it feel a bit stagey. But there is also no violence or traditional "action," as the picture is pure and powerful human drama where hopes, dreams, insecurities, anger and recriminations are painfully and poignantly laid bare.
The Heiress is movie making at its best, which means it is storytelling at its best. It is also Hollywood's studio system at its best. Asked to present an example of Golden Era Hollywood finest work, one could proudly choose The Heiress.
The Heiress from 1949 with Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson and Mariam Hopkins
Throughout time, marriages have often been based on some degree of tradeoff where one person brings wealth and/or position and the other person brings pulchritude and/or a joie de vivre.
It's so common that the arrangement can be overt as when young men used to present their financial situation to the young woman's father when asking permission to marry that man's daughter. A dowry, too, can often be just another version of this exchange.
Life is messy and love, as important as it is, does not conquer all. If there is basic good will and some genuine affection between the two betrothed and everyone acts with thoughtful moderation, these arrangements can work out.
It can also get quite ugly as seen in The Heiress, especially when a bitter, and passive-aggressive father has beaten the spirit out of his plain Jane daughter. When too many things are or get broken, there's not enough left to hold these pacts together.
Olivia de Havilland plays the plain Jane daughter of a wealthy physician, played by Ralph Richardson, who in a passive-aggressive way, regularly and unfavorably compares his unwed adult daughter to his deceased wife.
When a young and handsome man of no means, played by Montgomery Clift, takes an interest in the usually ignored de Havilland, she is elated, as is her kind but misguided aunt, played by Miriam Hopkins, but father Richardson is skeptical.
Set in fine de siecle New York, the entire courting process is ritualized, which adds to the tension as Clift is supposed to ask papa Richardson for de Havilland's hand. Further complicating things is de Havilland's finances.
She already has a substantial income left to her by her mother, but her income will triple when/if she inherits her father's money. His approval, thus, is not an absolute necessity for her marriage, but a substantial nice to have. As we'll learn, it is also leverage.
Is Clift interested in de Havilland's money, yes. Is he only interested in de Havilland's money, maybe. Does Richardson believe Clift is honorable? Richardson does some honest due diligence and the results are not conclusive, but not favorable.
That setup leads to the movie's first big climax. With her father opposing the marriage, de Havilland wants to elope with Clift on just her money. Clift, though, is hesitant on the night of the pending elopement because eloping would mean losing her father's inheritance.
On that same fateful night, Richardson, learning of his daughter's plans, drops the passive-aggressive cover and cruely (there is no other word for it) lets his daughter know how little he thinks of her.
Now reeling, de Havilland also learns that even her well-intentioned, but stupid, modestly selfish and clumsily manipulative aunt thinks little of de Havilland's prospects for a good marriage if not for her money.
It is an incredible series of emotionally crushing scenes brilliantly directed by William Wyler who put his ego aside and let Henry James' outstanding material and his talented cast drive the story with few directorial flourishes.
The writing is so strong and actors so skilled, that Wyler simply allowed it to play out relatively undisturbed, only employing tactical directorial emphasis as when he'd captured a telling look or a revealing bit of body English.
After the first shattering climax, the movie speeds through several more life-altering events. We see a wiser but now bitter de Havilland find her voice. Her transition to being her father's equal is an acting triumph that was rightfully acknowledged with an Oscar for de Havilland.
Richardson and Hopkins are also up to the material as both give outstanding performances, but Clift's performance is too sleepy at times as he is supposed to be the Tolstoy "a stranger comes to town" change agent.
He, thus, should always be rocking the staid world of Richardson and de Havilland to its core, but most of the real rocking takes place between Richardson and de Havilland with Clift on side.
The second and final climax of the movie is a sad triumph where revenge is employed with such a cold and cunning ruthlessness that it chills even the viewer. Sometimes a morally correct victory can still be a Pyrrhic one.
There are only a few sets in the movie, making it feel a bit stagey. But there is also no violence or traditional "action," as the picture is pure and powerful human drama where hopes, dreams, insecurities, anger and recriminations are painfully and poignantly laid bare.
The Heiress is movie making at its best, which means it is storytelling at its best. It is also Hollywood's studio system at its best. Asked to present an example of Golden Era Hollywood finest work, one could proudly choose The Heiress.
