Review of The Heiress (1949) by Kim B — 24 Sep 2018

A plain young woman in Manhattan towards the end of the 19th century (Oliva de Havilland) suffers from painful social awkwardness. Her wealthy father (Ralph Richardson) is a widower, and with memories of his beautiful and graceful wife in his mind, feels disappointment in his daughter. Enter Montgomery Clift, a young man without money or an occupation, who sees the good in her, and begins courting her. The father fears he is in it for the money, but the young man is steadfastly earnest in his protestations of true affection. Her aunt (Miriam Hopkins, who was so nice to see) tries to mediate between everyone involved.

I loved how Olivia de Havilland was made up to fit the part, unlike some of the other films I've seen where she's the 'plain one' but looks extraordinary (she is Oliva de Havilland, after all). Here, with her hair matted down into a helmet and her eyelashes thickened, she almost resembles Alfalfa from the old Little Rascals show in some of her scenes. More importantly, she acts the part, with what feels like authentically painful shyness. To see her character grow over the course of the movie, with de Havilland masterful at each stage, is wonderful. One can really see why she earned the second of her two Oscars with this performance.

The exchanges between Richardson and Clift, father and potential son-in-law, are fantastic. I just love the eloquent way they speak, expressing their viewpoints and emotions candidly, but always politely, even if pointedly. We really don't know how it's going to play out, and I won't spoil it, except to say that it's brilliant, especially the ending. There is such depth of emotion here, and the film highlights those moments in life where everything may pivot based on a few actions or comments. The themes of love, trust, acceptance of another's shortcomings, and supporting them just the same are all in play here. The film shows the damage one can do by being too blunt with one's (truthful) candor, in addition to that done by the opposite, being deceitful. Director William Wyler never lets up, and what may sound like a staid, potentially boring story is anything but that; it flies by in its 115 minute run time.