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| A moment of intense rapture is depicted on this elegant poster for William Wyler's The Heiress |
An old maid in New York in the 1840s with a rich father is suddenly courted by a beautiful, younger man, and she is unwilling to share her father's skeptic feelings as to the man's true intentions ...
The Heiress is written by Augustus and Ruth Goetz (Carrie (1952), both), adapting their own same-titled play, which was an adaptation of Washington Square (1880) by Henry James (Confidence (1879)), and directed by German-born American master filmmaker, producer/director William Wyler (Lazy Lightning (1926)), whose 33rd feature it was.
Ideally adapted, elegantly photographed (by Leo Tover (From the Terrace (1960))) and scored with Aaron Copland's (The Red Pony (1949)) mighty compositions. The heavy patriarchy of its time is a part of the portrait, but the story reaches deeper than this.
Olivia de Havilland (The Swarm (1978)) transforms her character credibly in a truly great performance. Montgomery Clift (A Place in the Sun (1951)) is also outstanding SPOILER as the alluring charlatan, and Ralph Richardson (Jesus of Nazareth (1977, miniseries)) is complete perfection as her coolly affectionate, guiding father.
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Ben-Hur (1959) - Perhaps the greatest epic film of all time
The Big Country (1958) - A big western gift
The Desperate Hours (1955) - Wyler's top-drawer true-crime home-invasion thriller
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Top 10: The best adventure films reviewed by Film Excess to dateRoman Holiday (1953) - Wyler takes us to marvelous Rome on an unforgettable romantic adventure
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 2.6 mil. $
Box office: 2.3 mil. $ (North-American rentals only)
= Uncertain
[The Heiress premiered 6 October (New York) and runs 115 minutes. De Havilland brought the play to Wyler's attention after seeing it on Broadway. The Goetz couple were paid 250k $ for the play rights plus 10k $ a week for writing the screenplay. Clift was paid 100k $ for his performance. Shooting took place from June - September 1948 in Los Angeles, California. The film was considered a box office flop due to its 2.3 mil. $ domestic gross, - regrettably the foreign gross numbers have not been made public and without these the film's theatrical status cannot be declared. The film was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning 4: Best Actess (De Havilland), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration - Black-and-White, Costume Design - Black-and-White and Score - Drama/Comedy. It lost Best Supporting Actor (Richardson) to Dean Jagger for Twelve O'Clock High, Cinematography - Black-and-White to Paul Vogel for Battleground, Director to Joseph L. Mankiewicz for A Letter to Three Wives and Picture to All the King's Men. It also won 1/3 Golden Globe nominations and 2 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. Wyler returned with Detective Story (1951). De Havilland returned in My Cousin Rachel (1952); Clift in The Big Lift (1950); and Richardson in Outcast of the Islands (1951). The Heiress is fresh at 100 % with an 8.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
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