The Heiress (1949 movie)



William Wyler spins Henry James's novel Washington Square into The Heiress, a cinematic battle of wills between a timid old maid (Olivia de Havilland); her cold, arrogant father (Ralph Richardson); and a rakish fortune-hunting suitor (Montgomery Clift). Wyler adeptly harnesses the diverse acting styles -- Hollywood studio, Shakespearean, and Method, respectively -- exhibited by the leads to heighten the psychological tension. Richardson was nominated for an Oscar and de Havilland captured one for her transformation from wallflower to iceberg. A poignant score by Aaron Copland punctuates the inflexibility and deliberate grandeur of 1880s New York Society that Henry James depicted.

The film was named to the National Film Registry in 1996.