A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Heiress - in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[JSLasher]

William Wyler has always been one of my most revered filmmakers, and his 1949 The Heiress, for Paramount, is a magnificent part of his filmography.

Olivia De Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson, and Miriam Hopkins (she's been discussed quite a bit lately), are the leads, and the film demands to be seen.

The production credits aren't bad.

Photographed by Leo Tover in beautiful black & white, edited by William Hornbeck, and with a score by someone named Aaron Copland, this is a magnificent Paramount production, licensed to Criterion via Universal.

Derived from a duplicate printing negative, the final result is just fine, and seems to mimic what a dupe print would have looked like in the 1950s.

Image - 4.75

Audio - 5

Pass / Fail - Pass

Upgrade from DVD - Without a Doubt

Highly Recommended

RAH

 

[JSLasher]

No one has commented on Aaron Copland's superlative score thus far. So, here goes. Copland refused to accept the Oscar® he received at the 1950 Academy Awards because his score had been tampered with at the insistence of William Wyler, who replaced much of the Main Title music with a syrupy version of Paliser d'Amour arranged by Nathan Van Cleve. Hugo Friedhofer, who received an Oscar® for his score for Wyler's "The Best Years of Our Lives", attended the recording sessions, informing me how superb Copland's main title music was.

 

[titch]

1949 was quite a strong year with "Battleground," "The Third Man," "A Letter to Three Wives," "Little Women," "Adam's Rib," "Border Incident," "Champion," "Edward, My Son," "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon," "The Set-Up," "White Heat," and, of course, "The Heiress."

Don't forget the best of them all: Gun Crazy! Stanley Donen's On The Town and Nicholas Ray's They Live By Night were also 1949 vintage. Ralph Richardson not only starred in The Heiress in 1949 but should have won an Oscar for his performance in The Fallen Idol that same year. I've just seen The Heiress for the first time, as Criterion released the UK version this week. What tremendous performances - I should be watching far more of the classic films in my collection.

 

[Dick]

It's overdue on Blu Ray, like "Roman Holiday". I wonder what these studios are waiting for concerning such best film Oscar nominees and classics.

In the case of ROMAN HOLIDAY, it's just Paramount, which doesn't want to license out its scores of great in-demand classics. They're the Wade Williams of studios. God, even Disney (through its club) is beginning to come through. Hope it continues!

 

[Michel_Hafner]

For a transfer coming from internegative this looks mostly mighty good when no opticals are involved. Could have fooled me at times to guess it was IP or OCN.
Apparently Mr. Clift did not think much of de Havilland's performance, Oscar or no Oscar. To me she's not really believable before she's deserted (partly because she overdoes it IMHO and partly because she's simply too beautiful to play an unattractive clumsy mouse), but after, very much so. When she climbs these stairs with the heavy suitcase (on retake 40 or so) her face speaks volumes. Wyler was right to use a really heavy suitcase in the end.
And now please in that quality or better: A Place in the Sun/The Search

 

[Jay_Z_525]

I had never seen The Heiress prior to the Criterion release and was really blow away by what a beautiful movie it was with stellar performances.

One thing caught my eye an caused a bit of distraction for me.

Spoiler

The front door is hung incorrectly, opening out with the hinges on the outside of the door. All Morris had to do was pop the pins out of the hinges and we’d have had a very different ending.

 

[PMF]

“To Each His Own” is still MIA in the land of BD.

This feels like the proper thread to gain updates, or express our requests, as both “The Heiress” and “To Each His Own” are representative of Miss De Havilland’s two-time Oscar wins for Best Actress.

I’m fairly certain that whomever already owns the one will certainly want to make purchase of the other.

 

[Robin9]

“To Each His Own” is still MIA in the land of BD.

This feels like the proper thread to gain updates, or express our requests, as both “The Heiress” and “To Each His Own” are representative of Miss De Havilland’s two-time Oscar wins for Best Actress.

Universal released a Blu-ray disc in Spain - yes, believe it or not, it's not a Spanish bootleg! - but the picture quality is less than ideal. I'm glad I bought the disc but my guess is that, with enough money and dedication, Universal could provide a better transfer. Perhaps Kino could enquire?

 

[benbess]

This is one of those films that I use to teach acting. It's unparalleled as an example of what actors should do to have characterization with inner life, while handling complex dialogue. Richardson with his mocking tones and contempt, Clift playing it like a hero, Hopkins flitting about, yet comprehending the bald truths....

Best of all: de Havilland. She never puts a foot wrong. Her Catherine is like a dog excited to get scraps and instead receiving blows, until finally learning how to bite.
"I can be very cruel. I have been taught by masters."

I agree.

I first saw this film around 30 years ago, and as with probably all who've seen it the ending has stayed with me. In fact it was so powerful that over the years the rest of the movie somewhat faded in comparison in my memory. But rewatching it for the first time today with this blu-ray, and now knowing the ending that it was building toward, I was struck by the artistry in every part of the production, including the performances of the actors. Ralph Richardson, who is so kindly in Dr. Zhivago fifteen years later, plays quite a different character here. The nuances in his performance, however, are quite evident, and there are some shreds of sympathetic things. I've long been a fan of Olivia de Havilland, and this is obviously one of her greatest roles.

I've also long been a fan of Henry James, but here I think it's clear they've improved on the original novel. Although some elements are quite faithful, and some dialogue is word for word, the writers of the play and the screenplay have effectively sharped some elements, including the ending, while also effectively making some more ambiguous and sympathetic, including the character played by Montgomery Clift. Below the free text of the original novel that I compared the movie with today. My guess is that if Henry James could have seen this movie he would have been quite pleased at the changes that heighten the drama while still remaining true to the spirit of the novel.

Washington Square, by Henry James

www2.newpaltz.edu

There are effective extras on this blu-ray too that are helpful for people like me who have been ruminating over this movie in the backs of their minds for years. It's fascinating that Olivia de Havilland herself, after seeing the play, was instrumental in then getting William Wyler to see it, and in getting the movie made. For that last walk up the stairs apparently he had her do it about three dozen times, with a heavy battery pack around her waist to light the lamp.