Lizzie Borden Society Forum

TCM- 1 a.m., my time:

The Heiress (1949)   
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The Heiress (1949)
TCM 46 Mar 16 01:00am  Add to My Calendar
Movies, 120 Mins.

**** (Rated NR)

A fortune hunter charms a doctor's plain daughter in 19th-century New York.

Cast: Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson, Miriam Hopkins, Vanessa Brown, Mona Freeman, Ray Collins, Betty Linley, Selena Royle, Paul Lees, Harry Antrim, Russ Conway, David Thursby.
Director(s): William Wyler.
Producer(s): William Wyler.

More info:
http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=in ... 99&intl=us

unfortunately, this is not available on DVD yet. i will get it when it is. i have a dubbed vhs.

it's a great film.

(as a trivial aside -- the remake that was done in the 90s, "Washington Square" -- i think -- is notable to me only in that one of the musicians seen in the beginning is a friend of mine who lives in baltimore -- this was filmed in old part of baltimore)

I did watch it again. The father made the daughter in his own image. And she suffered for it. It was pretty interesting- the relationship between these two.

What about a re-make? Who is in it? I haven't seen that.

Jennifer Jason Leigh plays the de Haviland role. This version is actually returning to the original Henry James title, but I have to admit it can't hold a candle to The Heiress--the final shot of her walking up the stairs, impervious to the volley of knocks on the door sends chills down my spine. It is a change from the book, but it plays more dramatically. Also love Capote's adaptation of "Turn of the Screw," The Innocents, which captures the beauty of the open ending so well!

--Lyddie

This reminded me, at the end, of Lizzie and Andrew.

During the story, "Catherine" was so young, naive, shy, withdrawn and devoted to her father. However, the father did not seem to me, in his apparent relationship with Catherine, to be like Andrew. Yet ultimately- these characters were alike- the father only cared about power over his daughter tho he professed wanting her happiness. Therefore, his affection was a trap- like Lizzie waiting around to gain Andrew's attention, so did Catherine- as tho they were wedded. They both had been fooled. Catherine eskewed parties and society in order to make her widowed father more comfortable at home- like a wife. Lizzie had given her father a ring- or some token of their unique relationship to each other.
Lizzie ultimately became her father, persuing her wealth, aspiring to riches, interested in her real esate holdings to the detriment of loving human contact. This is the choice Catherine made as well. She became superficial like her father- prideful and alone, tho her fortune was intact- at what price?

http://www.trinity.edu/org/tricksters/T ... barzun.htm

This is a link, found and offered by our member Augusta, to an interesting paper which was a speech given at a "symposium celebrating Jack Beeson's opera Lizzie Borden, presented during the 1996 season of Glimmerglass Opera, Cooperstown, New York."

It includes such works as "The Long Arm" and "The Heiress", in analyzing the legend that is/was Lizzie Borden.
I've only just read it, though I had printed it out last week. And didn't I just watch the movie, "The Heiress?"
It's a good paper, with thought-provoking insights into 19th century women through the literature.

it occurs to me i never tried to analyze the movie, i just enjoy the development and the resolution. her father wants catherine to be a copy of her mother, and she is a big disappointment to him. but, yes -- actually, she is much like her father instead under the skin. and it only takes a dose of reality for it to come out. in fact, she gets even with both her father and with morris. somehow i find myself applauding her at the end -- the two male characters are so despicable, they do get exactly what they deserve -- but at what price to her, that's a good question? i suppose the question is whether her ability to love was destroyed along with the destruction of her naivete?

Yes, Eugene. It did seem that way- that her ability to love was destroyed.
And when I think about it, it might very well have been a naive and superficial love Catherine had all along, not a mature love at all. Like being in love with the idea of love- otherwise she could have forgiven.

I wanted her to take Morris and have a life regardless of his first betrayal. She'd at least have an affectionate escort and the possibility of a family.

I like that movie. I don't know why Catherine sat in that house all the time - at the end she was quite pretty. She could have found happiness by meeting someone who was as rich as she or wasn't as materialistic as Morris. I guess Morris did ruin her ability to love. Yeah, that last scene is great. After she gets this 'revenge' on Morris, I wonder if she then would have gotten it out of her system and went on to a normal life.

I never heard of the remake. I'll have to watch for it.