The Heiress

[박대선]

상속녀의 주인공은 홀아버지의사의 외동딸이다. 그녀는 예쁘지도 영리하지도 않지만 어머이의 유산으로 30세가 되면 매년 만불을 받게되고 아버지에게서도 그정도의 유산을 받을 예정이다. 지금의 만불이면 그다지 큰 돈이 아니지만 당시 생선 한마리가 몇십센트 정도였으니 지금으로 따지면 약 수십만불에 해당하므로 상당한 액수이다.

그녀의 어머니는 미모가 상당했다. 하지만 그녀는 아버지의 현명함도 어머니의 외모도 물려받지 못했다. 다만 재산만이 유일한 상속이다. 아버지는 죽은 어머니와 딸을 비교하는 버릇이 있었고 이 것은 그녀가 돈을 노리고 접근한 남자와의 결혼에 반대했을 때 돌이킬 수없는 상처를 주게되었다. 아버지가 상속권을 박탈하겠다고 하자 그 남자는 그녀를 버리고 서부로 이주한다.

아버지는 그가 제대로된 직업도 없고 재산도 없으며 직업을 구할 능력도 없다는 것을 알고 그녀가 현명하지도 아름답지도 않다는 것을 알기때문에 그의 누나를 만나 이야기를 해보고 그의 실체를 알게된 것이다. 사실 빠른 시간내에 사랑하게 되었다는 것은 외모나 재산과 같이 명확한 것인데 감정이 청혼할 정도로 빠르게 성숙된다는 것은 누가 보아도 정상이 아니지만 사랑에 빠진 그녀는 그것을 모른다.

아버지가 죽고 그는 돌아온다. 하지만 그녀는 예전의 그녀가 아니다. 그와 아버지에게서 배운 실력과 경험이 그녀를 아름답게 만들지는 못했지만 현명하게 만들어 준 것이다. 그래서 그녀의 입장으로는 최대의 복수를 한다. 즉 그의 변명을 들어주는 척하면서 똑 같은 방법으로 그를 버리게 된다.

사람의 능력의 한도는 끝이 없는 모양이다. 어떻게 멍청하고 보잘것없는 사람이 한번의 경험을 통해 적어도 위엄을 가지게되고 현명하게 될 수 있을까? 우리가 우리 자신의 목표를 너무 작게 잡으면 않되는 이유중의 하나가 바로 그것이고 죽을 때까지 공부해야 하는 이유도 바로 그것이 아닌가 생각한다. 영화의 마무리에 문에 빗장을 걸은후 촛대를 들고 침실이 있는 2층으로 표정하나 변하지않고 올라가는 그녀가 오랬동안 생각날 듯하다.

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This article is about the film. For the play, see The Heiress (1947 play). For other uses, see Heiress.

The Heiress
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	William Wyler
Produced by	William Wyler
Screenplay by	Ruth and Augustus Goetz
Based on	The Heiress by Ruth and Augustus Goetz
Starring	Olivia de Havilland Montgomery Clift Ralph Richardson
Music by	Aaron Copland
Cinematography	Leo Tover
Edited by	William Hornbeck
Production company	Paramount Pictures
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	October 6, 1949 (1949-10-06) (USA)
Running time	115 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2.6 million
Box office	$2.3 million (US rentals)[1]

The Heiress is a 1949 American drama film directed by William Wyler and starring Olivia de Havilland as Catherine Sloper, Montgomery Clift as Morris Townsend, and Ralph Richardson as Dr. Sloper. Written by Ruth and Augustus Goetz, adapted from their 1947 play The Heiress. The play was suggested by the 1880 novel Washington Square by Henry James. The film is about a young naive woman who falls in love with a handsome young man, despite the objections of her emotionally abusive father who suspects the man of being a fortune hunter.^[2][3]

Contents

 [hide] 

• 1 Plot
• 2 Cast
• 3 Production
• 4 Reception
• 5 Awards and nominations
• 6 See also
• 7 References
• 8 External links

Plot[edit]

Catherine Sloper (Olivia de Havilland) is a plain, painfully shy woman whose emotionally detached father, New York physician Austin Sloper (Ralph Richardson), makes no secret of his disappointment in her. He is terribly bitter about the loss of his charming and beautiful wife, whom he feels fate replaced with a simple and unalluring daughter. Catherine is devoted to her father, however, and too innocent to fully comprehend his mistreatment or the reasons for it. When she meets the charming Morris Townsend (Montgomery Clift), she immediately is taken by the attention he lavishes upon her, attention she so desperately seeks from her father. Catherine falls madly in love with Morris and they plan to marry.

Dr. Sloper believes Morris is an idler who is courting Catherine only to get her inheritance, and his interview with Morris' sister only reinforces his suspicion. He tells the young couple his opinion of Morris and takes Catherine to Europe for an extended time, but she cannot forget her betrothed. When they return to New York, Dr. Sloper threatens to disinherit his daughter if she marries Morris. Catherine does not care and plans to elope with him but not before telling him about her father's decision. On the night they are to elope, Catherine eagerly waits at home for Morris to come and take her away, but he never arrives.

Catherine is heartbroken. A day or so later, she has a bitter argument with her father, who makes his disdain for her abundantly clear. Soon afterwards, he reveals he is dying. She tells her father she still loves Morris and challenges him to change his will if he is afraid they will waste his money after he dies. He does not alter the will and dies a short time later, leaving her his entire estate.

A few years later, Morris returns from California, having made nothing of himself but still professing his love for Catherine. He claims that he left her behind because he could not bear to see her destitute. Catherine pretends to forgive him and tells him she still wants to elope as they originally planned. He promises to come back for her that night, and she tells him she will start packing her bags.

Catherine coldly plots her revenge upon Morris. Her aunt asks her how she can be so cruel, and she responds, "I have been taught by masters." When Morris returns, Catherine calmly orders the maid to bolt the door, leaving him locked outside, shouting her name. The film fades out with Catherine silently ascending the stairs while Morris' despairing cries echo unanswered in the darkness.

Cast[edit]

• Olivia de Havilland as Catherine Sloper
• Montgomery Clift as Morris Townsend
• Ralph Richardson as Dr. Austin Sloper
• Miriam Hopkins as Lavinia Penniman
• Vanessa Brown as Maria
• Betty Linley as Mrs. Montgomery
• Ray Collins as Jefferson Almond
• Mona Freeman as Marian Almond
• Selena Royle as Elizabeth Almond
• Paul Lees as Arthur Townsend
• Harry Antrim as Mr. Abeel
• Russ Conway as Quintus
• David Thursby as Geier

Production[edit]

After seeing The Heiress on Broadway, Olivia de Havilland approached William Wyler about directing her in a screen adaptation of the play. He agreed and encouraged Paramount Pictures executives to purchase the rights from the playwrights (Ruth and Augustus Goetz) for $250,000 and offer them $10,000 per week to write the screenplay. The couple were asked to make Morris less of a villain than he was in their play and the original novel in deference to the studio's desire to capitalize on Montgomery Clift's reputation as a romantic leading man.^[4]

The film premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Ralph Richardson reprised the role of Austin Sloper he originated in the London production of the play.

There also was a film called Washington Square in 1997 which was not based on the play, but based directly on the Henry James novel that the play was suggested by.

Reception[edit]

The Heiress received universal critical acclaim and won four Academy Awards. In his review in the New York Times, Bosley Crowther said the film "crackles with allusive life and fire in its tender and agonized telling of an extraordinarily characterful tale" and added, "Mr. Wyler . . . has given this somewhat austere drama an absorbing intimacy and a warming illusion of nearness that it did not have on the stage. He has brought the full-bodied people very closely and vividly to view, while maintaining the clarity and sharpness of their personalities, their emotions and their styles . . . The Heiress is one of the handsome, intense and adult dramas of the year."^[5]

TV Guide rates the film five out of a possible five stars and adds, "This powerful and compelling drama . . . owes its triumph to the deft hand of director William Wyler and a remarkable lead performance by Olivia de Havilland.^[6]

Time Out London calls the film "typically plush, painstaking and cold. . . . highly professional and heartless."^[7]

Channel 4 says of the performances, "de Havilland's portrayal . . . is spine-chilling . . . Clift brings a subtle ambiguity to one of his least interesting roles, and Richardson is also excellent."^[8]

Awards and nominations[edit]

Awards^[9]

• Academy Award for Best Actress (Olivia de Havilland)
• Academy Award for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Black and White (John Meehan, Harry Horner, and Emile Kuri)
• Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Black and White (Edith Head, and Gile Steele)
• Academy Award for Original Music Score (Aaron Copland)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture (Olivia de Havilland)
• National Board of Review Award for Best Actor (Ralph Richardson)
• New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress (Olivia de Havilland)

Nominations

• Academy Award for Best Picture
• Academy Award for Best Director
• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Ralph Richardson)
• Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Black and White (Leo Tover)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture (Miriam Hopkins)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture
• Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Drama

In 1996, The Heiress was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

See also[edit]

• Gothic romance film

References[edit]

1. Jump up ^ The Top Box Office Hits of 1950, Variety, January 3, 1951.
2. Jump up ^ Variety Film Reviews, September 7, 1949, p. 11.
3. Jump up ^ Harrison's Reports and Film Reviews
4. Jump up ^ The Heiress at Turner Classic Movies
5. Jump up ^ New York Times review
6. Jump up ^ TV Guide review
7. Jump up ^ Time Out London review
8. Jump up ^ Channel 4 review
9. Jump up ^ "NY Times: The Heiress". NY Times. Retrieved 2008-12-20. 

External links[edit]

• The Heiress at the Internet Movie Database
• The Heiress at the TCM Movie Database
• The Heiress at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Heiress at AllMovie
• The Heiress at the American Film Institute Catalog

[hide]

• v
• t
• e

Films directed by William Wyler

• Straight Shootin' (1927)
• Anybody Here Seen Kelly? (1928)
• The Shakedown (1929)
• Hell's Heroes (1930)
• The Storm (1930)
• A House Divided (1931)
• Tom Brown of Culver (1932)
• Her First Mate (1933)
• Counsellor at Law (1933)
• Glamour (1934)
• The Good Fairy (1935)
• The Gay Deception (1935)
• These Three (1936)
• Dodsworth (1936)
• Come and Get It (1936)
• Dead End (1937)
• Jezebel (1938)
• Wuthering Heights (1939)
• The Westerner (1940)
• The Letter (1940)
• The Little Foxes (1941)
• Mrs. Miniver (1942)
• Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944)
• The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
• Thunderbolt! (1947)
• The Heiress (1949)
• Detective Story (1951)
• Carrie (1952)
• Roman Holiday (1953)
• The Desperate Hours (1955)
• Friendly Persuasion (1956)
• The Big Country (1958)
• Ben-Hur (1959)
• The Children's Hour (1961)
• The Collector (1965)
• How to Steal a Million (1966)
• Funny Girl (1968)
• The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Heiress&oldid=736672670"

Categories:

• 1949 films
• English-language films
• 1940s drama films
• American films
• American drama films
• American black-and-white films
• Films based on American novels
• Films based on plays
• Films based on works by Henry James
• Films set in New York City
• Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award-winning performance
• Films featuring a Best Drama Actress Golden Globe-winning performance
• Films whose art director won the Best Art Direction Academy Award
• Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award
• Films that won the Best Costume Design Academy Award
• Paramount Pictures films
• Films directed by William Wyler
• Film scores by Aaron Copland
• United States National Film Registry films
• Films based on adaptations