onepotato2 Review of The Heiress

The Heiress (1949)

paradoxes intended?

[5/10 · 31 January 2008]

I'm puzzled by the high marks and reputation of this movie. It asks more of a viewer than to just pay attention, which is fine, but it results in a lot of paradoxes. Viewer identification jumps back and forth between Catherine and her father.

• Catherine is an absolute plain-Jane, thick-headed dullard, but the viewer is forced to adopt her viewpoint and invest in her emotional stakes.

• The relationship of Catherine to her father ends up squeezing the Morris plot off the screen, but then the Morris plot isn't that interesting and his motives are transparent to viewers after about 8 minutes. Ultimately this has the effect of making the big twist at the end seem pretty short-changed.

• Catherine is resentful over being correctly informed that her suitor is a dog. In her arrogance she seems to completely excuses herself of blame in the incident. Whose fault is is that she never became worldly? It isn't her father's.

• The Catherine/Dr. Sloper relationship is far more interesting than the diagrammatic obviousness of the Catherine/Morris plot line. Culminating in a parent-child discussion that is never supposed to occur. He's disgusted with his daughters tiresome failure to thrive. As a viewer, I was disgusted with her for the same reason. But Catherine is so dense that he eventually has to grind her nose in her own ignorance and naiveté. The only way he finds to do so is to also burst the socially-sanctioned bubble of protectiveness and flattery to the female ego. Instruments which, in Catherine's case, have actually damaged her.

• When Catherine is finally forced to grow up it's only because her father was so harsh. Her new informed viewpoint can be credited completely to his rude remarks. Ultimately he IS right to offend her. - Catherine treasures her awkwardness up till the break, then she treasures her resentments against Morris and her father. She's not exactly growing.

• She leaves Morris banging on her locked door... that's it? That's your ending? Even her punishment is unimaginative; and a pretty slim reward for a viewer sticking with the movie.

I found Clift mediocre (despite his pride in his own talent) deHaviland only adequate, and Richardson amazing.