the heiress (1949)

[lester1/2jr]

               



 

              Though I'm sure it didn't win any awards for cinematography,  the bulk of it takes place in the drawing room of  the heiress and her fathers nice house,  this is about as good a movie as i've seen in recent memory. 

    Olivia de havilland does an excellent job playing a girl with no charm.  You really do kind of wince when she opens her mouth, at least at first.  Montgomery Clift is well cast as her sort of suitor and the unvarnished truth about what people need from each other is explored in an emotionally honest and brutal way. 

thumbs up 

Complex, sophisticated and unpredictable drama

also, in this era people went to parties with little books.  There was some sort of order to the dancing music that was played and if you wanted to dance in 4 songs you would write down someones name in the 5th spot.  it's not important where or how these books were distributed.  if you dance a waltz it goes "one two three POINT one two three POINT" or something.  and if you do a good job you can call your cousin arthur a porridge (sp?) head

[BoyScoutKevin]

And this is the role and the film which would earn Olivia an Oscar as Best Actress.

And as an added note, the other man in the picture is the great British actor Sir Ralph Richardson.

[soylentgreen]

Big fan of de Havilland's here.  THE HEIRESS is a great look at the chops that manage to upstage Vivien Leigh, in my opinion.

My absolute favorite performance of hers(even above LADY IN A CAGE!  ) is from THE SNAKE PIT.

What an incredible performance in a production that was, in alot of ways, well ahead of it's time.  I don't know how anybody can make it through the "Goin Home" scene without getting choked up.

I've never been disappointed by an appearance by her, though(on a BadMovies.Org note!) I get a real chuckle at the how unceremoniously Olivia, Fred MacMurray and Ben Johnson are dispatched in THE SWARM. 

[lester1/2jr]

I've seen bits of "the snake pit" on Tm but never sat down and watched the whole thing.  So far the movies I've seen of hers are lady in the cage and this and both were excellent.

[peter johnson]

"The Snake Pit" must've been part of a deal for local TV station WAVY-Ch.10 when I was growing up in Virginia, as this was always being shown at 9am of a Saturday morning(!!).  Hardly childrens' fare -- the rest of the stations would be playing the usual George of the Jungle etc. -- but I was captivated by it as a young'un & years later it still holds up.
And I simply have to plug "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" here, per our Olivia,  as fare more befitting our little group -- Creepy creepy campy campy, baby!!
peter johnson/denny crane

[Allhallowsday]

And I simply have to plug "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" here, per our Olivia,  as fare more befitting our little group -- Creepy creepy campy campy, baby!!
peter johnson/denny crane

Huh?  OLIVIA appears with BETTE in HUSH, HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE.   

[lester1/2jr]

she was in Lady in a Cage which was similar to whatever happened to Baby Jane

[peter johnson]

Whoops!
I have to stop writing from work --
All them thar '40's stars start to blend together as one --
Yes, Hush Hush --
peter j/denny c