The Heiress (1949) on Netflix
Catherine Sloper, the shy daughter of a wealthy New York doctor, meets Morris Townsend, a handsome man with no fortune. Her father, Dr. Austin Sloper, suspects the suitor wants her inheritance.
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Trailer
Plot summary
In 1849 New York, Catherine Sloper lives at Washington Square with her father, Dr. Austin Sloper, a wealthy physician, and his widowed sister, Lavinia Penniman. Her mother died in childbirth, and her father compares her unfavorably to her mother's memory. At a ball she meets Morris Townsend, a handsome young man with no money, and he courts her. Lavinia encourages the match. Catherine, unused to attention, falls in love. Dr. Sloper doubts that Morris loves her and believes he is after her inheritance; he questions Morris's sister, Mrs. Montgomery, and refuses the match. When Catherine insists, he takes her to Europe for a long stay to keep them apart, and Morris urges her to go and appease her father.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Heiress (1949)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Martin Scorsese cited The Heiress as an influence on his 2023 film Killers of the Flower Moon, drawing on Olivia de Havilland's Catherine Sloper and her relationship with Morris for Mollie Kyle and her husband Ernest Burkhart.
- After seeing the play on Broadway, Olivia de Havilland asked William Wyler to direct her in a film version; he pushed Paramount Pictures to buy the rights from Ruth and Augustus Goetz for $250,000 and pay them $10,000 a week for the screenplay. The studio had the couple make Morris Townsend less of a villain to capitalize on Montgomery Clift's romantic image.
- The Heiress won four Academy Awards, Best Actress for Olivia de Havilland, Best Original Score for Aaron Copland, Best Production Design and Best Costume Design, more than any other film nominated that year.
- In 1996 the Library of Congress selected The Heiress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, calling it culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.
