A masterpiece of mise-en-scène and repressed emotions.

Very well written, with interesting characters and a good cast. Havilland as the heiress Catherine is particularly fantastic. It does become a bit over-insistent during some stretches of time, where (from a text-heavy script) I might have expected more complexity, more nuance in the development of the relationships. Nevertheless, it is always intelligent.

William Wyler is one capable director. He had the advantage of surrounding himself with the best people in the business and knowing exactly what to do with them. Tremendous cast.

The film is deft, and de Haviland is indeed marvelous, calling upon a layered subtlety that is somewhat atypical for the era. As the suitor, Clift is just ambiguous enough about his character's intentions to heighten the sense of uncertainty. The film poses an intriguing, perhaps unanswerable question: if happiness is predicated on a deception, does it really matter? Is contentment, a joyful satisfaction with life, reward enough, regardless of the shadows that may exist behind it?

De Havilland and Richardson are excellent in this version of Henry James' "Washington Square."

A film about men who hates mediocrity that is ironically pretty mediocre itself. Too slow and simple by today's standard, and visually quite plain compared to it's contemporaries, the true merit of this film is that it touches upon how men loving their children is a social construct, and not something that they actually do.

Watching the cracking work by Olivia de Havilland, I kept thinking "they should've given her an Oscar for this" and, lo and behold, it turns out they did. She's amazing here, her convincing transformation crucial to the superbly written tragedy which has quite a mean streak, as memorable as that gone through by Naomi Watts in Mulholland Dr., and her masterful emoting throughout approaching the league of Falconetti's. It's her film but the supporting cast is strong as well. Highly entertaining.

I really liked it and it is further proof that Wyler can be a far more skilled craftsman than garbage like Ben-hur might have you believe. The Heiress is a very well scripted, well acted film which delivers all that it needs to and is very compelling.

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An elegy that I just can't bear to watch but every few years. Olivia is superb!

This movie has the most HARDCORE ending for any film I've seen that was released in 1949. I'm surprised that there hasn't been a more mainstream remake of this one yet.

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At times the acting is too melodramatic for my tastes, making it almost feel like a dark comedy, but it's a wonderful script and the performances are captivating.

A very good melodrama. I really like the moral complexities of the story, giving Clift's character and motives a highly welcome ambiguity. Also, de Havilland, whose acting normally doesn't age very well, gives a great performance here.

Superb melodrama. The casting is perfect, with a terrific supporting performance by Miriam Hopkins (who had aged quite gracefully since her delightful work with Lubitsch). Wyler's direction is a bit workmanlike and unremarkable, but he gets the job done and has such fine source material to work with. This is a really compelling story with nuanced characters and complex interpersonal drama. Very satisfying.

good movie, see it if you're into this type of classic love dramas. i saw it mainly for copland's score, and wasn't disappointed

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