MovieChat Forums > The Heiress (1949) Discussion > Your favorite moment--mine is...

Your favorite moment--mine is...

posted 19 years ago by Doylenf
74 replies | jump to latest

The first big love scene where Clift plays the piano for her. He tells her that on his tenth visit she might sit next to him. I love the way de Havilland says: "Mr. Townsend. You are very bold."

And then the timid kiss on the cheek after she tells him she loves him. They both played this scene to perfection while the strains of "Plaisir d'Amour" rise in the background.

Your favorite scene?

Another: standing up to her father for the first time. The look of astonishment on Richardson's face and the strength in her voice always fascinates me.

[–] Percivalx 18 years ago

Aside from the ending, I like the moment at the party when Morris appears with the two cups to Catherine's surprise just as she's dancing with the older man.

[–] tforster42 18 years ago

I love it when Catherine tells her father to disinherit her - then she goes and gets pen & paper and sits beside him and begins to write the new will for him - she calls his bluff so well!

I also love it when Catherine is sitting on the stairs waiting for Morris & her father to complete the "engagement" transaction. When the parlor doors open, Catherine smooths her dress in preparation to go down and be received. However, when Morris exits the parlor, Catherine sees that things have not gone well. Instead of slinking back up to her room - she runs down the stairs and takes charge of the situation - this is the real turning point for her.

Also, the juxtaposition of the sweet, shy, anxious Catherine during the first half of the movie - to the cold, composed, calculating Catherine at the end of the movie - is what acting is all about. Olivia DeHavilland is a master!

[–] chipe 18 years ago

I liked the moment at the same party when her father, the Doctor, graciously ran to his daughter's assistance when she awkwardly started dancing with the drink glass in her hand. The Doctor grabbed the glass from her hand. Sweet scene. [I see I made the same point, above, on June 21, 2006 post; sorry; forgot.]

[–] mrbentley2 18 years ago

My favorite moment is the entire film! However, there are a few standouts.

The interchange between Mrs. Penniman and Catherine in Catherine's bedroom while they dress for the party.

THE ENTIRE ENGAGEMENT PARTY SCENE -- from beginning to end is a film unto itself.

Dr. Sloper's interview with Morris. Incredible!

Don't you wish you could still get 6 pounds of fish for 30 cents?

I like the dialogue between Mrs. Penniman and Catherine:

CATHERINE: What shall I talk about?

MRS. PENNIMAN: My dear, you shall not have to do the talking. He's come a-courting.

CATHERINE: Courting? Me?

MRS. PENNIMAN: Well, certainly not me, Miss!

Fabulous. I could go on, but what's the point? The whole movie is amazing.

[–] thegr8defender 18 years ago

Oh, so many of my favorites have been named here. But one hasn't: When Catherine's aunt hears the story of Catherine's confessing her father's anger and his having cut her off without a cent. She asks Catherine, in sorrow, "Why couldn't you be more clever?". In other words, why couldn't she have withheld this information until after the wedding. She loves her niece, we can see this, but even she wasn't deluded by Morris and knows that he won't be back now that Catherine has nothing.

What a fantastic film! But I disagree with the people who feel triumphant for Catherine at the end of the film. Sure, she gets her revenge, but at what price has this come about? As she says, she's been taught cruelty by masters. And now any hope of a happy life is pretty much gone for her. What one person sees as her cutting the thread of her dependence, I see as cutting the last thread that held any hope.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] bron-tay 18 years ago

I also can't choose a favorite among so many great scenes, but I'll go with:

"Yes, I can be very cruel. I have been taught by masters.

[–] LittleSwallow 18 years ago

That's my favorite scene too. When she said it I was like, "Awesome!"

Or...I just shoot you - "baby."
- Special Agent Dana Scully

[–] jeffreylincoln 18 years ago

...when Catherine sits down to finish her embroidery and we realize she has no intention of going with Morris when he returns.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] lynfoster 17 years ago

This movie is so consistently wonderful that it is difficult to find one favorite scene. I, too, like the scene where Catherine tells her father to disinherit her, where she says that she wished that her father could have let someone else try to love her. The scene where she says she will never embroider again is also a favorite, and finally, I like the end. Excellent ending.

[–] eadoe 17 years ago

I do love all the great scenes when Catherine comes into her own and snaps those sharp remarks to her father (he comments that she has finally found her tongue, only to use it to such a purpose).

But my FAVORITE FAVORITE FAVORITE HEARTWRENCHING scene is when she rushes out in the rain to Morris's arms after coming back from Europe and that incredible Aaron Copland score swells up and up till you feel your heart will burst with sadness for poor Catherine and her doomed longing for Morris, clinging to him like a lifeline after her break with her father, when we know she is only to be set adrift again by yet another man she loves.

On the light side, when Aunt Penniman is coaching Catherine about how to talk to men and Catherine says she doesn't have anything important to say. Aunt P says something like, "But my dear, if you listen to me in society, you will notice that I have very little to say that is important, but that doesn't keep me from saying it!"

"The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power."
- Julius Caesar, act 2 sc 1

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] cpmorr 17 years ago

Mine is towards the end, when her aunt realizes that Catherine intends on deliberately humiliating Morris by bolting the door to him.

Her aunt implores, "How can you be so cruel?"

"I can be very cruel, Aunt", Catherine replies, "I was taught by Masters."

[–] otims 17 years ago

Apart from the obvious, amazing bits (like Catherine ascending the stairs when jilted and at the end), I love the way she says 'He finds me pleasing' when Dr Sloper is telling her that Morris only wants her money. Her innocence, naivete and yearning to be loved are heart-rending. This must be the greatest performance by an actress in film history.

[–] pmcope 16 years ago

So many wonderful moments in this film.....how to choose?
Personally, I loved the scene in the rain best. I loved the way Morris looks at
Catherine, as if he wants to completely consume her. Yeah, I know it's false, but who can blame Catherine for loving him after that? Of course, it makes you hate Morris more, once the romantic haze clears......

[–] Doylenf 16 years ago

Even the way Clift gazed at her during the earlier party scene (where they first meet), you'd think he was looking at the most beautiful woman in the world. He had a way of using that penetrating gaze to get across the duplicity of his character. Chilling. I've come to appreciate his work in the film more than I used to.

And by the way, it was William Wyler who insisted that Aaron Copland use "Plaisir d'Amour" as part of the background score throughout the film. It wasn't Copland's idea at all. In fact, Copland resented it when Paramount decided to use "Plaisir d'Amour" for the opening credits for the final cut of the film instead of the very dramatic music he originally used for the opening. (It can be heard on a suite from "The Heiress" put out on a CD of film music by Copland).

He never got over his dissatisfaction with what they did to his score--but he did win an Oscar for it!!

"Somewhere along the line, the world has lost all of its standards and all of its taste."