--- title: "The Heiress: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-heiress/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-heiress" critics_score: 76 critics_reviews: 8 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Heiress (1949): what the critics said Critics' score 76 from 8 reviews: 6 positive, 0 mixed, 2 negative. Most critics take to The Heiress warmly, and the praise clusters on the acting. Olivia de Havilland’s shift from awkward, unloved daughter to something harder is singled out in nearly every review, and Ralph Richardson’s stern father draws almost as much attention; Montgomery Clift is noted more than admired. William Wyler’s direction is credited with turning a drawing-room piece into a film with real intimacy, watching a household in which kindness covers cruelty, and several reviews find the period detail working for the characters rather than against them. The two dissenters part company over temperature rather than craft. Time Out finds the adaptation plush and painstaking but cold, and dislikes what the heroine becomes by the close. Variety, writing on release, calls it a faithful reproduction of the Victorian scene that ends up a museum piece, while still praising the cast. The spread is wide: six admiring notices against two that find the surfaces handsome and the film cold. ## Radio Times — Tony Sloman Rating 5/5. This immaculately cast and brilliantly directed adaptation of Henry James's Washington Square stands as the most satisfying screen version. Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift and especially Ralph Richardson deliver standout performances in a film whose period detail serves the characters well. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-4c74wm/the-heiress/) ## The AV Club — Keith Phipps Rating A. 21 February 2007. The critic highlights Olivia de Havilland's intense performance as an awkward young woman remade by love and heartbreak. Wyler focuses on power struggles between father and daughter with understated direction that observes characters getting lost in kindness hiding cruelty. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-heiress-1798202368) ## Los Angeles Times — Jon Matsumoto Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 12 November 1992. Wyler brings a confident and intelligent perspective to this intimate, character-driven work based on the Henry James novel, resulting in a truly tragic and moving film. Stellar acting performances, especially Olivia de Havilland's Oscar-winning turn and Ralph Richardson as the stern father, along with literate dialogue, make it a must-see. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-11-12-ol-279-story.html) ## The New York Times — Bosley Crowther Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 7 October 1949. The film is one of the handsome, intense and adult dramas of the year, with Wyler adapting the drawing-room drama into a motion picture that crackles with life and achieves absorbing intimacy. The performances, especially Ralph Richardson as the father and Olivia de Havilland as the daughter, bring full-bodied characters vividly to view while maintaining clarity of personality and emotion. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1949/10/07/archives/the-heiress-with-olivia-de-havilland-in-leading-role-arrives-at.html) ## Slant Magazine — Jake Cole Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 3 June 2019. The critic praises William Wyler's psychologically probing masterwork and keen eye for composition that enhances actors' performances. De Havilland's shift from innocence to tragic-heroine mode and the brutal impact of the protagonist's struggle stand out as highlights. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/blu-ray-review-william-wylers-the-heiress-on-the-criterion-collection/) ## Empire — David Parkinson Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 6 April 2006. The critic praises the film's compelling performances, especially Olivia de Havilland's, and the quality of the source material, noting it as a standard studio picture elevated by these elements. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/heiress-review/) ## Time Out — GB Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. Wyler's plush, painstaking adaptation of Henry James's Washington Square is cold and heartless. The heroine grows into a malevolent old witch rather than a spinster of moral integrity, though the deep-focus clashes between de Havilland, Richardson and Clift are noted along with Copland's icy score. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-heiress) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1948. The Heiress is a meticulous reproduction of the Victorian scene, faithful to its mores but resulting in a museum piece. Strong performances are highlighted, with Olivia de Havilland as the homely daughter, Montgomery Clift as her suitor, and Ralph Richardson grand as the stern father. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1948/film/reviews/the-heiress-4-1200416115/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-heiress.md