from timid to feisty

read an article about olivia de havilland this week and i've always been enraptured by her beauty. her timid melanie was the perfect foil to the feisty scarlett in gone with the wind. by chance, i was able to record one of her classic portrayals in my tiny telly, the heiress (1949), an adaptation of a play of the same title based on henry james novel, washington square, with montgomery clift as the dashing morris townsend. the movie is nothing half-hearted nor flimsy like the heaven and earth plots of romnick-sheryl offerings of my youth. it's a clash of ideas, profused with several layers of emotions, with catherine (miss de havilland) and her father (dr. austin sloper) on collision course about her ardent suitor. catherine's dad thought townsend is only after her money, she thought differently. paraphrasing my favorite lines in the film below, dr. sloper words stung, but it was the 1840's new york when women dresses in ball gowns and rides in horse carriages.

"No?" he bellows, his patience having run out. "What else then, Catherine? Your beauty? Your grace? Your charm? Your quick tongue and subtle wit?" Ah, there's one thing you do quite well, you embroider neatly.

with those words, catherine was no longer ambivalent and lacking courage, that seemingly poignant characterization that earned de havilland her second academy award. morris townsend meanwhile, despite the appeal and flatteries, had no spine. ahh, montgomery clift, totally gorgeous even in black and white. he simply made me forgot warren beatty in splendor in the grass.