On Tuesday Universal releases William Wyler's The Heiress on DVD as part of its new, and welcome, Universal Cinema Classics series (other titles in the first wave of four include McCarey's Going My Way, Milestone's All Quiet on the Western Front, and some dude's Arabian Nights—okay, Rawlins'). Adapted from Ruth and Augustus Goetz's theatrical adaptation of Henry James' Washington Square, it's a finest-hour candidate for all involved: Wyler, costars Ralph Richardson and Montgomery Clift, and most of all leading lady Olivia de Havilland, who gives a wrenching performance and earned her second Best Actress Oscar for it. I had the privilege of interviewing Miss de Havilland for Premiere a few years back and thought the release of this classic on DVD would be a good pretext to provide you all with an expanded version of her reminiscences of the making of the film, which had to be shortened for space considerations when the interview appeared in the October 2004 print edition of the magazine. Take it away, Olivia:
"It was the first and only time [I worked with William Wyler], alas. That was wonderful. Now he was very naughty. Never in any of the publicity of the film or on any occasion did he give any credit to me for--well, that was his prerogative. I understand it. But I was the initiator of that film...
"[At a dinner party, a friend said] ‘I want to talk to you about something. I've just come back from New York where I have seen a marvelous play. Absolutely wonderful.’ He said, ‘Now you've finished The Snake Pit, I've heard wonderful things about it, and you have to maintain, of course, your career by following it up by something of equal, well, quality and importance. This would be the perfect thing to follow The Snake Pit.’ He said, ‘I beg you to get on a plane and see that play.’ So I got on a plane and booked for a matinee the morning I got in. I checked into the St. Regis and over to the theater I went. By the end of the second act I knew I had to play Catherine Sloper. I had to. And then of course after the third I realized I had to make steps right away to get somebody to buy it. It had been playing only a few weeks then.
"Well anyway, I talked it over with my agent who also saw the play at the same time. I said, ‘Look, who would be perfect to direct this?’ We had several thoughts about this. We thought George Cukor would be marvelous. Then we thought, well, William Wyler, too, would be wonderful for this. Well I knew George [Cukor, of course, had directed de Havilland in "Gone With The Wind"—ed.]; we approached George first. And he had too full a schedule to do it. … when went to Willy, Willy turned out to be the best choice of all; he had an independent company which he had just formed. Well what a perfect person, because he could get Paramount, you see, to buy it. And he did. But first of all, he had go and see this play. He did and I sat up waiting for his phone call.
He saw the performance, talked to the Goetzes, telephoned me, kept his promise. And he said, 'I've seen it. I like it. Let's do it.' Three marvelous sentences. I will never forget. And so things proceeded.
It was Montgomery Clift’s second film. Red River was the first, as you know. He took his work very seriously, was wonderfully prepared. But he did have a Polish lady with whom he worked out all of his parts, and she was on the set. So that after he had a rehearsal, he would look up to her to see whether she approved or whether she didn't. Not so much fun for Willy Wyler, as you can imagine. And it wasn't too much fun for me. But it kind of helped me. It helped me with Catherine in a way. It could have been very destructive but I made it helpful. And Ralph Richardson wasn't always easy to work with. He had a terrible British trick of flapping his gloves during a scene. I mean, it was a wonderful cast, and he was a marvelous actor, marvelous person. But little naughty things he did—that you're playing an intense scene with him and he will be clapping his gloves like this. I knew from just working with him it was a British theater trick. And I went to Willy and I said, “This is very distracting to me. And it will be very distracting for the audience.” And he said, “Don't worry—[the gloves will be out of the frame].” I was able to play the scene, even though it was a distraction to me. But that's all right too.
As for Wyler, I thought, 'It doesn't matter. I know that you are a perfectionist. And you want the very, very best and I don't care how you get it as long as you get it. And I'll make 100 takes, you'll choose the second one, I'll make 100, but I don't care, you're trying to get the best. And that's what I want too.'"
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