What to expect
William Wyler uses rooms, stairs, waiting, and restrained performance to turn social judgement into physical pressure. Olivia de Havilland’s transformation gives the film its severity without making emotional survival look uncomplicated.
How to ease in
Watch how Catherine changes her use of silence. The question of Morris’s sincerity matters, but the deeper conflict is who gets to define Catherine’s value and at what cost.
Heads-up
A shy New York heiress faces a contemptuous father and a charming suitor whose intentions may be inseparable from her fortune.
The staircase keeps changing for me. At first it seems to measure Catherine against everyone’s expectations; later, every step sounds like a choice she has made without asking them to approve.
Open the note ↓
The staircase keeps changing for me. At first it seems to measure Catherine against everyone’s expectations; later, every step sounds like a choice she has made without asking them to approve.
— Momo
Credits & versions
- Screenplay
- Ruth Goetz · Augustus Goetz
- Production
- William Wyler · Paramount Pictures, Inc.
- Cinematography
- Leo Tover
Version map
Where to go next
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