DRAMA • ROMANCE • CLASSIC
Shy and sheltered Catherine Sloper falls in love with the charming Morris Townsend, but her wealthy father's suspicions cast doubt on his intentions. As love, loyalty, and inheritance collide, The Heiress unfolds into a powerful story of heartbreak, resilience, and personal transformation in 19th-century New York.
October 16-18, 2026
Festival dates
Capitol Theatre
Port Hope, Ontario
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Release Year
1949
Runtime
115 minutes (1 hour 55 minutes)
Rating
Not Rated
Genre
Drama, Romance
Director
William Wyler
Country
United States
Language
English
Studio
Paramount Pictures
Saturday October 17, 2016
2:15 PM
Capitol Theatre
Port Hope, Ontario
The legendary Edith Head won her first Academy Award for Best Costume Design for The Heiress, the superlative 1949 adaptation of Henry James’s novel Washington Square. Head’s record eight Best Costume Design wins came out of a record 35 nominations, making her the most honoured woman, for both Oscar wins and nominations, in Academy history. She also holds the Guinness world record for the most credits for costume design: 432. The Oscar wins for The Heiress also included Best Actress (Olivia de Havilland—her second award) and Best Scoring (Aaron Copland).
DID YOU KNOW?
The Heiress received eight Academy Award nominations and won four Oscars, including Best Actress for Olivia de Havilland, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, and Best Production Design.
Director William Wyler famously filmed 37 takes of one pivotal staircase scene before he was satisfied with Olivia de Havilland's performance. This moment became one of the film's most memorable scenes.
In the original novel and stage play, Morris Townsend was written as much more of a clear-cut villain. Paramount executives paid the playwrights $250,000 for the rights and asked them to tweak the screenplay to make Morris more sympathetic, primarily to protect Montgomery Clift’s budding reputation as a major romantic heartthrob.
Despite the fact that The Heiress is widely revered today as a cinematic masterpiece and won four Academy Awards, it was actually a massive box office disappointment when it premiered in 1949. Audiences at the time were put off by its bleak tone, cynical view of love, and unusually depressing ending for a major studio romance.