Henry James' novel Washington Square inspired a play by Ruth and Augustus Goetz, which they adapted well for the screen: it doesn't feel play-like.
Father doctor Ralph Richardson considers his daughter a disappointment; when she falls for good looking but poor Montgomery Clift he shuts it down. But she fights for him...
Olivia de Havilland's transformation from lovesick sap to hardened father's daughter is remarkable - she won the Oscar, as did Aaron Copland's score and the art direction and costume design.
Miriam Hopkins is fine as the giddy aunt under Wyler's strict direction. With Vanessa Brown as the faithful maid.
Wyler's love of deep focus isn't too in evidence in Leo Tover's photography. (Gregg Toland had died in 1948, aged only 44 - heart attack brought on by heavy drinking.) It was made at Paramount.
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