As the 1940s came to a close, Hollywood struggled to stay relevant in America's quickly transforming society. In addition to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearings and television's growing dominance discussed in the previous chapter, several other influences contributed to this shift within the industry. While advances in technology inspired thematic and visual experimentation in the medium, there was also increased competition among the studios after the 1948 United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. court case. Breaking up a long-standing monopoly, the “Paramount Decree,” as the case was often known, resulted in a ruling that movie studios could no longer both produce and distribute their films. This forced studios to sell their theaters and stop the practice of block booking, which initiated significant changes to the studio system.

Block booking, once a common practice by major Hollywood studios, involved selling several films as a unit to exhibitors. This tactic prevented theaters from selecting individual films, which meant studios could package lesser-quality B films with a few major features. Unsurprisingly, outlawing this practice had a significant impact. Since the now independently owned theaters could handpick each film, Hollywood grew increasingly selective about the movies it produced. Low-budget fillers could no longer ride the coattails of a star-studded picture, which ultimately raised film standards and increased competition among studios as they fought for each theater's business.

The Heiress (1949), released by Paramount Studios one year after the Decree, was one such quality picture. Produced by esteemed director William Wyler, The Heiress is an adaptation of the critically acclaimed Henry James novel Washington Square. The cast boasts such celebrated actors as Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson, and Miriam Hopkins, while American playwrights Ruth and Augustus Goetz wrote the script. Adding further prestige to the picture is composer Aaron Copland.

By fully exploiting the complexities of James's novel, the film heightens viewer involvement and brings the story's characters to life. The Goetzs’ screenplay faithfully portrays the surface level of the film's highly complicated characters, while Copland's music, working in tandem with Wyler's visuals, helps reveal much of the film's drama. To examine how Copland achieves this task, it is helpful to first understand the rather involved narrative.