William Wyler is noted for his painstaking, dispassionate exactness in detail, inflection, mood, pre-planning, and performance. He thus seems the perfect director to film Henry James, and this widely-acclaimed version of Washington Square is by far the best version of the novelist's work to appear on the screen. A plain spinster is courted by a glib fortune hunter under the observing eye of her father.

Academy Awards For Best Actress, Best Musical Score, Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction.