Arts Council of England
Film4 Productions
Granada Productions
Not part of a collection.
The House of Mirth
When a woman has the beauty men admire and women envy... it is wise to tread carefully.
In early 20th century New York City, an impoverished socialite desperately seeks a suitable husband as she gradually finds herself betrayed by her friends and exiled from high society.
- Original title
- The House of Mirth
- Language
- EN
- Country
- GB
- Budget
- $10,000,000
- Revenue
- $5,164,404
CinemaSerf
Nov 16, 2025 · via TMDB
“Lily” is a smart, charismatic and charming socialite who frequents the best houses in New York as the twentieth century beckons. She is not, however, a wealthy woman. She has a small annuity and is largely dependent on income from her aunt “Julia” (Eleanor Bron). She also has a penchant for bridge. The kind that sees gambling debts accrue! Finding herself in need of funds and feeling that she dare not ask her benefactress, she is soon vulnerable to the machinations of some wealthy and unscrupulous men who have all they will ever need in life, save for a glamorous and “suitable” wife. She does have one more earnest suitor in “Selden” (Eric Stoltz) but it’s her financial dalliance with “Gus” (Dan Aykroyd) that sows the seeds of her spiral into a series of catch-22 scenarios that increasingly find her ostracised from those she loved, liked and needed. “Lily” is not a woman equipped for poverty, but at every turn that looks like the road she must travel as her options become hemmed in by her earlier choices and her own decency and pride. The start of this drama does come across as a sort of poor man’s Merchant Ivory, but that actually serves quite well in illustrating just how faux this whole society was. Built entirely on wealth and social standing, it was trying to emulate the aristocratic hierarchies of London, or Paris, or Vienna but without the history or, dare one say it, the “breeding”. It is startlingly shallow. Once we have embarked on her journey, though, Gillian Anderson really does begin to imbue her character with characteristics that are both pitiable and frustrating. Here is the sort of woman whose toast would always land butter side down, and once the very whiff of toxicity became associated with “Lily”, it manifested itself cruelly and irreversibly - and again, Anderson brings a delicate vulnerability to that persona. Stoltz is a bit weak and feeble, indeed none of the male roles here really stand out. Possibly because they are all fairly insipid and/or unpleasant, but also because none of the writing is for them and so they remain little more than wallpaper. As to any sense of sisterhood, well it’s not just the menfolk who know how to turnstile screw and both Bron and Laura Linney’s “Bertha” prove every bit as merciless. Perhaps unexpectedly, it doesn’t shy away from quite a provocative ending and if you can just sit tight through the opening scenes of high-costumed, chandeliered, melodrama, then this turns into something quite poignant and worth a watch.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Gillian Anderson
Lily Bart
Dan Aykroyd
Augustus 'Gus' Trenor
Eleanor Bron
Mrs. Julia Peniston, Lily's Aunt
Terry Kinney
George Dorset
Anthony LaPaglia
Sim Rosedale
Laura Linney
Bertha Dorset
Jodhi May
Grace Julia Stepney
Elizabeth McGovern
Mrs. Carry Fisher
Eric Stoltz
Lawrence Selden
Penny Downie
Judy Trenor
Pearce Quigley
Percy Gryce
Helen Coker
Evie Van Osburgh
Serena Gordon
Gwen Stepney
Linda Marlowe
Madame Regina
Clare Higgins
Mrs. Bry
Ralph Riach
Lord Hubert Dacy
Brian Pettifer
Mr. Bry
Philippe De Grossouvre
Ned Silverton
Lesley Harcourt
Mattie Gormer
Mark Dymond
Paul Morpeth
Roy Sampson
Dorset Butler
Morag Siller
4th Millinery Girl
Remi Adefarasin
Director of Photography
Rosalind Nashashibi
Stand In
Terence Davies
Director
Nanna Mailand-Mercado
Third Assistant Director
Suzanne Smith Crowley
Casting
Deborah Maxwell Dion
Casting Assistant
Pippa Cross
Executive Producer
Adrian Johnston
Music Director
Edith Wharton
Novel
Terence Davies
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Sep 23, 2000
New York Film Festival
