Olivia de Havilland

[Retro]

I prefer her sister Joan Fontaine, who I believe Olivia is antagonistic towards.

 

[-lucyinthesky-]

Glad you like nel16, and retro, although my fovourite is Olivia, I also like Joan Fontaine, above all in her movies with Alfred Hitchcock.


ebay

 

[-lucyinthesky-]

ebay

 

[nel16]

Yay, more fabulous Olivia pics, thank you!

Haven't followed the gossip too closely about Olivia and Joan's relationship, but as an actress and beauty I believe Olivia definitely eclipses her sister.

 

[nel16]

simplyclassics forum

 

[nel16]

From same source:

She's such a cutie

 

[-lucyinthesky-]

Thank you nel, I'm glad I am not the oly Olivia's fan here




ebay, todocoleccion

 

[nel16]

You're welcome honey! You're definitely not the only fan - though she is somewhat underrated, at least on this forum. But that can be said for many Old Hollywood luminaries, sadly.

Anyhoo, found this adorable pic on eBay!

 

[somnambule]

i could imagine that most people only saw her in gonwe with the wind and her errol flynn films and that that´s the reason why she´s underrated as an actress.i noticed her talent in a midsummernight´s dream.she was great and it was rightt at the beginning of her carreer.but when i saw the nsake pit last night i was really awestrucken by her performance.how brave to play a role wholly bare skinned and without a safety net (especially in the 40s,not many actresses would have dared that).the depictions of the mental asylum reminded me of frances farmer´s experiences in those instituitons.the electro shock therapies,the ice baths etc.i think snake pit gave an honest look inside mental instiutions and their practices at that time.it´s obvious that the film favoured psychotherpay/analysis as a means to treat and heal people.olivia´s character was healed by exploring her childhood-traumata.i cannot think of any other hollywood film before the snake pit that depicted such a delicate issue and gave such an open look into the secluded world of mental asylums.hollywood used to shy away from those topics much more than european film makers.as for mental illnesses the german expressionists went as far as putting the viewer right in the head of a mentally ill or troubled person,to the greatest effect-kabinett des doktor caligari and geheimnisse einer seele (also showing freudian psychoanalysis as a means to heal) or also french surrealist germaine dulac with la coquille et le clergyman (requiem for a dream used similar effects to depict drug addiction).hitchcock actually involved freudian theories in "spellbound" but the film as a whole was a failure in my opinion,eventhough the bizarre dream-scenarios created by dali himself are impressive.....omg,where did i start?with snake pit...sorry for my bla bla.great film and a brave performance by olivia

source:film und mode-engelmeier
scanned by me

hold back the dawn-1941

 

[-lucyinthesky-]

What you have written is very interesting, somnambule. And sure Olivia is an underrated actress. Most of people know her as the sweet Melanie in GWTW, but after winning the trial against Warner, she could played much better characters. Of course, it's worth the while watching The snake pit.




ebay

 

[nel16]

somnambule, I quite liked what you wrote about Olivia and The Snake Pit! I had no idea there was so much behind that movie, sounds very intriguing. And thanks for the lovely scan!

greenbriarpictureshows

 

[somnambule]

wow,you two always come up with the most delicious eyecandies...i guess i´m just too lazy to search.i´ll try to repost the article i posted on the first page of this thread.this time in a way that it´s readable for you.i don´t know if i´ll succeed becuase i´ve only got one site where i can put my pictures online and they seize them down immensly...let´s see...so,okay,i literally had to cut the whole article into pieces.looks like a load of old tissues now,but i guess at least it is readable without the use of a magnifying glass.
source:silver screen february 1937

 

[nel16]

Aww, what a great article, thanks for sharing! She sounds perfectly darling. "There is a flow of warmth about her" - indeed!

Olivia and Henry Fonda, too cute

eBay

 

[nel16]

In her debut movie, A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) - only a teenager here

Source: my screencaps

 

[-lucyinthesky-]

^ Oh, how beautiful she was there. Good screencaps, thank you




ebay

 

[nel16]

eBay

 

[nel16]

Apparently Olivia's acting debut was as the title character in a 1933 stage production of Alice in Wonderland. Looks like she signed this photo "to you, from me, Alice" - so cute!!

flickr

 

[Jenna-maria]

I hated her character in gone with the wind when i was younger. I loved Scarlett's lively spirit and hated Melanie's sickening sweetness. While i've never seen any of her movies (The Heiress sounds good though!) because of her Melanie role I thought of her as a peace keeper goodie-two-shoes type. So i was very surprised to read that she hated her sister and they had a really bad relationship.

ugh her charecter in the movie & book is soooooooo annoying.
heehee.


Relations between de Havilland and younger sister Joan Fontaine were never all that strong and worsened in 1941, when both were nominated for 'Best Actress' Oscar awards. Their mutual dislike and jealousy escalated into an all-out feud after Fontaine won for Suspicion (1941). Despite the fact that de Havilland went on to win two Academy Awards of her own, they remained permanently estranged.

(imdb) sounds uncomfortable

oh and another suprise for me was that she turned down the role of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire wich went to Vivien after her.
Vivien was perfect for the movie and did wonderful job but it would have been kinda fun to see how Olivia would have done it!

Lost her son Benjamin to Hodgkin's disease in 1991, shortly before Benjamin's father, writer Marcus Goodrich, passed away.

(imdb) it seems like every old time movie star had tragic life!

I have to see some movies she has done, because only thing I remember her is being annoying in GWTW.
heehee
Vivien and Clark just were the stars

 

[RoseMary]

thecc.

 

[nel16]

^ Thanks for those RoseMary, so lovely!

Here is what I believe to be a recent-ish photo of Olivia's daughter Giselle!

gwtwmemories.com