Seraphic Secret

Robert J. Avrech: Emmy Award winning screenwriter. Movie fanatic. Helplessly and hopelessly in love with my wife since age nine.

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

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The great Olivia De Havilland just celebrated her a 100th birthday (1 July 1916). “I would prefer to live forever in perfect health, but if I must at some time leave this life, I would like to do so ensconced on a chaise lounge, perfumed, wearing a velvet robe and pearl earrings, with a flute of champagne beside me and having just discovered the answer to the last problem in a British cryptic crossword.”
Olivia de Havilland just celebrated her a 100th birthday (b. 1 July 1916).
“I would prefer to live forever in perfect health, but if I must at some time leave this life, I would like to do so ensconced on a chaise lounge, perfumed, wearing a velvet robe and pearl earrings, with a flute of champagne beside me and having just discovered the answer to the last problem in a British cryptic crossword.”

Olivia de Havilland, 17, appearing in the stage play Alice in Wonderland, 1933.
Olivia de Havilland, 17, appearing in the stage play Alice in Wonderland, 1933.

 

Olivia de Havilland and Vivien Leigh at the Gone With the Wind press party, December 15 1939.
Olivia de Havilland and Vivien Leigh at the “Gone With the Wind” press party, December 15 1939.

 

Sisters, Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine
Sisters, Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine. They are the only siblings to have won Academy Awards in the lead acting category. Their sibling rivalry was legendary.

 

Olivia de Havilland and her most frequent costar Errol Flynn.
Olivia de Havilland and her most frequent costar Errol Flynn.

 

Jimmy Stewart and Olivia de Havilland, 1940s.
Jimmy Stewart and Olivia de Havilland, 1940s.

 

Olivia de Havilland relaxes at her home in Beverly Hills, 1942. Photograph by Bob Landry / The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images; Digital Colorization by Impact Digital
Olivia de Havilland relaxes at her home in Beverly Hills, 1942. Photograph by Bob Landry / The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images; Digital Colorization by Impact Digital

 

“Your dresses should be tight enough to show you’re a woman and loose enough to show you’re a lady.” —Edith Head
“Your dresses should be tight enough to show you’re a woman and loose enough to show you’re a lady.”
—Edith Head

 

Edvard Munch Moonlight, 1895
Edvard Munch
Moonlight, 1895

 

Sabine Weiss Enfant perdu dans un grand magasin, New York États-Unis, 1955
Sabine Weiss
Lost Child in a Department Store, New York
1955

 

Leon Berkowitz Chanukah 3 1978 Oil on canvas “I am endeavoring to find that blush of light over light and the color within the light; the depths through which we see when we look into and not at color.”
Leon Berkowitz
Chanukah 3
1978
Oil on canvas
“I am endeavoring to find that blush of light over light and the color within the light; the depths through which we see when we look into and not at color.”

 

Olivia de Havilland won her first Oscar for Leading Actress in To Each His Own ('46) as an unwed mother forced to give up her son in order to avoid scandal. The film is painfully sincere. I prefer de Havilland in Captain Blood ('35), The Adventures of Robin Hood ('38), Dodge City ('39), The Strawberry Blonde ('41), and They Died With Their Boots On ('41).
Olivia de Havilland won her first Oscar for Leading Actress in “To Each His Own” (’46) as an unwed mother forced to give up her son in order to avoid scandal. The film is painfully sincere. I prefer de Havilland in Captain Blood (’35), The Adventures of Robin Hood (’38), Dodge City (’39), The Strawberry Blonde (’41), They Died With Their Boots On (’41), and even The Snake Pit (’48) which is one of those oh-so-solemn movies that are celebrated for their social message.

 

Winning her second Oscar for Lead Actress, The Heiress ('50) gave de Havilland the juicy role of a plain spinster who falls under the spell of a handsome fortune hunter. This is another prestige project that puts me in a cinematic coma. Make no mistake about it, de Havilland's transformation from a shy, awkward child-woman to cruel vindictive creature is powerful. But the film, based on a play, is talky and leaden. Olivia de Havilland is best appreciated in lighter entertainments.
Winning her second Oscar for Lead Actress in “The Heiress” (’50) de Havilland delivers as a plain spinster who falls under the spell of a handsome fortune hunter. This is another prestige project that puts me in a cinematic coma. Make no mistake about it, de Havilland’s transformation from needy child-woman to cruel vindictive creature is powerful. But the film, based on a play, is talky and leaden. Olivia de Havilland is best appreciated in her lighter entertainments, especially in her pairings with Errol Flynn.

 

Charles Rennie MaCkintosh, Willow Chair
Charles Rennie MacKintosh, Willow Chair

 

“If you have freckles, you might as well relax and enjoy them. There’s nothing you can do about them.” —Deborah Kerr
“If you have freckles, you might as well relax and enjoy them. There’s nothing you can do about them.” —Deborah Kerr

 

Edvard Munch Young Woman On The Shore 1896 aquatint, zinc 219 x 288 cm Location: The Munch Museum
Edvard Munch
Young Woman On The Shore
1896
aquatint, zinc
219 x 288 cm
The Munch Museum

 

Sabine Weiss Paris, 1953
Sabine Weiss
Paris, 1953

 

Stained glass window by Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Stained glass window by Charles Rennie Mackintosh

 

tumblr_ns142aD0CT1so6qm5o1_500

tumblr_ns142aD0CT1so6qm5o2_500

Jean Harlow and Marie Dressler, Dinner at Eight, 1933. Screenplay by Frances Marion and Herman J. Mankiewicz from George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's play of the same name.
Jean Harlow and Marie Dressler, “Dinner at Eight,” 1933. Screenplay by Frances Marion and Herman J. Mankiewicz, based on George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber’s play of the same name.

 

Noel Neill, Superman’s first live-action Lois Lane, has passed away at the age of 95. I loved Superman as a child and had a huge crush on Lois Lane. “Lois Lane, bless her heart, was pretty much a working girl like I was.” R.I.P. Noel Neill (November 25, 1920 - July 3, 2016)
Noel Neill, Superman’s first live-action Lois Lane, has passed away at the age of 95. 
“Lois Lane, bless her heart, was pretty much a working girl like I was.”
R.I.P. Noel Neill (November 25, 1920 – July 3, 2016)

 

“I put on an act sometimes, and people think I’m insensitive. Really, it’s like a kind of armour because I’m too sensitive. ” — Marlon Brando
“I put on an act sometimes, and people think I’m insensitive. Really, it’s like a kind of armour because I’m too sensitive. ”
— Marlon Brando

 

Edward Hopper “New York Office” 1962 Oil On Canvas 40 1/2 x 55 1/8 in. 102.87 x 140.02 cm Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts The Blount Collection
Edward Hopper
“New York Office”
1962
Oil On Canvas
40 1/2 x 55 1/8 in.
102.87 x 140.02 cm
Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
The Blount Collection

 

Smith and Wesson New Model No. 3 revolver crafted by Tiffany and Co., late 19th century. On display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Smith and Wesson New Model No. 3 revolver crafted by Tiffany and Co., late 19th century.
On display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 

Olivia de Havilland. Look at her patriotic belt.
Olivia de Havilland. Check out her inspiring belt.

 

Another poster for Robin Hood. In this, the rendering of Maid Marian, Olivia de Havilland, is more recognizable.

 

“Walking through life with you, ma'am, has been a very gracious thing.” Errol Flynn to Olivia de Havilland in They Died With Their Boots On (1941) Screenplay by Æneas MacKenzie Wally Kline Lenore J. Coffee
“Walking through life with you, ma’am, has been a very gracious thing.”
Errol Flynn to Olivia de Havilland in “They Died With Their Boots On” (1941)
Screenplay by
Æneas MacKenzie
Wally Kline
Lenore J. Coffee

 

Olivia de Havilland poses during an Associated Press interview, in Paris, Saturday, June 18, 2016.
Olivia de Havilland poses during an Associated Press interview, Paris, Saturday, June 18, 2016.

 

Sari Srulovitch Sterling Silver Tzedakah, Charity, Box
Sari Srulovitch
Sterling Silver Tzedakah (Charity) Box

 

Robert J. Avrech Not North Korea, Kew Gardens Hill, 2016
Robert J. Avrech
Walking & Talking & Garages, Flushing, Queens, N.Y. 2016

 

Lielle Meital, Maayan Ariel, and Pinchas Zvi wish all our friends and relatives a lovely and peaceful Shabbat.
Lielle Meital, Maayan Ariel, and Pinchas Zvi wish all our friends and relatives a lovely and peaceful Shabbat.

 

Buster Keaton’s “The Frozen North” (1922)

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Comments

  2. Whatever her relationship with her sister–and aside from sniping in person or in print, did they ever come out with really harmful, nasty revelations about each other? did they break up the other’s marriages (I don’t want to know!)–it is to Ms. deHavilland’s credit that after her divorce from her husband Pierre Galante, they stayed friends and she took care of him during his final illness.
    As a child I saw her movies before seeing any starring Joan Fontaine, and frankly, most of Olivia’s movies were a lot more enjoyable to watch. (Rebecca–I can’t stand Olivier and wish Ronald Colman had played deWinter). She seems to have had a better sense of humor. Ms. Fontaine always seemed a little peeved about something. Given a choice of an hour in Ms. deH’s company or Ms. Fontaine’s I know what I would have picked.

      • Indeed; just stating a personal preference–perhaps affected by the fact that I’d also rather read Rafael Sabatini than Daphne du Maurier.
        On a different tack: Were some of the pictures picked for their Jewishness? At first glance the stained window characters looked like men wearing talleisim, and the stones in the gun handle remind me of the stone-studded silver covers of siddurim, etc. that my grandfather z”l used to bring us from Israel in the ’60s. Thanks for the memories!

        “No, no, Jean, the t is silent, as in Harlow.”

  3. BTW Robert I read an interesting factoid on Vivien and GWTW.

    At the time of the movie’s inception she was in love with Laurence Olivier and followed him to California from Britain.

    At the urging of her agent she managed to get in contact with David O Selznick and have a screen test for the role of Scarlett O’Hara. If I remember the story right Paulette Goddard at the time had the inside track.

    Selznick had a problem with Paulette though. She was living with Charlie Chaplin across the street from Selznick and he wondered if that would be a big negative in public acceptance.

    Vivien got a reading and of course the rest is history

  4. Olivia seems to have aged a lot better than Marlene Dietrich. I forget who was trying to interview her for something – he was a German actor – Maximilian Schell? – but Dietrich lived like a Howard Hughes recluse in her Paris apt.

    The premier of GWTW reminds me that I saw somewhere that MGM had a test screening of it in a Riverside CA theater before the “premier” and they knew they had a winner.

    You own photos are, as always, excellent. Are you in the movie business? 😉

    • Bill,
      The whole point is Dietrich was apparently sensitive about her appearance. She may have looked just fine, but we don’t know. She hid from the camera. And she is not the only former star to shun the spotlight. ASs for Olivia, I agree she looks well and healthy, but clearly is not vain relative to her appearance.

  5. I have a DVD of “They Died With Their Boots On.” I’ll have to watch it again.

    The one movie I wish she had not made was “Snake Pit” which was very harmful to mental health. It, plus “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” destroyed mental healthcare just as we were getting past psychoanalysis and getting some drugs that worked.

    The “Homeless” problem is the result.

    • Michael:

      Hollywood message pictures are almost always bad movies with bad messages. As LB Mayer said: “If you want to send a message, use Western Union.”

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