Olivia de Havilland Movies
Born in Japan to a British patent attorney and his actress wife, Olivia de Havilland succumbed to the lure of Thespis while attending high school in Los Gatos, CA, where she played Hermia in an amateur production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The older sister of actress Joan Fontaine, de Havilland was spotted by famed director Max Reinhardt, who cast her in his legendary Hollywood Bowl production of the play. This led to her part in the Warner Bros. film adaptation of Midsummer in 1935, and being signed to a long-term contract wiht the company. Considering herself a classical actress, de Havilland tried to refuse the traditional ingenue roles offered her by the studio, which countered by telling her she'd be ruined in Hollywood if she didn't cooperate. Loaned out to David O. Selznick, de Havilland played Melanie Hamilton in Gone With the Wind (1939), earning an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in the process. Although she didn't come out on top that year, she would later win two Best Actress Oscars, the first for 1946's To Each His Own, and then again for 1949's The Heiress. De Havilland also made news when she sued Warner Bros. for extending her seven-year contract by tacking on the months she'd been on suspension for refusing to take a part. The actress spent three long years off the screen, but she ultimately won her case, and the "De Havilland Law," as it would become known, effectively destroyed the studios' ability to virtually enslave their contractees by unfairly extending their contract time.After completing The Heiress, de Havilland spent several years on Broadway, cutting down her subsequent film appearances to approximately one per year. In 1955, she moved to France with her second husband, Paris Match editor Pierre Galante; she later recalled her Paris years with the semiautobiographical Every Frenchman Has One. De Havilland showed up in a brace of profitable fading-star horror films in the '60s: Lady in a Cage (1964) and Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1965), in which she replaced Joan Crawford. During the next decade, she appeared in a number of TV productions and in such all-star film efforts as Airport '77 (1977) and The Swarm (1978). After a number of TV appearances (if not always starring roles) in the '80s, de Havilland once more found herself in the limelight in 1989, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Gone With the Wind. As one of the only surviving stars from this film, she was much sought after for interviews and reminiscences, but graciously refused almost every request. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Max Reinhardt's legendary Hollywood Bowl production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream was transferred to the screen by Warner Bros. in 1935. Like most of Shakespeare's comedies, the story contains several seemingly unrelated plotlines, all tied together by a single unifying event, in this instance the impending wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. One story thread concerns the mistaken-identity romances of four young Athenians; another involves a group of "rude mechanicals" who plan to stage a production of "Pyramus and Thisbe" in honor of the wedding; and third plot strand is motivated by the mischievous misbehavior of invisible fairies Oberon, Titania, and Puck. While one of the members of Reinhardt's original stage cast, Olivia De Havilland (Hermia) was retained for the film version, the remainder of the roles went to Warners' ever-reliable stock company. Some of the casting is inspired: James Cagney is brilliant as vainglorious amateur thespian Bottom, while Joe E. Brown is ideal as the reluctant female impersonator Flute. As the four lovers, De Havilland and Jean Muir far outshine the smirking and simpering Dick Powell and Ross Alexander. In the dominion of the fairies, Mickey Rooney is a bit too precious as Puck, but Anita Louise is a lovely Titania and Victor Jory a suitably menacing Oberon (his opening line "Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania!" still sends shivers down our spines). Cagney and Brown's fellow "mechanicals" are an odd mixture of the sublime (Frank McHugh) and the just plain silly (Hugh Herbert). While the performances and direction (by Reinhardt and William Dieterle) are uneven, the art direction and special effects (especially the nocturnal dance of the fairies) are breathtakingly beautiful. Mendelssohn's "Midsummer Night's Dream" incidental music is masterfully orchestrated by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, while the cinematography by Hal Mohr earned the first write-in Academy Award in Hollywood history (Mohr had not been nominated due to hostilities arising from a recent industry strike). Considered a brave failure at the time of its first release, on a purely visual level A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of the more satisfying Shakespearean cinemadaptations of Hollywood's golden age. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Ian Hunter, (more)
Stretching the Airport concept as far as it will go, this third film in the series sticks a jet full of old actors 50 feet underwater in the Bermuda Triangle. Oxygen (and credibility) grows short, and Jimmy Stewart plays an art collector targeted for a heist. Jack Lemmon is the unfortunate pilot, and Christopher Lee shows up along with Brenda Vaccaro, Joseph Cotten, and Olivia de Havilland. Jerry Jameson, auteur of The Bat People, was selected to helm this entry featuring that film's star, Michael Pataki. George Kennedy, the only man to appear in all four Airport films, is along for the ride as well. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Lee Grant, (more)
- 1935
In this rollicking adaptation of Ring Lardner's short story, Joe E. Brown plays an ace baseball player whose insistence upon making up excuses earns him the nickname "Alibi Ike." In the course of his first season with the Chicago Cubs, Brown also falls in love with Olivia De Havilland, sister-in-law of the team's manager. Brown's "alibi" habit prompts De Havilland to walk out on him, whereupon he goes into a slump-- which coincides with attempts by gamblers to get Brown to throw the World Series. The plot weaves its way towards a climax in which Brown escapes the gamblers by commandeering an ambulance and driving onto the ball field during the final Series game. Alibi Ike was the most successful of Joe E. Brown's "baseball trilogy" (which included Elmer the Great and Fireman Save My Child), and one the best baseball comedies of all time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Frawley
This two-part TV movie recounts the life of Anna Anderson, who until the day she died at age 82 insisted that she was really Anastasia Romanov, daughter of Czar Nicholas. Anna first makes her claim in 1920, when she is an inmate in a Berlin asylum. Her story of escape from the Bolsheviks who killed the rest of her family in 1918 seems so vivid that many Russian expatriates are willing to believe her. The film concludes in 1928, with Anna restating her claim before the surviving Romanovs living in New York. Amy Irving plays the leading character in a lady-or-the-tiger fashion, so that we never know if she truly swallows her own tale or if she's merely a clever charlatan. Olivia DeHavilland, Rex Harrison, Claire Bloom, Omar Sharif and Susan Lucci co-star in this opulent, location-filmed production, which originally aired on December 7 and 8, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amy Irving
- 1936
When David O. Selznick produced the film version of the 1000-plus page novel Gone with the Wind, he declared he could not make a film running any less than 222 minutes. When Warner Bros. adapted the even longer Hervey Allen best-seller Anthony Adverse, the studio managed to pack everything--except the most censorable passages, which had made Allen's novel a best-seller in the first place--into 139 minutes. Surprisingly, the film version of Anthony Adverse moves rather smoothly, though it is nowhere near as involving (or as much fun) as Gone with the Wind. Fredric March stars as Anthony Adverse, the illegitimate offspring of Anita Louise, the wife of Spanish nobleman Claude Rains. When Adverse comes of age, he inherits the prosperous business run by his kindly foster father Edmund Gwenn, which he abandons for an aimless trip around the world after his heart is broken by childhood sweetheart Olivia De Havilland. Sinking deeper into the morass of alcohol and degeneracy in the West Indies, Adverse is regenerated when he is reunited with De Havilland, now the mistress of Napoleon Bonaparte. Suddenly enervated, Adverse battles the efforts of Claude Rains and Gwenn's duplicitous former assistant Gale Sondergaard to take over Gwenn's business. Along the way, he learns that Gwenn was actually his grandfather and that De Havilland has born him a son (Scotty Beckett). Instead of dying, as he does in the novel, Anthony Adverse takes his son to America to start life anew. Whew! Though no award winner itself, Anthony Adverse enabled Gale Sondergaard to win the first-ever "best supporting actress" Oscar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fredric March, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
- 1937
Call It a Day is a Warner Bros. attempt at British light comedy. Nothing much happens of any consequence in this story of a day in the life of a typical middle-class London family, headed by accountant Ian Hunter. The husband is tempted by a seductress (Marcia Ralston), the wife (Freda Inescourt) tries but fails to have a "fling" herself, the daughter (Olivia De Havilland) throws herself at a married artist (Walter Woolf King), and all is set aright before the sun goes down. The film's funniest moments belong to droll Roland Young and sharp-tongued Alice Brady. Call it a Day was adapted from Dodie Smith's gossamer-thin stage play. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivia de Havilland, Ian Hunter, (more)
When British actor Robert Donat dropped out of Warner Bros. Captain Blood, the studio took a chance on its new contractee, Tasmania-born Errol Flynn. Adapted from the novel by Rafael Sabatini, the film is set during the oppressive reign of King James II. Irish physician Peter Blood (Errol Flynn), arrested for treating a wounded anti-crown rebel, is condemned to slavery in Jamaica. Here he earns several privileges after treating the governor (George Hassell) for gout; this does not rest well with Lionel Atwill, the wicked owner of the plantation on which Blood is forced to work. Nor is Atwill pleased with the growing relationship between his niece Arabella (Olivia DeHavilland) and the imprisoned doctor. An attack on Jamaica by Spanish pirates gives Blood and his fellow slaves the opportunity to become buccaneers themselves. After several months of fighting and plunder, Blood's men capture a merchant ship bearing Arabella. Blood fights a duel with a French pirate (Basil Rathbone) over the girl; having "won" her, Blood intends to have his way with her, but his more decent instincts prevail. When King James is overthrown by William of Orange, Blood is given a commission and lauded as a hero as a reward for his bravery against the Spanish galleons. He is appointed governor of Jamaica, wins the hand of the lovely Arabella, and genially forces Atwill to eat crow. This seemingly outsized swashbuckler was actually a very economical production, using stock footage from several silent films. Captain Blood transformed the 26-year-old Errol Flynn into a star; he's a little clumsy in the dialogue department at times, but cuts a dashing figure in the action scenes. The film also represented the cinematic debut of composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold, who wasn't completely happy with his hastily written score and asked that his on-screen credit be diminished to "musical director". Long available only in its 99 minute re-issue version, Captain Blood has been restored to its full, glorious 119 minute length. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
- 1945
Roundly blasted upon its release because of the extreme liberties it takes with the truth, Devotion is better as cinema than as history. Not that it's great cinema, mind you, mainly because the filmmakers opted to replace historical fact with either tired dramatic clichés or wild improbabilities. As an example of the latter, the film posits that Paul Henreid's character, who is a standard-issue film romantic hero (troubled, but understandably so), is the inspiration for two of the most passionate, fiery characters in the canon of English literature. Arthur Kennedy as brother Bramwell is much more passionate and fiery, a fact which tends to further muddle things up. The generic setting is also disappointing; these ladies wrote as they wrote because of where they lived and how they lived, but little of this makes it to the screen. Fortunately, Devotion has Olivia de Havilland and Ida Lupino on hand. De Havilland is quite good, grabbing hold of whatever she can find in the script and milking it for all it's worth. Lupino does even better, often making this standard-issue (at best) writing seem engaging and moving. As indicated, Kennedy also makes things work for him, and Nancy Coleman does what she can with the little she is handed. Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score provides plenty of the atmosphere that Curtis Bernhardt's direction often lacks. Ultimately, Devotion's assets, particularly Lupino and de Havilland, manage to squeeze it into the winner's column -- but it's a pretty close call. The film was produced in 1943, hence the presence of Montagu Love, who died that year. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ida Lupino, Paul Henreid, (more)
This landmark western -- which, along with Stagecoach, has often been credited with revitalizing what had become a stagnant genre -- stars Errol Flynn as Wade Hatton, a cattle man who arrives in the frontier community of Dodge City, which is overrun by footloose cowboys and outlaws. When Hatton helps Dodge City lawmen capture a gang of cattle rustlers led by Jeff Surrett (Bruce Cabot), he's asked to help guide a wagon train into town with his friends Rusty Hart (Alan Hale, Sr.) and Tex Baird (Guinn Williams). En route, an impulsive young cowpoke named Lee Irving (William Lundigan) needlessly fires off his pistol, sparking a cattle stampede that leads to his death. When Hatton and his men arrive in Dodge, they discover Surrett is once again at large, and his gang has taken over the city. Appointed the city's new sheriff, Hatton is determined to clean up the town and put the outlaws out of business. In his rare moments off duty, Hatton tries to win the affections of Abbie Irving (Olivia de Havilland), but she believes that Hatton is responsible for the death of her brother Lee; Hatton's habit of flirting with dance hall girl Ruby Gilman (Ann Sheridan) does nothing to improve her opinion of him. A solid box office hit, Dodge City was the first of a series of westerns for swashbuckling star Flynn; his next oater, Virginia City, followed in 1940. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
- 1938
A standard-issue "screwball comedy" of the 1930s, Four's a Crowd starred a quartet of Warner Bros' biggest stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia DeHavilland, Rosalind Russell and Patric Knowles. Flynn plays a publicity agent hired to stir up "good press" for a nasty millionaire (Walter Connolly). Errol accomplishes this by going back to his old job as editor of a newspaper owned by Knowles, then using the paper to elucidate Connolly's virtues. Along the way, he romances Olivia de Havilland, who plays Connolly's daughter, and Rosalind Russell, portraying--surprise, surprise--Knowles' star reporter. Much to the amazement of the audience, Flynn ends up not with his frequent costar DeHavilland but with Russell. Fast-moving and chucklesome, Four's a Crowd was nothing new; chances are it would never have been made had it not been for the success of the vaguely similar MGM comedy Libelled Lady (36), which likewise had a quadruple-barreled starring lineup (Spencer Tracy, Jean Harlow, William Powell and Myrna Loy). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
- 1938
Michael Curtiz directs this Technicolor Western based on the familiar story by Clements Ripley about the rivalry between farmers and miners in the Sacramento valley during the years following the California Gold Rush. Handsome engineer Jared Whitney (George Brent) from the Golden Moon mining company arrives in a small town to supervise their operations. He oversees boorish mining foreman Slag Minton (Burton MacLane), then goes to bar where he befriends Lance (Tim Holt), the son of prominent wheat farmer Colonel Chris Ferris (Claude Rains). He ends up falling in love with Lance's sister, Serena (Olivia deHavilland), despite their alliances with opposing forces. They are forbidden to see each other when her father finds out, so Jared goes back to San Francisco to work with his boss, Harrison McCooey (Sidney Toler), on a dam construction project. Meanwhile, Lance chooses the side of the miners over the farmers when he leaves the town to stay with his Uncle Ralph (John Litel). When local farmer John McKenzie (Russell Simpson) loses his family and his farm due to the destruction caused by the miners, Chris supports him in a law suit against the mining company. This all escalates into a violent armed confrontation between the farmers and the miners, leading up to an explosive conclusion and a romantic reunion. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Brent, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
Gone With the Wind boils down to a story about a spoiled Southern girl's hopeless love for a married man. Producer David O. Selznick managed to expand this concept, and Margaret Mitchell's best-selling novel, into nearly four hours' worth of screen time, on a then-astronomical 3.7-million-dollar budget, creating what would become one of the most beloved movies of all time. Gone With the Wind opens in April of 1861, at the palatial Southern estate of Tara, where Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) hears that her casual beau Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard) plans to marry "mealy mouthed" Melanie Hamilton (Olivia de Havilland). Despite warnings from her father (Thomas Mitchell) and her faithful servant Mammy (Hattie McDaniel), Scarlett intends to throw herself at Ashley at an upcoming barbecue at Twelve Oaks. Alone with Ashley, she goes into a fit of histrionics, all of which is witnessed by roguish Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), the black sheep of a wealthy Charleston family, who is instantly fascinated by the feisty, thoroughly self-centered Scarlett: "We're bad lots, both of us." The movie's famous action continues from the burning of Atlanta (actually the destruction of a huge wall left over from King Kong) through the now-classic closing line, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." Holding its own against stiff competition (many consider 1939 to be the greatest year of the classical Hollywood studios), Gone With the Wind won ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress (Vivien Leigh), and Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American to win an Oscar). The film grossed nearly 192 million dollars, assuring that, just as he predicted, Selznick's epitaph would be "The Man Who Made Gone With the Wind." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, (more)
- 1943
Olivia De Havilland hadn't wanted to star in RKO's Government Girl, but was forced to do so by her home studio Warner Bros. Perhaps in retaliation, De Havilland delivers a strident, overbaked performance, which serves only to make this so-so wartime comedy something of an endurance test for modern viewers. The actress plays "Smokey", the Washington DC-based secretary of Detroit automobile expert Browne (Sonny Tufts, who's actually pretty good in this one!) Aware that Browne is a babe in the woods so far as Washington lobbying, politicking and backstabbing are concerned, Smokey takes the poor boy by the hand and shows him the ropes. Despite the derivative nature of Adela Rogers St. John's screenplay-the film seems like a hybrid of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and The More the Merrier--Government Girl was an enormous hit, posting a profit of $700,000. The film represents the film directorial debut of producer-screenwriter Dudley Nichols. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivia de Havilland, Sonny Tufts, (more)
- 1938
Dick Powell had already played the poor guy who falls for rich gal in Happiness Ahead (34); Hard to Get is a far superior film in this vein, and with better songs to boot. The wealthy lady in this film is Olivia de Havilland, who at this point in her career specialized in spoiled heiresses. Dick Powell is a gas-station attendant who doesn't recognize de Havilland and refuses to give her credit when her car goes on the blink. She gets even in several nasty ways, but softens when she falls in love with Powell--thanks to a little nudge from her kindly daddy, Charlie Winninger. As in Happiness Ahead, it is the father who financially smooths the path for the loving couple. Powell only has two songs, but one of them is the surefire hit "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby." Ironically, the title Hard to Get had been previously been used in 1929 for a silent Warner Bros. comedy about a poor girl falling for a rich boy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivia de Havilland, Dick Powell, (more)
- 1941
Hold Back the Dawn begins with a shabby immigrant (Charles Boyer) wandering onto a Paramount sound stage and telling his life story to director Mitchell Leisen (who actually directed this film). In flashback, we see that Boyer was once a conscienceless gigolo, desperate to flee Nazi-occupied Europe. He makes it to Mexico, where he pretends to fall in love with shy schoolteacher Olivia de Havilland. It is his plan to marry her, thus be able to enter the United States; then he intends to dump her and pursue the woman he really loves. Boyer's regeneration, and the price he pays for his previous callousness, brings Hold Back the Dawn to its tearful conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Boyer, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
An unusually long pre-credits sequence establishes the roots of faded Southern belle Charlotte's (Bette Davis) insanity; she'd been witness to the dismemberment murder of her fiance (Bruce Dern) and the suicide of the murderer, her own father (Victor Buono). Years later, Charlotte remains a recluse in her decaying southern mansion, zealously guarding the secret of her father's guilt; she is cared for by her slatternly housekeeper (Agnes Moorehead). When her house is targeted for demolition, Charlotte fears that this will uncover her lover's body parts and thus confirm that her father was a murderer. She desperately summons her seemingly sweet-tempered cousin Miriam (Olivia De Havilland) to help her fight off the house's destruction. Miriam brings along the family doctor (Joseph Cotten) to calm Charlotte's frayed nerves. When Charlotte begins to be plagued by horrific visions of the homicide/suicide of so long ago, it appears that she has gone completely insane. But soon we learn who is behind these delusions...and why. Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte was intended by director Robert Aldrich as a follow-up to the successful Joan Crawford/Bette Davis horror piece Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (1962). Ms. Crawford was originally slated to play Miriam, but became seriously ill shortly before filming started. Davis, who disliked Crawford intensely, suggested that the role of Miriam be filled by her best friend, De Havilland. On the first day of shooting, Davis and DeHavilland pulled a "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" routine by toasting one another with Coca-Cola--a catty observation of the fact that Joan Crawford's husband was an executive with the Pepsi Cola company! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
- 1942
- NR
In This Our Life is not a "for the ages" classic of the Golden Age of Cinema, but as a highly effective and entertaining melodrama, it more than fits the bill. Howard Koch's screenplay is a trifle predictable, but it's well structured and provides the requisite juicy roles for its pair of female stars. It also provides a number of little surprises -- a sympathetic and (for the time) non-stereotypical portrayal of a black character and two characters living not only in sin but adulterously so -- that give it some distinction. The script's main drawback is its initial lack of focus; it doesn't seem to quite know exactly what its story is and where the real conflict will lie. Ultimately, this doesn't really matter, for John Huston knows where it's going, and he shepherds the story along very efficiently, throwing in a little social commentary here, heightening the atmosphere there, tossing in a hint of the unsavory elsewhere. Although he doesn't really know what to do with the male actors (save for Charles Coburn and Frank Craven, each of whom is just right in entirely different ways), he handles the women in exactly the right way, including Billie Burke as the coddling, neurotic mother. It's Bette Davis, of course, who gets the showiest role, and she sinks her teeth into it and plays it for all it's worth. It's a great Davis performance, but she's still outdone by Olivia de Havilland, whose quiet, understated work anchors the film and ultimately makes the greater impression. It's terribly fine film acting, and immensely satisfying. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
- 1937
Bette Davis and Leslie Howard play an egotistical Broadway acting team famous for their romantic scenes. In truth, Davis and Howard are crazy about each other, but they spend so much time bickering that they never get around to marriage. The relationship is complicated by young heiress Olivia De Havilland, a fan who worships the ground Howard walks on. Howard tries to scare off the star-struck young lady by threatening her with seduction, but it turns out she enjoys the prospect of being seduced. Everything is straightened out by the climax, though Davis and Howard never quite get to the altar. It's Love I'm After is all the more enjoyable when one recalls the "serious" movie romances carried on by Leslie Howard with both Bette Davis (in The Petrified Forest) and Olivia De Havilland (in Gone with the Wind). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, (more)
Olivia de Havilland stars in this sensationalistic shocker as Mrs. Halyard, a wealthy widow recuperating from a broken hip. Inside her mansion, she becomes trapped between floors in her elevator. She activates an emergency alarm but succeeds only in attracting the attention of the wino (Jeff Corey), who steals goods from her house and sells them to a fence. The wino visits Sade (Ann Sothern), a prostitute, who spreads the plight of Mrs. Hilyard's dilemma to three young hoods, Randall (James Caan), Elaine (Jennifer Billingsley), and Essie (Rafael Campos). The trio follows the wino and the hooker back to the mansion, where they have an orgy, kill the wino, and lock Sade in a closet. Randall taunts Mrs. Hilyard and confronts her with a nasty suicide note from her son, Malcolm (William Swan). Mrs. Hilyard, mustering up her strength, attempts to fight back against Randall and the two other goons. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivia de Havilland, Ann Sothern, (more)
- 1959
A man is forced to prove who he really is -- and discovers that it isn't as easy as one might think -- in this drama. Sir Mark Loddon (Dirk Bogarde) is a titled member of the British aristocracy who lives a life of wealth, privilege, and notoriety, until one day Jeffrey Buckenham (Paul Massie), a pilot from Canada, makes a startling accusation. Buckenham and Loddon were both inmates in the same POW camp during WWII, and Buckenham is convinced that Loddon is not the man he claims to be; Frank Welney, an actor who was also a prisoner in the same camp, bore a striking resemblance to Loddon, and he is convinced that the actor has taken Loddon's place. The press picks up Buckenham's story, and the question of Loddon's identity becomes the talk of all England; Lady Maggie Loddon (Olivia de Havilland), Mark's wife, is deeply offended and insists that he sue for libel to restore his good name. Mark obtains the services of Sir Wilfred (Robert Morley), one of the nation's best-respected attorneys, but it soon becomes evident that proving Mark's identity in court may not be as simple as it might seem; Mark suffered severe head injuries during the war that cause him to stutter at times and also result in periodic spells of amnesia; the testimony of the many witnesses called by Sir Wilfred and his opponent, Hubert Foxley (Wilfrid Hyde-White), establish no clear consensus of who Loddon really is. Libel was based on the popular stage drama by Edward Wooll. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
- 1962
A mother who wants only the best for her challenged daughter faces a number of new and unexpected dilemmas in this romantic drama. Margaret Johnson (Olivia de Havilland) is a wealthy woman taking a tour of Europe with her 26-year-old daughter Clara (Yvette Mimieux). Clara is blonde, beautiful, and charming, but beneath the surface lurks a serious problem -- as a result of a head injury she suffered as a child, Clara is mildly retarded and has the mental capacity of a ten-year-old. While Margaret's husband Noel (Barry Sullivan) has long contended that Clara should be institutionalized, Margaret refuses to hear of it, and she sees to it that her daughter lives as normal a life as possible. While in Italy, Margaret and Clara meet a handsome young man named Fabrizio Naccarelli (George Hamilton), the son of a prosperous local, Signor Naccarelli (Rossano Brazzi). Fabrizio is immediately smitten with Clara, and she seems equally fond of him; since Frabrizio has a spotty command of English and isn't especially perceptive to begin with, he doesn't notice anything unusual about her. Before long, Fabrizio asks Margaret for Clara's hand in marriage; while this would be a big step toward the "normal" life that Margaret has long dreamed of for her daughter, she's not sure if Clara is capable of handling the responsibilities of marriage and parenthood, and she is equally uncertain if she should reveal the nature of Clara's condition to the Naccarellis, even though she knows that it would be terribly unfair for Fabrizio to marry Clara without knowing the truth. Light in the Piazza was beautifully shot on location in Italy by award-winning cinematographer Otto Heller. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivia de Havilland, Rossano Brazzi, (more)
- 1981
Murder Is Easy is one of a multitude of 1980s TV movies based on the novels of Agatha Christie. Bill Bixby stars as an American investor, vacationing in England. While on a train, Bixby strikes up a conversation with the seemingly dotty Helen Hayes, who insists she's en route to Scotland Yard with evidence pertaining to three murders. When Ms. Hayes is herself killed, Bixby finds himself heading to the village of Wychwood Under Ashe to investigate the killings on his own. In a twinkling, both Bixby and lovely villager Lesley-Ann Down find themselves the principal suspects. Olivia De Havilland is also among the highly suspicious guest stars in Murder is Easy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1952
Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton star in this adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's gothic novel. In a reversal of Jane Eyre, it is the hero who arrives at the home of a mysterious woman. Rachel (de Havilland) is the widow of a Cornish man of property (John Sutton), who died in suspicious circumstances. Philip Ashley Burton is the dead man's cousin, who in probing his relative's demise immediately suspects Rachel -- and goes on suspecting her even after he falls in love with her. Going against the inheritance laws of the era, Burton turns over his cousin's estate to Rachel, but she refuses his entreaties of marriage. He soon falls ill, and it is whispered that Rachel has poisoned him. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivia de Havilland, Richard Burton, (more)
- 1940
Olivia DeHavilland stars as a music student whose education is secretly subsidized by the aging owner of a phonograph factory (Charles Winninger). The old man hopes to vicariously live his own musical aspirations through the young woman's success. DeHavilland, however, is just as interested in romance as in music, and with the help of her best friend (Jane Wyman) she sets about to win a handsome husband (Jeffrey Lynn). Featured in the supporting cast are William Orr, the son-in-law of studio head Jack Warner (and later a TV producer) and former silent screen ingenue Mabel Taliaferro. My Love Came Back, a remake of a mid-1930s Austrian film musical, was the first Hollywood assignment for director Curtis Bernhardt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivia de Havilland, Jeffrey Lynn, (more)
