Olivia de Havilland: Five Films for Newcomers
Yesterday, we saw one of the final links to the classic era of Hollywood vanish when Dame Olivia de Havilland sadly passed away. At the age of 104, she represented a time of the film industry that has since been long departed from. Even though she stopped acting a number of years ago, she still achieved so much in the Golden Age that she remained the face of Hollywood of yesteryear in our lifetime. Legacies like this will never disappear, and today we are celebrating one of the greats. If you aren’t familiar with her films, now is the perfect time to see why she was as celebrated as she was. Here are five films for newcomers to the works of Olivia de Havilland. May she rest in peace.
5. Hold Back the Dawn
Marking a significant shift in De Havilland’s career was Mitchell Leisen’s romantic dilemma picture Hold Back the Dawn, where her character represents the hope of one’s future and security. Transitioning from the motive of a gigolo wanting to stay in the United States to being the entire reason of one’s being, De Havilland perfectly captures the allure of falling in love without ever becoming the naive subject of one’s affection.
4. The Snake Pit
A progressive film for its time, The Snake Pit was an early attempt at capturing a more real side of mental health and institutionalized treatments. As De Havilland can dominate the entire screen at any given time, she was the perfect casting for this take on Mary Jane Ward’s writing about the American asylum systems. Almost a precursor to the slightly more daring films of the ‘50s, The Snake Pit has aged incredibly well, given its devotion to its cause.
3. The Adventures of Robin Hood
De Havilland’s connection to Technicolor is no secret (see Gone With the Wind), and her ties to Errol Flynn beg to be brought up here too. So, let’s go with the best of both worlds with The Adventures of Robin Hood: still the best cinematic interpretation of the iconic outlaw. As the definitive version of Maid Marian, De Havilland set a precedent for the character for decades to come, as she brought class and magnetism to the role (and occasionally stole the film from Flynn’s Hood).
2. To Each His Own
One of De Havilland’s Academy Award wins was for the incredibly saddening To Each His Own: the tale of a mother forced to lose her child, and a plot to adopt said child that goes horribly wrong. For a film that’s so confined by the laws and practices of a different time, De Havilland’s emotional performance is so ahead of its time, and it’s clear that her ability to radiate an entire aura off of the screen presented this mindset. She was the perfect person to cast in this film, which was then a current discussion, because To Each His Own is now a place-and-time in history that has been brought to fruition by De Havilland’s magnificent, timeless performance.
1. The Heiress
De Havilland’s second Academy Award is for a performance that’s a little different than the rest here. Instead of being the dominant force of the film in a dramatic sense, De Havilland captures the innocence found in The Heiress as the romantic connection to someone who may or may not be a swindler. Well, just wait for De Havilland to develop in this romantic drama, and you’ll see the De Havilland we’re all familiar with (the strongest force in a film) at just the right time. The Heiress boasts her range effectively, and it may result in Olivia De Havilland’s best performance.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.