The Fourth Annual Olivia de Havilland Blogathon is Here!!!

Today Dame Olivia de Havilland celebrated her 103rd year here on earth!!! We are so lucky that she is still with us and I'm a honored to be able to celebrate her incredible life and career with this little blogathon and for Crystal from In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood for co-hosting with me.

I will try to update this post daily with the entries and hopefully will have time to read them this weekend.

Here are the entries:

Realweedgiemidget Reviews kicks off the day with Olivia's appearance on The Love Boat.

Pale Writer tells us about a less pleasurable experience of Olivia's character in The Snake Pit (1948).

The Stop Button delves into The Heiress (1949).

Photo by Samantha Ellis

Musings of a Classic Film Addict share's Olivia's recipe for Salade Nicoise.

Movies Meet Their Match is pleasantly surprised with The Proud Rebel (1958).

To Be Updated!!

ANNOUNCING the Fourth Annual Olivia de Havilland Blogathon!

I am excited to announce that, for the fourth year in a row, Crystal of In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood and I are hosting a blogathon in honor of our beloved Olivia de Havilland, who will be turning 104 on July 1st!

The blogathon will run from July 1st to July 3.

Here are the rules:

1. Choose any film or topic pertaining to Dame Olivia. Up to TWO Duplicates are allowed, so if you see that only one blogger is writing about, say, The Adventures of Robin Hood, you are free to write about it also.

2. Once you have made your selection(s), leave a comment below or over on Crystal's blog. Please be sure to include the name and link to your blog (so I don't have to look it up).

3. Please be sure to acknowledge both hosts in your post with a link back to their blog.

4. Lastly, grab a banner and spread the word!

ROSTER:

Phyllis Loves Classic Movies: The Well Groomed Bride (1946)
In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood: The Dark Mirror (1946) & TBA
The Flapper Dame: My Cousin Rachel (1952)
Hamlette's Soliloquy: Dodge City (1939)
Movies Meet Their Match: The Proud Rebel (1958)
Pale Writer: The Snake Pit (1948)
Realweegiemidget Reviews: Olivia on The Love Boat
The Stop Button: The Heiress (1949)
Silver Screen Classics: My Cousin Rachel (1952)
Musings of a Classic Film Addict: Olivia's recipe for Salade Nicoise
The Midnight Drive-In: The Snake Pit (1948)
Pop Culture Reverie: Murder is Easy (1982)
PEPS: Sante Fe Trail (1940)
Critica Retro: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
Poppity Talks Classic Film: Gold is Where You Find It (1938)
Screen Dreams: It's Love I'm After (1937)
18 Cinema Lane: Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)
A Shroud of Thoughts: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Old Hollywood Films: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Taking Up Room: The Heiress (1949)
Along the Brandywine: Captain Blood (1936)

Already claimed twice

My Cousin Rachel (1952), The Snake Pit (1948), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), and The Heiress

The Dark Mirror (1946)

 

Twins! One who loves, and one who loves to kill!

That's one of the taglines used for The Dark Mirror starring Olivia de Havilland, Lew Ayres, and Thomas Mitchell. The film was, to me, reminiscent of Gaslight (1944), where Charles Boyer slowly drives his wife, Ingrid Bergman, to insanity. In this case however, one twin is slowly driving the other twin crazy. I found this film particularly intriguing as one is not used to seeing the sweet Olivia de Havilland acting so evil and ruthless.

The ink blot test plays a big part in the film.

She plays twins Terry and Ruth Collins. One of them murdered someone. Both have perfect alibis. One is psycho. The other is slowly being made psycho. There are several scenes involving psychology, as the film was made in a time where psychoanalysis was a new field. There are several scenes involving the Rorschach ink blot test and it is even used in the opening credits. The twins are told this is for a twin personality study, but really they are trying to determine which one is the killer.

Terry and Ruth wear lots of personalized jewelry to help others tell them apart. The pieces from the film, which were created by Joseff of Hollywood, were auctioned off last year and can be seen in the catalog pages below.

Meanwhile, the evil twin (Terry) is driving the good twin (Ruth) out of her mind slowly. She plays music on a record during the night and pretends not to hear it or remind her of things that one of them said that she doesn't remember. This causes the Ruth to start to lose her grip and wonder if  she maybe didn't commit the murder after all. She also begins to rely on sleeping pills to get a good night's rest, taking more than she needs at her sister's suggestion.

Ayres plays Dr. Scott Elliot. While conducting the tests on the twins, he falls in love with Ruth. After he has completed the tests, he knows which one is the killer and sets a trap. He invites Terry up to his apartment to tell her something "important" (the identity of the killer). He makes Terry believe that he thinks she is Ruth. When Terry comes to his apartment, he confronts her and tells her that he knows she's Terry and that she did it. She still tries to blame it on Ruth. They are interrupted by a call that Ruth has committed suicide. They rush to the apartment and Scott goes into the bedroom to confirm the death. Terry, thinking that Ruth is dead, now pretends that she is Ruth and that she was trying to help cover up Terry's crime. As she talks, she becomes more and more into her lie. Suddenly, the real Ruth's reflection appears in the mirror. Terry throws an object at the mirror and completely breaks down. After she is taken away, Scott explains why the had to pretend she was dead and comforts her.

You can watch the full movie here on YouTube.

This post is for The Third Annual Olivia de Havilland Blogathon hosted by myself and In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood. Please check out the other posts and come back next year to celebrate the lovely Olivia!

The Third Annual Olivia de Havilland Blogathon is Here!!!

It's here!! The Third Annual Olivia de Havilland Blogathon is here!!! It's smaller than the previous two celebrations but that doesn't make it any less special. Crystal and I are excited to be hosting this event again and can't wait to read all the entries celebrating the amazing and beautiful Dame Olivia!!!

THE POSTS

"I do hope people don't think I'm really like this..."

The Wonderful World of Cinema kicks things off with The Snake Pit (1948).

"I wonder if there will be a remake of this...?"

The Stop Button gives us an analysis of what does and doesn't work in My Cousin Rachel (1952).

"Don't be so angry, Bette. There's an annual blogathon for you too!"

Musings of a Classic Film Addict discovers In This Our Life (1942).

"So wait.. which one of us is real?"

I cover Olivia's duel role in The Dark Mirror (1946).

"I don't always make TV movies, but when I do I still look fabulous."

Realweegiemidget Reviews takes a look at one of Olivia's TV Movies, Murder is Easy (1982).

"I'm no angel?"

The Dream Book Blog finds Olivia to be no angel as famous author Charlotte Bronte in Devotion (1946).

"Next years' blogathon seems so far away!"

Caftan Woman sees Olivia de Havilland come full circle from her early Westerns in The Proud Rebel (1958).

"Just because you don't get the guy doesn't mean you can't look fabulous!"

Pure Entertainment Preservation Society looks at The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) from a historical and code perspective.

"I just love blogathons, don't you?"

Taking Up Room discovers a different side of  Olivia in It's Love I'm After (1937).

"Hello? 2018?"

Critica Retro finds Hold Back the Dawn (1941) to be a timely film.

"I'm not always window dressing!"

Movies Meet Their Match finds a deeper meaning in Santa Fe Trail (1940).

Old Hollywood Films wraps things up with The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936).

A huge thank you to all who helped celebrate and to Crystal for once again co-hosting this event with me!!! I hope to see you all again next year!!

ANNOUNCING The Third Annual Olivia de Havilland Blogathon!!!

Okay, so I know I am announcing this way late but I couldn't motivate myself to make banners and then I had a funeral to sing at, a cold, and a heat rash. But I'm all good now and happy to announce that once again Crystal of In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood and I are hosting the Third Annual Olivia de Havilland Blogathon.

RULES:

Drop us a comment letting us know which movie or topic you want (no duplicates please) and the link to your blog. It would also be great if you could display one of the banners of your blog to help advertise. That's it! Check out the roster below to see which topics have already been claimed.

Don't you just love these recent photos of our beloved Olivia?

ROSTER:

Phyllis Loves Classic Movies: The Dark Mirror (1946)
In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood: The Heiress (1949) & TBD
Realweegiemidget Reviews: Murder Is Easy (1982)
The Stop Button: My Cousin Rachel (1952)
Caftan Woman: The Proud Rebel (1958)
Movies Meet Their Match: Santa Fe Trail (1940)

The Dream Book Blog: Devotion (1946)

The Wonderful World Of Cinema: The Snake Pit (1948)

Old Hollywood Films:  The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)

Critica Retro: Hold Back the Dawn (1941)

Taking Up Room: It’s Love I’m After (1937)
Musings of a Classic Film Addict: In This Our Life (1942) & possible recipe post
Pure Entertainment Preservation Society: The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)

Thanks for joining!!

New Photos of 101 Year Old Olivia de Havilland

At 101, Olivia de Havilland is the oldest Oscar-winning actress still living. And, at 101, she still isn't afraid to fight for her rights.

After the airing of the mini-series Feud: Bette and Joan last year, Olivia began a lawsuit against FX for using her name without consent and portraying her character in a negative light and potentially damaging her public image.

When ‘Feud’ was first being publicized, but before it went on the air, I was interested to see how it would portray my dear friend Bette Davis. Then friends and family started getting in touch with me, informing me that my identity was actually being represented on the program. No one from Fox had contacted me about this to ask my permission, to request my input, or to see how I felt about it. When I then learned that the Olivia de Havilland character called my sister Joan ‘a bitch’ and gossiped about Bette Davis and Joan Crawford’s personal and private relationship, I was deeply offended.

Olivia explains her reasons for initiating the lawsuit:

A large part of the reason I decided to move forward with my action against Fox is that I realize that at this stage of my life and career I am in a unique position to stand up and speak truth to power — an action that would be very difficult for a young actor to undertake. I believe in the right to free speech, but it certainly must not be abused by using it to protect published falsehoods or to improperly benefit from the use of someone’s name and reputation without their consent. Fox crossed both of these lines with ‘Feud,’ and if it is allowed to do this without any consequences, then the use of lies about well-known public figures masquerading as the truth will become more and more common. This is not moral and it should not be permitted.

Both of these quotes and more about the lawsuit can be read in this article published yesterday in the New York Times. The most exciting part about the article however, was the inclusion of two new photographs of our beloved Olivia that were taken at her home in Paris last month. She is absolutely stunning! I just had to share them ♥♥♥

Hollywood Auction Catalogs

 

This year I have discovered Auction Catalogs. Unfortunately - rather than being collected in one fabulous museum - costumes, jewelry, photos, and props from Classic Hollywood films are often owned by private collectors or consist of personal collections auctioned off by the actor or actress's family after their passing. Oftentimes the person who buys these items ends up selling them after a while and we end up with annual actions with catalogs featuring pages of fabulous items.

On Nov. 18, Julien's Auctions is having an auction consisting entirely of jewelry from the famous Joseff of Hollywood. The catalog, which you can view online, has over 400 pages of glittering jewels that once adorned the most beautiful of women and the most handsome of men. Here are a few of my favorite pages.

 

If you could own any of these pieces, or any of the other pieces in the catalog, which would you choose? Oh! To be fabulously wealthy at a time like this!

 

Update: Last night I started watching Rose-Marie (1936) and I noticed the bracelet Jeannette MacDonald wears on her left wrist appears to be the same one worn by Myrna Loy I shared above. As both films were made by MGM in 1936 and had their jewelry provided by Joseff of Hollywood I am almost certain it is the same piece.