This year Hollywood legend Dame Olivia de Havilland turns 104 – a tribute
Olivia de Havilland first appeared on movie screens 85 years ago.
If you’ve watched her in David O. Selznick’s “Gone with the Wind” (1939) you can’t be faulted if that’s how you remember her – as Melanie. If you haven’t watched her as Melanie, perhaps you should be faulted, after all. She was vital to GWTW’s success.
Remember Mammy pouring out her grief to Melanie as she walks up that staircase in the mournful Rhett-Scarlett household?
Seconds of grumbling. That’s all it took. Unlike the rest of us, Melanie didn’t find it just mildly annoying. She found it unbearable. She saw the world through a clean, clear lens. She wouldn’t let her own dark thoughts – she did have those – or the dark words and actions of others, cloud that lens beyond a point. Continue reading de Havilland: Olivia for all time, Melanie forever