Customer Reviews (2)

Sisters: Olivia and Joan
Good book about their lives. Not very nice people, but fun to read about.Being a classic movie buff, I love reading about the old stars, and this was interesting and fun...

Eye-opener to the lives of two great stars
Even if you haven't ever heard of these two sisters before or seen their movies, it is no reason not to read the book or at least finish this review. Sisters opened my eyes to see how harsh sibling rivalry can be, and it could easily be a work of fiction. Joan Fontaine, the younger sister I feel sympathizing, came from a sickly, lonely childhood shadowed by her older, popular sister, but still came to just as much fame.Her parents were no help either: Mr. De Havilland, besides living away from his family in Japan his whole life, tried to seduce his own daughter, Joan, when she was over there. Her stepfather, George Fontaine, whose name she later took as her acting name, strangely had similar ideas. And Joan's mother always sided with Olivia. The book carefully details the various marriages the two women had (and why they fell apart) , their movies, and, of course the rivalry that still exists to this day. The two sisters, now in their early nineties, haven't talked since the '70s. This is a must read for anyone interested in movie stars, relationships, or the notion that you can't judge a book by its cover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Nice tribute to Olivia despite some mistakes in film descriptions...
Any fan of OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND would be glad to get his hands on this handsome book featuring a vast collection of stills from all of her films and some interesting comments on her personal life and the films themselves.

Studded with gorgeous photos, it's a keeper.

As often happens in film books, the author's description for some of the films is not entirely accurate but this is a minor flaw in an otherwise well-written and informative piece of work.

Definitely worth buying if you're a fan of this two-time Academy Award winner who was honored last year by the Academy two weeks before her 90th birthday which was a tremendously successful sold-out event.

Olivia is one of those rare actresses who had a career handed to her on a silver plate, beginning with Shakespeare, just shortly after graduating from high school. Little could she have known that in the course of a year she would be starring in the famous film version of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, a few years later would go on to play Melanie in one of the most beloved films of all time--GWTW--(at 22), would win two Oscars (1946 and 1949), as well as a landmark law suit against Warner Bros. when Jack Warner tried to enforce her contract indefinitely--of which Bette Davis said--"every actor in Hollywood owes her a debt of gratitude"--and would hold onto her reputation as a prestigious actress for fifty years in films.

Fine tribute to a legendary star of the Golden Age.

Great Book
Although this book had quite a few errors in the movie descriptions and wasn't 100% accurate, It is still worth owning if you are an Olivia de Havilland fan. The pictures, all black and white, are really great and a lot of them I haven't seen before. I also liked the foreword by Bette Davis, short and sweet.

Fairly accurate Bio. ofMiss deHavillands life and work
Tony Thomas died in July 1997,just a few days after Olivia deHavilland's81st.birthday. His work here is,for the most part,the most accurate,andleast opinionated,of all the deHavilland Film/Bio-Graphies to date,and hiswriting on this subject is quoted liberally (Mistakes and all!),in at leastone multi-volumed film guide. The introduction by the late Bette Davis is asincerely kind,and profoundly positive tribute,that can be considered moreinsightful about Miss deHavilland's personal character,than much elsethat's written in the book. This book served for me as a starting point formy own research into Olivia deHavilland's work,and on more than oneoccasion I have found myself being confused,and amused,by viewing one ofher films for the first time,and discovering that it didn't quite go theway I had read about it!I discovered (Also from my own research),that he wassometimes short on facts,and slighly over romantic on some points of thedeHavilland family history,especially the family of Sir GeoffreydeHavilland (Find out more on him in his autobiography "SkyFever",and hopefully in Olivia's new autobiography to be released...someday),who was Olivia's uncle ,and who was famous for founding his ownBritish aircraft company.Overall,a good book for it's time,buthopefully,better is yet to come! ... Read more

Product Description
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Olivia Mary de Havilland (born July 1, 1916) is an American film and stage actress. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. Along with her sister, de Havilland is one of the last surviving female stars from 1930s Hollywood. She is also the last living lead from Gone with the Wind. Olivia de Havilland was born in Tokyo, Japan to British parents. Her mother, Lilian Augusta Ruse (1886-1975), was an actress known professionally as Lillian Fontaine, and her father, Walter Augustus de Havilland (1872-1968), was a patent attorney with a practice in Japan. Her parents married in 1914 and divorced in 1919. Her younger sister is actress Joan Fontaine (born 1917), from whom she has been estranged for many decades, not speaking at all since 1975. ... Read more