Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Sweet Olivia


I am still reeling after Olivia de Havilland's speech. Though she delivered it 8 years ago, it was new to me. She has such a way with words. And her ordeal with her stepfather mirrors mine, to a certain degree. Her writing style seems to be similar in ways to mine. Oh, I just adore her.

I really hope I can one day meet her.

Yesterday, December 15th, marked the 70-year anniversary of the premiere of "Gone With the Wind." I have been a die-hard fan of GWTW since the womb; my mother saw it when she was pregnant with me. I watched it growing up, and even at an age when I could barely grasp the deeper concepts of the film, I was spellbound. I love this film with all my heart, and it's wonderful that one of my role models played such an integral part in it's production. It gives me joy to watch the legacy of "Gone With the Wind" endure decades, and it now approaches a century. I can't wait for THAT celebration.

Peace, love, and glamour!

2 comments:

  1. I really adore Olivia de Havilland too. She is such an admirable person. What a lovely picture of her!
    And Gone With the Wind... I can never get enough.

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  2. I've also been a die-hard fan of GWTW since the womb. By the time my mother became pregnant with me, the first born, she had read the book and seen the movie countless times. During the last months of her pregnancy, my father had to read her a chapter from the novel so she could go to sleep. And, of course, she had the names ready: Scarlett, Melania or India, Rhett or Ashley. My father and the Catholic Church had a hard time convincing her that it wasn't proper since they weren't the names of saints. They, of course, won the battle. Instead of Ashley, a name I love, I was named Federico- not too bad but totally missing the GWTW glamour. I read the book at 13 and by the time I saw the movie two years later (during the Civil War Centenial) I had read it twice more. And when I saw the wind swept titles sweep across the screen, I completely lost it. How many times have I seen GWTW? How deep is the ocean? How high is the sky?

    I also adore Olivia. In fact "The Heiress", and not GWTW, is my favorite film of all time. And I consider her performance as Catherine Slopper, along with Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois in "A Streetcar Named Desire" in a tie, as the best female performance of all time. Bar none.

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