Happy B-Day (and lawsuit) Olivia de Havilland

[great_chandel]

It seems the great Olivia will be ringing her birthday in (this weekend), in the midst of a lawsuit! She filed a lawsuit against some producers in Los Angeles for using her likeness (among other things), on a show on FX. In any event, happy birthday (she will be 101) on Sunday! She is one of my all-time favorite actresses and truly one of the last from the "Golden Age of Hollywood."

Leonard Maltin said it best about "Gone with the Wind." "If not the greatest American film ever made, certainly the greatest example of story-telling ever told."

[PNGwynne]

I'm assuming the suit refers to FX's "Feud: Bette and Joan", which featured De Havilland as an interested party/supporting character--and, in a positive light. She was portrayed by Catherine Zeta Jones.

I'm a great fan of hers as well, but I wonder about the grounds of this suit, since fictional and documentary portrayals of actors, politicians, and celebrities occur often. I hope this all doesn't scuttle the home video release of "Feud."

[Goblin19]

Maybe she's worried the next Feud will be Olivia DeHavilland vs. Joan Fontaine.

[PNGwynne]

lol Perhaps. Their relationship was referenced slightly (and to Olivia's advantage) in "Feud."

[palitoy]

Weird, she kind of came off the best in Feud.

[PNGwynne]

I agree--though I wonder if that's a slight concession to her still being with us. My gut feeling is that her motivation here is simply proprietary.

[supes]

One of her main complaints was she felt it portrayed her as a gossip monger, and had interviews she said never happened. I didn't watch the show but my wife did and she loved it

[PNGwynne]

I can see her point, but those "interviews" were used as a counterpoint framing device and my assumption is that their content had a basis in her attitudes and statements that were on record. And I'll also say--and by no means do I mean this to sound uncharitable--I've seen older interviews of de Havilland on TCM, and she's very "on" and chatty, if not gossipy. She does have a sweet but wry quality that served her so well in "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte."

I was mostly very impressed with Feud and enjoyed it. The portrayal of Victor Buono intrigued me and had some surprising depth.

[hobub]

Mego shot. Toast to another year! Happy 101