Olivia de Havilland and the Golden Age of Hollywood

This is classic Hollywood history as told through the life and career of one of its mosticonic actresses. The book benefits tremendously from the authors meeting with Olivia de Havilland after he was assigned to handle her projected memoir at the Delacorte Press in 1973. Amburn also knew many of the key figures in her life and career a veritable pantheon of Hollywood royalty from the 30s 40s and 50s: Jimmy Stewart George Cukor and David O. Selznick and he was an editor at William Morrow when the company published the autobiography of de Havillands difficult sister Joan Fontaine.Superbly researched and full of delicious anecdotes about Clark Gable John Huston Vivien Leigh Laurence Olivier Montgomery Clift Errol Flynn David Niven and Bette Davis--particularly the bloody bone-crunching fistfight Flynn and Huston waged over Olivia--this book not only profiles one of the finest actresses of her time but also the culture of the film industrys Golden Age.It details de Havillands relationships with the men who sought her--Howard Hughes Jimmy Stewart Errol Flynn John F. Kennedy Burgess Meredith and John Huston as well as her friendships with Grace Kelly British Prime Minister Edward Heath Ronald Reagan Victor Fleming and Ingrid Bergman.Here too are the fabulous and often surprising back stories of her 49 films including Gone With the Wind The Adventures of Robin Hood The Snake Pit Hush . . . Hush Sweet Charlotte and the two for which she won Oscars The Heiress and To Each His Own. The account of the filming of Gone With the Wind is unique in that the author interviewed many of the people involved in the epic making of this masterpiece as Lois Dwight Cole who discovered the novel producer David O. Selznick director George Cukor agents Kay Brown and Annie Laurie Williams Radie Harris Vivien Leighs closest friend in the press and both Edie Goetz and Irene Mayer Selznick daughters of Louis B. Mayer head of MGM the studio that funded released and ended up owning Gone With the Wind.Also included in this biography are Olivias adventures with Bette Davis. They appeared together in four movies and Davis tried to destroy her but Olivia stood up to Davis as no other actress had ever dared to do. She won Daviss respect and by the time they made their biggest hit Hush . . . Hush Sweet Charlotte a lasting friendship had blossomed. Undertaking a joint national publicity tour they attracted mobs of boisterous fans and in private reminisced about the Golden Age of movies evaluated the current crop of stars and exchanged observations about love goddesses nudity and parenthood.