Almost There: Olivia de Havilland in "My Cousin Rachel"

by Cláudio Alves

As you know, Olivia de Havilland passed away on Saturday. She leaves behind a filmography full of immortal classics as well as a legacy that still shapes the American film industry. At first glance, de Havilland might seem like an odd choice for this series. Her most acclaimed roles did nab Oscar nominations and she won twice. Still, there was, at least, one occasion when the great Olivia could have considered herself snubbed by AMPAS. It happened in 1952 when the actress returned to the screen after a short period dedicated to the stage. Surely a wise move since The Heiress (1949) was undoubtedly a tough act to follow.

Her next feature after the break was a Daphne du Maurier adaptation that's noteworthy for at least two reasons: one, it  launched the career of Richard Burton in Hollywood and two, it went on to score four Oscar nominations. We're talking about My Cousin Rachel…

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Review: Rosamund Pike in "Radioactive"

Please welcome new contributor Juan Carlos Ojano, who you may know from the podcast "One Inch Barrier" - Editor

by Juan Carlos Ojano

Biopics are tricky.  Inasmuch as making them are good bets for filmmakers to get awards consideration, they are also prone to falling to overused clichés. One overworn formula persistently plagues this genre: the all-encompassing chronicle of the major events in a real person’s life. Such is the case with Marjane Satrapi’s Radioactive, an unabashed ode to the legacy of Marie Curie and her contributions to science, that's now streaming on Amazon Prime.

While this biopic harbors a lot of distinct aesthetic choices, they are but distracting compensation for formulaic storytelling...

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Olivia de Havilland (1916-2020)

by Nathaniel R

We have long dreaded this day coming so it's with heavy hearts that we share that the iconic Olivia de Havilland has passed away. We have celebrated her several times here at The Film Experience, most notably in 2016 with a multi-film retrospective for her Centennial. Having been a true screen immortal for the past (gulp) 80 years, it was hard to picture this woman as an actual mortal. Pictures of her happily bicycling in Paris in her centenarian years were popular around the web but all things eventually end. The Oscar winner, who had just celebrated her 104th birthday on July 1st, died peacefully yesterday in her Parisian home...

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Comment Party: Best Actress, 1991

by Nathaniel R

Remember Bette's dream project "For the Boys"?

We've probably done TOO much 1991 before this next Smackdown! Apologies for those of you without a particular affinity for that year but you've only got one more day of this to get through. We thought it might be fun to briefly discuss the Best Actress race of that year before the Supporting Actress Smackdown event tomorrow.

OSCAR NOMINEES

• Geena Davis, Thelma & Louise
• Laura Dern, Rambling Rose
• Jodie Foster, Silence of the Lambs ★ 
• Bette Midler, For the Boys
• Susan Sarandon, Thelma & Louise

If I remember the year correctly this lineup was basically a done deal ahead of time but for the fifth slot...

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Comment Party: Best Actress, 1930s

Who is your favourite from each year in the 1930s? My current votes go like so though there are always more films to see so one must always reserve the right to change one's mind.

• 1930 Norma Shearer, The Divorcee
• 1931 Marie Dressler, Min & Bill
• 1932 Marlene Dietrich, Blonde Venus
• 1933 Greta Garbo, Queen Christina
• 1934 Claudette Colbert, It Happened One Night
• 1935 Katharine Hepburn, Alice Adams
• 1936 Carole Lombard, My Man Godfrey
• 1937 Irene Dunne, The Awful Truth
• 1938 Bette Davis, Jezebel
• 1939 Vivien Leigh, Gone With the Wind (though I'll admit to being somewhat torn because Dark Victory is my favourite pre 1950s Bette Davis performance)