Hold Back the Dawn (1941)Ī winning prototype for the Gerard Depardieu/Andie MacDowell rom-com “Green Card” nearly half a century later, “Hold Back the Dawn” stars de Havilland as a schoolteacher who’s conned into a marriage of convenience by a Romanian gigolo (Charles Boyer) waylaid in Mexico. Rent it on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play and Vudu. Stream it on HBO Max, which recently added an introduction, by Jacqueline Stewart, that gives context to the film’s controversial attitudes about race. De Havilland plays both confidant and romantic obstacle for the lead character, and a paragon of loyalty and moral decency.
Over the four-hour-plus running time, Melanie gets a full arc, marrying her cousin Ashley Wilkes, the man Scarlett secretly loves, surviving a dramatic child birth without medical assistance, reuniting with her husband after the Civil War and dying from another pregnancy near the end. to release her from her contract to do it.
Gone With the Wind (1939)Īs the famed “search for Scarlett” ballooned to 1,400 actresses, de Havilland set her sights on playing Melanie Hamilton, Scarlett’s sister-in-law and eventual best friend, working hard behind the scenes to get Warner Bros. Rent it on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube. Flynn’s combination of rapier dexterity and rapier wit is the main attraction here, giving the film a lightness and joy that is supported by studio artistry, like a climactic sword fight staged heavily in silhouette.
Flynn is Sherwood Forest’s merry troublemaker, a noble Saxon who wages guerrilla war against the diabolical Prince John and the Normans, with de Havilland’s Lady Marian as a persuadable royal.
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