LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Olivia De Havilland: Warner Brothers
built 656 days ago
De Havilland's career began co-starring with Joe E. Brown in Alibi Ike in 1935. She appeared as Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, her first stage production, at the Hollywood Bowl. The stage production was later turned into a 1935 movie. Although the stage cast was largely replaced with Warner Bros. contract players, Olivia was hired to reprise her role as Hermia. De Havilland played opposite Errol Flynn in such highly popular films as Captain Blood and The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), and as Maid Marian to Flynn's Robin Hood in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).
Source:
Almost immediately after making her screen debut, Olivia de Havilland was established as a popular actress through her presence in Captain Blood. The film's pairing of de Havilland and Errol Flynn was a great success, and Warner Brothers, during the next six years, reteamed the two in seven films. Although these films gave de Havilland a leading lady status, her function was essentially that of supporting and adoring the male. The function was carried over into Gone with the Wind, yet this key role gave her at last an opportunity to display her potential as a skillful actress. The assignment was particularly challenging in that Melanie, in contrast to Scarlett O'Hara, is bland and two-dimensional; yet, arguably, de Havilland's performance is superior to Vivien Leigh's in conception, modulation, and emotional resonance, convincingly communicating the strength beneath Melanie's shy and timid outer self.
Source:
In 1941, de Havilland became a naturalized citizen of the United States and was becoming increasingly frustrated by the roles being assigned to her. She felt that she had proven herself to be capable of playing more than the demure ingénues and damsels in distress that were quickly typecasting her, and began to reject scripts that offered her this type of role. When her Warner Bros. contract expired, the studio informed her that six months had been added to it for times she had been on suspension; the law allowed for studios to suspend contract players for rejecting a role and the period of suspension to be added to the contract period. In theory this allowed a studio to maintain indefinite control over an uncooperative contractee.
Source:
OLIVIA de HAVILLAND, who plays the part of Melanie, was born in Tokyo, Japan and moved to Saratoga, Calif. when she was two years old. She attended the Saratoga public schools and the Notre Dame Convent at Belmont, Calif. Her first legitimate stage experience was in the role of Hermia in Max Reinhardt's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" presented at the Hollywood Bowl. She first gained motion picture fame when Reinhardt directed Midsummer Night's Dream for Warner Bros. with Havilland playing the same role, followed by Anthony Adverse, Captain Blood, Robin Hood and Wings of the Navy.
Source:
In addition, Ms. de Havilland was a pioneer in the struggle for actors’ rights. Under contract to Warner Bros., she rebelled at the inferior quality of roles being offered to her after Gone with the Wind (made on loan-out to Selznick), and she was placed on a six-month suspension. At the end of her seven-year contract, the studio attempted to force her to stay on, claiming that her obligation extended to include the duration of the suspension. She sued the studio and won, and though she did not work in films during the intervening three years, the landmark “de Havilland decision” remains a significant victory for actors and favorably affected other studio contract employees of that era.
Source:
In 1939, Olivia begged the Warner Brothers bigwigs to let her do "Gone With the Wind". They finally agreed, and Olivia was thrilled. She played Melanie Hamilton, the "mealy-mouthed ninny", as Scarlett called her. But Melanie proves to be strong, even stronger than Scarlett's "stupid Ashley" (Rhett's words this time!) The cast included Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Hattie Mc Daniel, Butterfly Mc Queen, and Clark Gable. Olivia and Gable became friends during the production. In fact, it was Olivia who convinced Gable to stay in "GWTW". He wanted to quit, because he had to cry over Bonnie's death.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Warner Brothers