My Favourite Joan Fontaine Movies
Happy Birthday Joan Fontaine!
Today would've been Joan's 103rd birthday, and this dame starred in many great films from the 1930s until the 1950s. She had a soft, sensitive way about portraying her characters and won the only Oscar from a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. As one half of the dynamic sister duo (and frosty feuders) with Olivia de Havilland, she was one of the longest-lived people still left from the Golden Age of Hollywood until her death in December 2013.
In honour of her birthday, here are five of my favourite Joan Fontaine movies.
The Women (1939)
I generally think that The Women is one of the most important movies from the classical Hollywood period, if only for the all-female cast and total lack of men on screen, and how it featured strong actresses in strong roles (when your cast is Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Joan Fontaine and Paulette Goddard, you're doing something right). Joan's role is relatively minor, but as the soft friend of Norma's noble Mary Haines, she shines.
Rebecca (1940)
via Cover Girls and Dancing Cavaliers
As the isolated second Mrs. de Winter, Joan does a wonderful job at carefully portraying someone driven to the brink by outside circumstances (and absolute witch Mrs. Danvers). She was nominated for an Oscar for this film, though she lost to Vivien Leigh for Gone with the Wind, and this showed us just how powerful her performances could be.
The Constant Nymph (1943)
This is a melodramatic tearjerker to the extreme, but it's such a sensitive role for Joan, as the young, musical Tessa Sanger who loves ferociously and lives carefully for the heart condition that could take her at any moment. Joan received her third and final Oscar nomination for this role.
Maid's Night Out (1938)
The definition of a B-movie, but it's a fun romp that follows a playboy who needs to work as a milk delivery boy for 30 days and Joan as a socialite posing as a maid. This was before Joan achieved superstardom, but there's a fun scene at the end where she lobs glass milk bottles at police cars and it's certainly lighter than some of her later fare. I'd definitely recommend this as you explore the trajectory of her career.
Born to Be Bad (1950)
In her later career especially, Joan excelled at playing bad girls, spoiled and snobby, in some melodramatic movies. Born to Be Bad is one of those movies: you can watch it with a decadent dessert and know that Joan's going to swan around all glamorous and elegant before she gets her own just desserts in the end.
___
What are your favourite Joan Fontaine movies?
Comments
Post a Comment