Who looked the best at her peak: Olivia de Havilland or Joan Fontaine?

Both brilliant/beautiful it’s a tie. That they didn’t get along-who can’t relate to that?

Joan.

Some of us peaked later.

Joan was prettier.

Olivia was a pretentious bitch but she was the better actress (although Joan was good too).

[quote] she was the better actress

I always preferred Joan Fontaine.

In the 1930s, when Olivia de Havilland was a fresh-faced, ingenue in films like “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” she was the more beautiful sister.

But when Joan glammed-up at the end of “Rebecca” and in her next film “Suspicion,” she was far more beautiful than Livvy, who started wearing her hair up in a severe ‘do and began to pack on weight across the midriff — she got quite matronly looking.

And while Joan was more mannered and arch, I think she was the far better actress. Olivia always seems to be trying too hard in things like “The Heiress” (which was stolen by Ralph Richardson as her father anyway).

They were both very pretty...not classically beautiful.

Joan......

I saw Joan in an episode of the Alfred Hitchcock hour where she annoys everyone around her to the point where her husband tries to poison her. She constantly has this smug smirk and the one raised eyebrow and that lop sided flip hairdo.

Gary Merrill, Bette Davis' longest suffering husband, played Joan's husband in the episode R9 mentioned. Joan did such a good job portraying that character, Gary's character seemed fully justified in trying to poison her.

Is there a third choice?

[quote]Is there a third choice?

There was a third de Havilland sister...Midge. She had issues and was never spoken of.

Was this Midge?

Such exemplars of ideal Japanese womanhood.

Midge was...special.

That photo speaks volumes, r14. I wonder what wrangling they had to go through to make it happen.

Even in peaceful slumber, the coif keeps going.

R17, indeed

Gary Merrill was handsome and gave you man back in the day-married to Bette Davis 10 years took its toll.

‘’Born to be bad’’ 1950 stared Joan and from what I had read about Joan seemed to almost play out in the film. We’ll never know for sure but Joan’s estranged daughters were very close to their Aunt Olivia all her life.

Both women with the right director could be phenomenal.

This is Joan Fontaine at her absolutely career best, in "Rebecca"--coming down the grand staircase for her early entrance at the Manderley Ball, happily (and gauchely) anticipating how delighted she thinks her husband is going to be at her cleverness in copying one of the portraits on the wall of the house gallery (with no idea the disturbed housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, has tricked her into making a choice that is sure to infuriate him).

(btw--I love the little light waltz Franz Waxman composed for this sequence.)

Joan Fontaine looks like Scarlett Johansson - great cheekbones.

Olivia de Havilland has more of a porcelain doll look.

I have to laugh at the Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode with Joan. Everyone hates her for what they see as interfering in their lives but I agree with everything she says!

[quote] Everyone hates her for what they see as interfering in their lives but I agree with everything she says!

She was a proto-Datalounger.

Team Fontaine. Livvie was an uber-cunt and just an all-around horrible person.

For me Oliva de has no sex appeal, even in her virginal roles with Errol Flynn. She was a frump. Joan was not.

Fontaine team

I loved Olivia as Miriam Deering.

Joan was smarter. Watch her in this interview for her memoir. Olivia is a dull interview.

That interview is interesting (at R29), suggests they were a rather coldly passionate family, prickly, strong-willed, steely, competitive, not concerned with kindness or warmth. The perfect temperament for succeeding in a difficult business.

No wonder both sisters had such long careers and rubbed each other the wrong way right up to the end.

They looked more alike as they aged.

Joan's daughter Deborah said she feels quite sure that her mother was bipolar.

Compare with Olivia

Joan

More Joan.

I didn't know that Joan had her passport taken away during the HUAC period.

Bless all of you homosexuals for your kind words about me. You’ll always have a supporter of you sodomite ways in me.

Here's the whole Jeanne Wolf interview with Joan.

Was Olivia the fattest centenerian ever? Usually when you read about super old people you see photos of little old ladies, but Olivia was chunky until the very end. I guess when you have super good genes you can even get away with that.

R38=Zombie Joan Fontaine

Ditto the zombie R38 she is Joan posting from beyond. Perhaps Olivia was on meds that had side effects-most folks just don’t live that long.She was doing many things right. Joan was notoriously harsh to people NOT in the Show Business. Olivia only responded to Joan’s crazy behavior and comments.

Crawford wasn’t the only Joan hated by here kids.

Airport '77 is the role I had been waiting for!