Sisters: The Story of Olivia De Havilland and Joan Fontaine [Hardcover]

Charles Higham (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 257 pages
• Publisher: Coward Mc Cann; 1st edition (May 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0698112687
• ISBN-13: 978-0698112681
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,134,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye-opener to the lives of two great stars, August 24, 2009

By 

Susan Taylor - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Sisters: The Story of Olivia De Havilland and Joan Fontaine (Hardcover)

Even if you haven't ever heard of these two sisters before or seen their movies, it is no reason not to read the book or at least finish this review. Sisters opened my eyes to see how harsh sibling rivalry can be, and it could easily be a work of fiction. Joan Fontaine, the younger sister I feel sympathizing, came from a sickly, lonely childhood shadowed by her older, popular sister, but still came to just as much fame. Her parents were no help either: Mr. De Havilland, besides living away from his family in Japan his whole life, tried to seduce his own daughter, Joan, when she was over there. Her stepfather, George Fontaine, whose name she later took as her acting name, strangely had similar ideas. And Joan's mother always sided with Olivia. The book carefully details the various marriages the two women had (and why they fell apart) , their movies, and, of course the rivalry that still exists to this day. The two sisters, now in their early nineties, haven't talked since the '70s. This is a must read for anyone interested in movie stars, relationships, or the notion that you can't judge a book by its cover.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sisters: Olivia and Joan, November 17, 2009

By 

Linda Deane - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sisters: The Story of Olivia De Havilland and Joan Fontaine (Hardcover)

Good book about their lives. Not very nice people, but fun to read about. Being a classic movie buff, I love reading about the old stars, and this was interesting and fun...

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters...", May 17, 2011

By 

Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sisters: The Story of Olivia De Havilland and Joan Fontaine (Hardcover)

All of their individual movie plots combined have NOTHING on the real-life sister dynamic of Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine. Biographer Charles Higham lifts the lid on their long-standing feud in his 1984 book SISTERS, a fascinating piece which fans of the ladies will find both illuminating and touching in it's frankness.

Born only a year apart, Olivia and Joan were initially reared in Japan, where their father was a patent lawyer. Their mother Lilian, herself a frustrated would-be actress, took off with the girls for a new start in America when her husband's fetish for visiting Japan's infamous red-light district became too much to bear. In America, Olivia and Joan's sisterly bond would be continually tested, specifically by Olivia who made no secret of her desire to have been an only child. Joan was a moody and sullen child who resented Lilian's overt favouritism and had to mend the "hand-me-downs" that Olivia would rip on purpose before giving to her.

When Olivia burst onto the showbusiness map, replacing Gloria Stuart as Hermia in Max Reinhardt's star-studded Hollywood Bowl production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", she was quickly signed to a contract with Warner Bros., where she reprised her role in the film version of "Dream", before being paired with a handsome newcomer named Errol Flynn in "Captain Blood", the first in what would be a series of popular costume swashbucklers. de Havilland's infatuation with Flynn became a real sticking-point in her relationship with Joan, who saw right through phoney Flynn, much to the annoyance of Olivia who clung, quite naively, to the romantic image he projected onto the screen.

When Joan developed her own passion for acting, it wasn't much-welcomed by mother Lilian. One actress in the family was enough. Warner Bros. "was Olivia's studio", as Lilian smartly pointed out, so Joan found her first home at RKO (and later at Selznick's). Joan couldn't even trade on the de Havilland name, and had to assume the surname of stepfather George Fontaine. Perhaps being the younger sister eventually worked to Joan's advantage. It gave her the drive to make the "firsts" in the family - the first sister to get married (to Brian Aherne), and perhaps most fatally to Joan's relations with Olivia - the first to win an Academy Award (for her masterful performance as Lina McLaidlaw in Hitchcock's "Suspicion" in 1941; in direct competition with Olivia who was herself nominated for "Hold Back the Dawn"). At the time of Joan's Oscar win, Olivia was drowning in a series of low-key comedies like "Princess O'Rourke" and "Government Girl".

Olivia prided herself on a series of superior roles - the highlight being selfless Melanie in "Gone with the Wind". Like most actresses in 1938, Joan desperately wanted the role of Scarlett O'Hara, but when she enquired about the possibility with director George Cukor, he said that she'd be much better-suited to Melanie. As legend goes, Joan threw a fit and screamed "If it's Melanie you want, call Olivia!". Yet another score for Olivia. Joan got her own back when she snagged the plum role of the second Mrs de Wynter in Hitchcock's now-classic "Rebecca", cancelling out such competition as Anne Baxter, Vivien Leigh...and Olivia. Another weird sisterly twist came when Olivia played Charlotte Brontė in a strange film entitled "Devotion", just as Joan was starring as Brontė's "Jane Eyre" with Orson Welles. "Devotion" was kept on the shelf for three years before being officially released.

It has been said that Olivia always hated playing against-type in unsympathetic roles, so when Olivia balked and walked out of the period thriller "Ivy", Joan took over and made quite a success. Joan also played the deliciously-evil Christabel Caine in director Nicholas Ray's well-regarded noir "Born to Be Bad". When Olivia finally won her Academy Award for "To Each His Own" in 1946, it was a good time for the actress, who had almost single-handedly revolutionised the contract system for actors in Hollywood, after taking court action to escape from her interminable contract with Warner Bros. But any possible reconcilation with Joan flew out of the window when, at the moment of Olivia's Oscar triumph, Joan reached out her hand to offer congratulations, and Olivia instead promptly turned on her heel and swept up to the podium to accept her statuette. A second Oscar followed in 1950 for her performance as Catherine Sloper in "The Heiress".

Twice-divorced Olivia de Havilland still lives in France, where she first moved in 1956 with her second husband. Joan Fontaine, four-times-divorced, keeps up an active lifestyle in Carmel with her faithful dogs. As of this review's writing, the two are still alive and (hopefully) healthy and well. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since Charles Higham's book has been published. One likes to think that blood is thicker than water, and both sisters will eventually make their peace. One hopes that they do. In the meanwhile, fans of Olivia and Joan will no doubt enjoy this meaty slice of Hollywood intrigue. Recommended.