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Post by naterdawg on Feb 4, 2017 16:33:51 GMT
I became a lifelong Joan Fontaine fan when I saw "The Devil's Own" on the CBS late movie in February of 1974. Since then, I've seen almost all of her films, but my favorite Joan Fontaine period is from 1939-1948. She's incredible in Hitchcock's Rebecca and Suspicion (and very deservedly won an Oscar for this performance), but I really loved her in "Ivy," released in 1947. Ivy is an Edwardian melodrama with horrific overtones, and Joan's a beautiful murderess who gets what's coming to her! Why this has never been on video or DVD is beyond me.
Anyone here share my liking for the late Ms. Fontaine?
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Gubbio
Sophomore
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Post by Gubbio on Feb 4, 2017 19:25:21 GMT
You didn't waste any time, did you?
I had a little trouble registering here. I got as far as "choose your screen name," and it wouldn't go any further.
I changed browsers and had more success. The latest version of Firefox has been very WONKY on log-ins lately, so I used an old version on my PC. Worked with no problem.
Later, -Gubbs
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Post by naterdawg on Feb 4, 2017 22:40:17 GMT
Haha! No, I didn't waste ANY time--and thanks for posting the link at the IMDB. It's gone, by the way. Erased by someone who doesn't want people to know about this great new forum.
And as you can see, I'm once again Naterdawg. To a brand new day, Gubbs!
You know who...
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2017 3:20:22 GMT
Joan Fontaine is my all-time favorite actress, one of the most sophisticated star. Her best IMO is "A Letter from an unknown woman". She should have won Oscar for that wonderful performance. She is captivated and convincing playing both teenager and a mature woman. She is also terrific in Jane Eyre, Rebecca and Suspicion.
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Nick91
Freshman
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Post by Nick91 on Feb 5, 2017 9:54:11 GMT
Joan Fontaine was definitely an accomplished actress. I think the latest one I saw with her was Island in the Sun (1957). An interesting tidbit about Fontaine is that she was a licensed pilot. This undoubtedly had something to do with the fact that her cousin was Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, a noted aviation engineer.
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Post by naterdawg on Feb 5, 2017 14:35:01 GMT
All of this is very interesting. I did know about Joan being a pilot from reading her autobiography, "No Bed of Roses" (1978).
What do you guys think of The Constant Nymph? It had been tied up in "rights limbo" for years and finally made it to DVD about three or four years back. And I echo the sentiments about Letter from an Unknown Woman. She definitely was robbed of an Oscar nomination and probably should have won.
Jane Eyre is a "big" movie, and Joan holds her own against a bombastic Orson Welles. The one performance that bothers me in Jane was Margaret O'Brien's. I've just never cared for her, and listening to her mangle a french accent is like enduring nails on a chalkboard.
Of Joan's 50's work, she's really quite sublime as the older sister in Robert Wise's "Until They Sail." I've never seen all of Island in the Sun and didn't like Tender is the Night, mostly because of Jennifer Jones.
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Post by naterdawg on Feb 5, 2017 16:11:05 GMT
Why did you avoid watching Jane Eyre?
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Post by naterdawg on Feb 5, 2017 18:36:04 GMT
Oh, you mean the beginning. Yes, kids had it harsh...but I don't think what was portrayed was any worse than in a Dickens' adaptation. Certainly, the beginning of Great Expectations is just as bad.
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Post by LaurenceBranagh on Feb 11, 2017 23:40:12 GMT
I just watched Island in the Sun. Great performance by Fontaine, despite being a rather mediocre film. I love her in any film I see her in. Great actress.
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Post by naterdawg on Feb 12, 2017 5:36:48 GMT
I just watched Island in the Sun. Great performance by Fontaine, despite being a rather mediocre film. I love her in any film I see her in. Great actress. She was also quite good in Irwin Allen's "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea!"
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2017 5:35:13 GMT
All of this is very interesting. I did know about Joan being a pilot from reading her autobiography, "No Bed of Roses" (1978). What do you guys think of The Constant Nymph? It had been tied up in "rights limbo" for years and finally made it to DVD about three or four years back. And I echo the sentiments about Letter from an Unknown Woman. She definitely was robbed of an Oscar nomination and probably should have won. Jane Eyre is a "big" movie, and Joan holds her own against a bombastic Orson Welles. The one performance that bothers me in Jane was Margaret O'Brien's. I've just never cared for her, and listening to her mangle a french accent is like enduring nails on a chalkboard. Of Joan's 50's work, she's really quite sublime as the older sister in Robert Wise's "Until They Sail." I've never seen all of Island in the Sun and didn't like Tender is the Night, mostly because of Jennifer Jones. I finally got to see The Constant Nymph a few years ago. I think it was shown on TCM. I liked Joan Fontaine in it but I think the story is a bit.... creepy. I'm glad I got to see it though because I read the book years earlier and I knew the movie existed but they never played it on TV.
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Post by naterdawg on Feb 22, 2017 5:57:29 GMT
The Constant Nymph is a bit creepy in that an underage girl and an "almost" middle-aged man are basically "soulmates," for want of a better term. Nothing untoward happens between them, but the potential is there, nonetheless.
Joan cornered the market on playing teenage girls during that time. She did it again in Letter From an Unknown Woman.
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Post by teleadm on Feb 22, 2017 19:44:34 GMT
I agree with all above me, about the movies I've seen of them, and has become interested in the movies mentioned that I haven't seen. I must be the only one who might have enjoyed her in the corny but fun The Emeror's Waltz 1948, and I also liked her among the swords and armour in Ivanhoe 1951, while she totally dissapears among Bob Hope's gags in Casanova's Big Night 1954. She was also good in the otherwise trashy TV movie about the movie gossip business, The Users 1978.
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