Olivia De Havilland received her first Oscar nomination for her performance as Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind.
Melanie Hamilton is actually a far more difficult character to play than it seems. Melanie is the cousin and wife of the man that Scarlett loves, Ashley Wilkes: she is a kind, generous, selfless person and while at first sight these character traits might seem to be quite easy to portray, they actually are not. First off, it's hard to stand out when you're playing such a good-hearted character because it's hard to make those qualities all that interesting, especially not when you share the screen with Vivien Leigh's charismatic, complex and compelling Scarlett or Clark Gable's magnetic, fascinating Rhett. To be honest, Melanie is so good that she borders on being unrealistic and unbelievable, maybe even annoying. But Olivia De Havilland is a terrific, intelligent and skilled actress and she is perfectly up to the challenge: she doesn't only make Melanie believable - she actually makes her one of the most powerful characters of the movie. She takes a role that could have been very one-note and instead delivers one of the most astonishing supporting performances of all time.
From her very first scene in the movie, De Havilland manages to make Melanie a truly endearing and likeable presence and she never makes the viewer doubt her kindness: behind each of her gentle and sweet words of admiration towards Scarlett, De Havilland brings such a honesty of feelings that it's impossible to believe that she might not be sincere. Her sweetness is never cloying nor one-note - De Havilland turns Melanie into a truly realistic and convincing character: she never seems to try hard to get the audience's sympathy, she effortlessly gains it by being such a naturally pleasant presence on-screen. Melanie is a rather quiet role that could have easily disappeared next to the "bigger" performances by her co-stars, but De Havilland's subtle and restrained approach ultimately work wonders for the character she is playing as her portrayal haunts you for a long time after the movie is over. Her chemistry with the rest of the cast is also absolutely top notch: De Havilland's chemistry with Leslie Howard is absolutely wonderful and perfectly fitting to their character's relationship - it's much more delicate and subtler than the one between Howard and Leigh, but it's also deeper and more poignant. Ashley thinks he is in love with Scarlett but deep down he actually loves Melanie: the three actors realize these perfectly well and therefore create such a wonderful dynamic between their characters that it's a treat to have them on-screen together. Her chemistry with Vivien Leigh is even better: De Havilland is wonderful at portraying Melanie's deep affection towards Scarlett, while Leigh is amazing as she portrays Scarlett's growing respect and admiration towards Melanie, whom she despises at the beginning. Their relationship is one of the strongest elements of Gone with the Wind and this is all thanks to the incredible talent of the two actresses.
As I said, De Havilland does a fantastic job a portraying Melanie's warm and altruistic nature. But over the course of the movie she excellently shows that Melanie is much more than a "goody-goody", as Scarlett puts it: she is a gentle and quiet woman but one who would do just about anything to protect the people she loves. I particularly love the scene in which Scarlett kills a man who was trying to steal stuff from her property and Melanie, after hearing the shot and thinking that Scarlett is in danger, arrives carrying a sword despite being physically very weak after giving birth to her son: in this moment, De Havilland perfectly shows a new side of Melanie and the fire and strength that lie under her delicate appearence. She is also terrific in the scene after Ashley, Rhett and Dr. Meade come home after making a night raid in a shanty town to avenge Scarlett, who had been the victim of an aggression there: again, De Havilland is perfect as Melanie skillfully lies to the captain in order to save the men's lives, showing so well Melanie's strength when it comes to protecting the people she holds dear.
The best moments of her performance though come after Ashley's sister India sees her brother and Scarlett embracing and she spreads a gossip about the two having an affair. I love the scene when Scarlett arrives at Ashley's party and all of the invited people awkwardly stares at her, while Melanie goes to greet her warmly: it's a terrific scene as you can read all of the emotions across De Havilland's face - she shows that Melanie is aware of the gossip but does not believe it, because she loves Ashley and Scarlett too much to even suspect it might be true. It could have been easy to just deem Melanie as a bit dumb but she shows that Melanie's naivety comes from her goodness and not from stupidity. I also love the scene in which she comforts Rhett after Scarlett suffers a miscarriage: I particularly like it because De Havilland here shows that Melanie, after all, might be the wisest character of the movie as she is the only character who realizes that Scarlett deep down truly loves Rhett. In this scene she is also fantastic at portraying one of Melanie's defining traits: her desire to have children. De Havilland is so convincing at conveying it that she never makes you doubt that she would risk life in order to have another baby. Her final scene in the movie is also truly heartbreaking because of De Havilland's restrained, subtle and delicate approach and it's a fantastic closure for her performance - in this scene, Scarlett realizes how important Melanie was to her, and so do we.
This is in my opinion a truly magnificent performance that should be as iconic and legendary as Leigh's and Gable's. She turns a potentially stock role into one of the most endearing and beautiful characters in movie history. This is, quite simply, one of my favorite performances ever and one that I just love even more on repeated viewings. Breathtaking work from a wonderful actress.
5/5
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