'The Heiress' & 'The Snake Pit'

It took a couple of movies, but I now realize the true greatness of Olivia de Havilland. She is a really great actress and The Heiress and The Snake Pit are probably her two best.

In The Snake Pit, she plays a young woman in an insane asylum, a place she is fully unable to remember how she arrived. The story progresses as de Havilland's character undergoes treatment and a series of flashbacks that seemingly explain her institutionalization.

In The Heiress, she plays a naive and possibly mentally retarded "old widow" living with her overbearing and overprotective father and aunt. She meets a suitor at a dance (overly handsome Montgomery Clift) and they fall in love. However, father doesn't approve of the impending engagement because Clift's character is broke having spent all his fortune frivously. This is only an issue because de Havilland's Catherine is due to inherent a lofty sum.

After the pair plan to elope, she indicates that she'd lose her fortune if they disobeyed her father. He splits for California and she's so much more the wiser and jaded. Clift's character returns trying to stir up old flames. She plays the game but winds up locking the door on the old guy, thus ending the film.

Both films are fantastic. Both highly rewatchable. Over a 10-year period, de Havilland was nominated for four Oscars (three for Best Actress) and she won twice, one for The Heiress. She was nominated for The Snake Pit. Those are some pretty good skins on the wall.