Last night Osborne spoke about "The Constant Nymph" during his closing comments following an airing of "Escape Me Never" with Errol Flynn on Turner Classic Movies. Apparently Flynn was originally supposed to play the role Boyer ultimately played. Then Osborne briefly mentioned that TCM would love to air "Nymph", but for the legal issues.
shareI feel VERY lucky- I'm going to the TCM Festival (thanks to the generosity of my siblings) and they are showing a screening of this. I love Fontaine and Boyer and am a huge fan of Korngold's music!
¡Gracias a todos ustedes! :)
My question for TCM is, have they invited her to appear??? And if not, WHY not????
shareI am on the feed that sends updates regarding the festival and to my knowledge, as of this date (3/16/11) they have not yet asked Joan Fontaine. I would absolutely ADORE having here there! :)
shareThe answer Robert Osborne gave to this question when introducing the film at the festival was that they have extended invitations to Joan Fontaine for appearances and interviews several times in the past and she has made clear that she is not interested in doing any public appearances or returning to Hollywood at all. So no, they did not ask her because she has indicated many times that such requests are not welcome.
shareLucky you that you were able to see it. I wanted to SO badly, but it was playing the same time as Peter O'Toole's Becket and he gave an interview that was not to be missed.
Every day there I pleaded with any staff that would listen for a repeat of this movie on the last day where they had TBA's and they kept saying it was very requested and might be encored but they didn't. Instead they did Hoop-la, The Devil is a Woman and This is the Night.
I guess I will have to hope they show this movie eventually on TCM. Would have been nice to see it on the big screen though. :)
Faithx5, that's interesting, because a few years back, in a note to Joan, I encouraged her to 'consider' doing an interview w/ Osborne for TCM sometime, just assuming if she would do it, they would want her. She wrote back, saying, and I quote, "as for an interview w/ Osborne, I only need to be asked!" -- Now, maybe once she did turn down all such requests, but I wonder when the last time they asked her was?? I also phoned Osborne personally, and told him of this exchange. He said it was 'interesting, because I'm quite good friends w/ her sister' and then told me how he always hoped, along w/ a recently deceased friend, to get the two 'back together' etc etc. We had a nice chat, and that was that. I always hoped they would reach out to her. I still of course have the card from Joan, and that is an exact quote of what she wrote. It was about 3 or 4 years ago. It sounds, from the way you characterize his comments, that he and/or TCM was painting Joan as being almost rude in her refusals, which, given her well known generosity in terms of her fans, seems unlikely. I wonder when the last time they asked her was. She did an extensive interview with a Carmel magazine last year saying she had changed her mind about doing interviews; said the same in Vanity Fair I believe. So many fans are aching to see Joan speak, or read about it.
shareProbably a misconception on my part since I am a big fan of Joan, but since I’ve been watching TCM over the last six or seven years, I’ve sensed a sort of elusive tone to Osborne’s comments that suggests a bias against her, or that she’s not exactly one of his favorites. As I said, probably me, but then again possibly not all that ill conceived since he is close to her sister. Glad Nymph is finally going to be broadcast and I do get the feeling that TCM was a strong supporter in getting the rights issue cleared (but I guess they are owned by Time-Warner?). But it seemed pretty strange to me that when they did finally show Letter from an Unknown Woman a few months ago, and as Osborne noted, the most requested film by TCM fans, it was the only showing and not scheduled since; and broadcast on a night they were honoring Louis Jourdan. Maybe it’s a legal issue with the studio or whoever owns the rights that would only allow the one showing, but odd that a movie that her production company put together, with her having top billing and responsible for much of the behind the scenes production decisions, and is such an admired film by movie historians and critics, that she would be practically ignored.
shareProbably a misconception on my part since I am a big fan of Joan, but since I’ve been watching TCM over the last six or seven years, I’ve sensed a sort of elusive tone to Osborne’s comments that suggests a bias against her, or that she’s not exactly one of his favorites. As I said, probably me, but then again possibly not all that ill conceived since he is close to her sister.
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Ftgr, Robert Osborne is of course not the only person who does commentary on TCM. Can't someone else interview Joan if he won't?
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I just watched The Constant Nymph on TCM. It was almost like a fairy tale. Joan Fontaine was incredibly beautiful, as was Alexis Smith. I just don't get Charles Boyer as the romantic lead. To me, he was as creepy as Peter Lorre. YMMV.
shareI heard from an insider that Osborne is very chummy with Olivia de Havilland, who made it clear that any inclusion of her sister, even an interview, would severely endanger that friendship.
"In my case, self-absorption is completely justified."
They are very close, as he once told me personally. And I have to say that your post about OdeH confirms, or at least is consistent with, my impressions of her (whether they're valid or not..)
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If Robert Osborne's friendship with Olivia de Havilland is the reason he wouldn't interview Joan Fontaine, that makes me incredibly sad. Especially now that she's gone, and the opportunity is lost forever.
I've always been a fan of Olivia, but in the last few years I watched more Joan Fontaine films and now she is my favorite of the two. And the more I read about their lives, my love of Olivia as a person has diminshed - she of course is still a great talent.
But I am TEAM FONTAINE all the way.
Here's a recent Osborne quote that pretty much says it all: "I have a very good relationship with Olivia and always have," Osborne says, "so I didn't really want to get into certain aspects of Joan Fontaine and rock the boat, but I have great respect for 'Rebecca' and 'Suspicion' and 'Letter From an Unknown Woman.' I don't think there was anyone better as a heroine in films than she was at that point." That pretty much clarifies why there wasn't much chance of hearing or seeing Joan on TCM in recent years..
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