Ivy

Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland were sisters - both beautiful, both with a very sweet quality. Yet Joan more than Olivia was given roles that called for a somewhat manipulative side.

Ivy from 1947 is Joan, gorgeous in Victorian costumes, playing Ivy, a married woman with a boyfriend on the side (Patric Knowles). She and her husband (Richard Ney) are broke and keeping up a pretense with their socieity friends.

Ivy wants money, and when she meets the elegant Miles Rushworth (Herbert Marshall), she decides he's the one for her. He is attracted to her, which is a help. One night, he kisses her, and then apologizes profusely for kissing a married woman. So Ivy will have to do something about that. Maybe she can get rid of the husband and the lover at the same time.

Really terrific film with a wonderful performance by Fontaine, who could be so demure and yet a viper underneath.

Sumptuous atmosphere and, as mentioned, costumes. It's an absorbing film.