Olivia de Havilland’s Masterclass in “To Each His Own”

Directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Olivia de Havilland in an Academy Award-winning performance, To Each His Own (1946) is a sweeping drama that spans nearly three decades. The story begins in London during the Blitz of World War II, where an aging, hardened woman named Jody Norris works as a fire warden. As she waits for a train, the film transitions into an extended flashback, revealing the poignant, secret history of her life in a small American town during the First World War.

In the flashback, the young and spirited Jody falls deeply in love with a dashing pilot, Capt. Bart Cosgrove (played by John Lund). Their brief, intense romance results in an unplanned pregnancy, but Bart is tragically killed in action before they can marry. To avoid the social scandal of the era and protect her child's future, Jody devises a plan to leave her infant son on a doorstep, intending to “find” and adopt him legally. However, the plan goes awry when a wealthy neighbor adopts the boy first, forcing Jody to watch her son grow up from a distance.

As the years pass, Jody transforms from a heartbroken girl into a cold, successful businesswoman, driven by her singular obsession with being near her son, Griggsy. She eventually moves to New York and becomes a high-powered executive in the cosmetics industry, providing for the boy financially through anonymous “commissions” while remaining a family friend he barely knows. The emotional weight of the film rests on Jody’s internal struggle: the agony of a mother who cannot claim her own child and the sacrificial love required to let him believe he belongs to another family.

Mitchell Leisen (1898 – 1972) was a master of Hollywood’s “Golden Age,” uniquely known for blending a sophisticated visual aesthetic with deep emotional sensitivity. Before moving into the director’s chair, he began his career as an architect, set designer, and costume designer—most notably for Cecil B. DeMille—a background that gifted his films with an unmatched level of style and glamour. While he excelled in the screwball comedy genre with hits like Easy Living (1937) and Midnight (1939), he was equally revered for his “woman’s pictures” and lush melodramas, such as To Each His Own (1946) and Hold Back the Dawn (1941). Often overshadowed by the writers he worked with, such as Billy Wilder and Preston Sturges, Leisen is now remembered as a director’s director whose meticulous attention to detail and ability to elicit nuanced, Academy Award-winning performances defined the Paramount Pictures house style of the 1930s and 40s.

Olivia de Havilland (1916 – 2020) was a British-American actress and two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner. De Havilland’s career spanned more than five decades. She was one of the leading actresses of the 1940s and was the last major surviving star from Hollywood’s “Golden Age.” Some of de Havilland’s classic films include The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Gone with the Wind (1939), Hold Back the Dawn (1941), To Each His Own (1946), The Snake Pit (1948), and The Heiress (1949).

John Lund (1911 – 1992) was a versatile American actor who rose to prominence during the post-war era of Hollywood, initially carving out a career as a writer and stage performer. Before his film debut, Lund showcased his creative range on Broadway, not only acting in productions like The Hasty Heart (1945) but also writing the book and lyrics for the revue New Faces of 1943. His transition to the screen was immediate and prestigious, starring in dual roles as both the father and son in Mitchell Leisen’s To Each His Own (1946). This debut established him as a reliable and sophisticated leading man, leading to a decade of high-profile collaborations at Paramount and MGM. He famously held his own against powerhouse stars like Marlene Dietrich in Billy Wilder’s A Foreign Affair (1948) and Barbara Stanwyck in No Man of Her Own (1950). Though he eventually moved into character roles—most notably as the straight-laced fiancé George Kittredge in the musical High Society (1956)—Lund remained a respected figure in the industry, serving as a vice president of the Screen Actors Guild for nearly a decade before retiring from the screen in the early 1960s.

 

Olivia de Havilland and John Lund

Too Each His Own trivia

• The “De Havilland Decision” Catalyst: This was the first film Olivia de Havilland made after her landmark legal victory against Warner Bros. She had been blacklisted for two years while fighting a studio system that extended actor contracts indefinitely. Her performance—and subsequent Oscar win—proved she could still command the screen despite the long absence and industry hostility.
• Sequential Storytelling: Unusually for a major production, director Mitchell Leisen insisted on filming the movie in chronological order. This was done to help de Havilland naturally portray the character’s physical and emotional aging over the film's 27-year span, allowing her to gradually adjust her voice, posture, and energy.
• Olfactory Method Acting: To further distinguish the three different eras of her character's life (youth, middle age, and older age), Olivia de Havilland wore a different perfume for each section of the shoot. She famously chose Chanel No. 5 for the final World War II sequences to help her inhabit the persona of a sophisticated, successful businesswoman.
• The "Human" Oscar: On the final day of filming, Mitchell Leisen and producer Charles Brackett were so impressed by de Havilland’s performance that they presented her with a “living Oscar” as a wrap gift: a man painted entirely in gold body-stocking material, mimicking the famous statuette.

 

Olivia de Havilland and Griff Barnett

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Olivia de Havilland received her Best Actress Oscar from Ray Milland.

Discussion questions

1. The Burden of Social Morality: Jody Norris makes the agonizing decision to give up her son to avoid a scandal in her small town. In the context of 1917 America, was her choice an act of maternal sacrifice or an act of cowardice? How does the film portray the community’s judgment as a character in its own right?
2. The Duality of John Lund: Director Mitchell Leisen made the deliberate choice to cast John Lund as both the father (Capt. Bart Cosgrove) and the grown son (Gregory). How does this double-casting affect the audience’s emotional experience? Does seeing the father’s face on the son make Jody’s obsession more sympathetic, or does it make her inability to move on feel more tragic?
3. Professional Success vs. Personal Loss: As the years pass, Jody becomes a wealthy and powerful executive in the cosmetics industry. To what extent is her professional drive a substitute for her missing motherhood? Does the film suggest that her success is hollow without her son, or does it present her as a trailblazing woman of her time?
4. The Final Recognition: In the film’s famous climax, Gregory finally acknowledges Jody with the line, “I think this is our dance, Mother.” Why do you think the film waits until the very last moment for this revelation? Does this happy ending make up for the twenty-seven years of separation, or is the resolution bittersweet given the time they lost?

Barbara Stanwyck has “No Man of Her Own”

The film tells the suspenseful story of Helen Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck), a desperate, unwed, and pregnant woman who has been abandoned by her callous lover.

While traveling on a train, a tragic accident results in a dramatic twist of fate: Helen is mistaken for a wealthy, deceased woman, Patrice Harkness (Phyllis Thaxter), whose new in-laws, the kindly and affluent Harkness family, have never met her.

With nowhere else to turn and motivated by a desire to provide a secure life for her newborn son, Helen reluctantly steps into the new identity. She finds herself welcomed into a loving, comfortable home, all while trying to maintain the deception.

However, her fragile new world is threatened when her sleazy ex-boyfriend, Stephen Morley (Lyle Bettger), reappears, eager to exploit her newfound wealth and position. Helen must fight to keep her secret and protect the life she’s desperately built, especially as she develops a growing mutual attraction with William “Bill” Harkness (John Lund), the deceased husband’s brother.

This film noir-tinged melodrama explores themes of desperation, mistaken identity, and the possibility of reinvention and redemption when one is pushed to the limit.

Barbara Stanwyck and John Lund

Mitchell Leisen (1898 – 1972) was an American director who was one of Paramount Pictures' most successful directors during the 1930s and 1940s. He directed Olivia de Havilland to her first Best Actress Oscar in To Each His Own (1946). He also directed Ginger Rogers in Lady in the Dark (1944), as well as the Christmas classic Remember the Night  (1940) starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray. Leisen’s last big movie success was the comedy The Mating Season (1951) starring Gene Tierney, John Lund, and Thelma Ritter in an Oscar-nominated performance.

Barbara Stanwyck (1907 – 1990) was an American film star who got her acting start with a supporting role on Broadway in a play called The Noose (1926). The next year, she had the lead in another Broadway production, Burlesque which was a huge hit. She eventually made it to Hollywood, where her success was not immediate. Director Frank Capra saw something in Stanwyck, and he educated her in filmmaking and film acting; the rest is history. Stanwyck was nominated four times for the Best Actress Oscar—Stella Dallas (1937), Ball of Fire (1941), Double Indemnity (1945), Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)—and remains one of the most beloved movie stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age.

John Lund (1911 – 1992) was an American film, stage, and radio actor known for his work across drama and comedy genres from the 1940s to the 1960s. After an early career that included work in advertising and appearances on Broadway, such as the play The Hasty Heart, he was signed to a film contract with Paramount Pictures. Lund’s breakthrough film role was in To Each His Own (1946), and he went on to star in films like the Billy Wilder-directed A Foreign Affair (1948), No Man of Her Own (1950), alongside Barbara Stanwyck, The Mating Season (1951), and the musical High Society (1956). He also starred in the radio series Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar from 1952 to 1954 and served as a vice president of the Screen Actors Guild throughout the 1950s before retiring from acting in the early 1960s.

No Man of Her Own trivia

• Stanwyck played Helen Ferguson, which happened to be the name of her publicist. Ferguson was one of the best-known publicists of the era.
• Remade as Mrs. Winterbourne starring Shirley MacLane and Riki Lake.
• The film was Lyle Bettger’s film debut. They would work together again in All I Desire (1953).
• Filmed in 1949, but not released until 1950.
• One of Jane Cowl’s last films. She died in 1950, the year the film was released.

Click HERE to watch the movie on the Internet Archive.

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Discussion questions

1. Moral Dilemma and Sympathy: Helen Ferguson’s decision to assume Patrice’s identity is based on desperation and a desire to protect her child. At what point in the film does the audience's sympathy for Helen’s predicament shift, and does her initial motive justify the subsequent lies and actions she takes?
2. Genre and Tone: The film is often described as a blend of the “woman's picture” and Film Noir. How do the visual style, plot elements (like the train crash and the blackmail subplot), and Helen’s narration contribute to the feeling of doom and inescapable fate typical of Film Noir, even within the melodramatic framework of a family drama?
3. Identity and Class: Helen, a poor, unwed mother, steps into the life of the wealthy Patrice Harkness. What does the film suggest about the societal importance of identity and class in post-war America? Could Helen have achieved a similar level of security and acceptance if she had revealed her true self to the Harkness family immediately?
4. The Role of the Harkness Family: How do the kindness and immediate acceptance of Mr. and Mrs. Harkness—people who were essentially strangers—influence Helen’s choices? Does their profound goodness make Helen’s deceit more heartbreaking or more understandable, and how does John Lund’s character, Bill, complicate her new life?

Mitchell Leisen: The Best Director Nobody Knows

Mitchel Leisen's trademark signature

Sometimes history isn’t always fair. For example, there are movie directors and actors, who in their day, were enormously famous and successful, but for whatever reasons are almost forgotten today.

Paramount Director
Such is the case with Mitchell Leisen (1898-1972), a top director during Hollywood’s golden age. As a contract director at Paramount, he worked with all the top stars during that period: Carole Lombard, Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray, Jack Benny, Fredric March, Ray Milland, Marlene Dietrich, and Barbara Stanwyck.

Fred MacMurray

Early Commercial Success
Best known for his elegant romantic comedies, Leisen also excelled at action and melodramatic films. Leisen got his start as an art director and costume designer. Working under famed director Cecil B. DeMille, Leisen received his one and only Academy Award nomination for his art direction of Dynamite in 1930.  He eventually worked his way up the ladder, directing his first film, Cradle Song, in 1933. The next year, Leisen directed two popular films Death Takes a Holiday and Murder at the Vanities. In 1935, he knocked one out of the park with Hands Across the Table. This landmark romantic comedy made Carole Lombard a superstar and established Fred MacMurray as a top leading man. During the rest of the 1930s, Leisen made some of the most commercial films at Paramount, including Swing High, Swing Low which was the studio’s biggest moneymaker in 1937. That same year, he directed the classic Easy Living starring Jean Arthur. Leisen topped off the decade with the delightful Midnight starring Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche. This romantic comedy, one of the many great films released in 1939, unfortunately does not have the status of some of its less-worthy, but better-known contemporaries.

The Fabulous Forties

Claudette Colbert

During the next decade, Leisen produced more winners for Paramount. In 1940, he directed the classic Remember the Night starring Stanwyck and MacMurray. The sensitive Hold Back the Dawn (1941) provided Olivia de Haviland with one of her best film roles up to that time. Leisen’s masterful direction helped de Haviland receive her first Best Actress Academy Award nomination. Later in the decade, he would direct de Haviland in her Oscar-winning performance for To Each His Own (1946). In 1944, Leisen was trusted with directing two big-budget Technicolor productions: Lady in the Dark starring Ginger Rodgers and Frenchman’s Creek starring Joan Fontaine. Both films were huge commercial successes and both focused on the talent and beauty of the female leads. As Dona St. Columb, Joan Fontaine never looked more beautiful. In 1945 Leisen directed Paulette Goddard to one of her biggest commercial and critical successes in Kitty. After seeing Goddard in that film, French film director, Jean Renoir decided to cast her as the lead in Diary of a Chambermaid the following year.

Paramount's George Cukor
Leisen, like George Cukor, at MGM, had a reputation for his direction of women. A generation of leading ladies at Paramount owe Leisen a great debt. Many did their best work under his direction. For others, he crafted popular vehicles ideally tailored to their personalities.

TV Director
His success as a director continued into the early 1950s. Leisen’s last popular success was The Mating Season (1952) starring Gene Tierney, John Lund, and the Oscar-nominated Thelma Ritter. After The Girl Most Likely in 1958, with movie projects nonexistent, Leisen turned his attention to television, directing episodes of popular shows like the Twilight Zone, Wagon Train, and The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.

Of all the directors to come out of the studio system, Mitchell Leisen was one of the best. And one day, I hope, he’ll receive the recognition and honor he deserves.