Editing Olivia de Havilland (section)

=== 1941–1944: War years and lawsuit ===
Following her emergency surgery, de{{nbsp}}Havilland began a long period of convalescence in a Los Angeles hospital during which time she rejected several scripts offered to her by Warner Bros., which led to another suspension.{{sfn|Matzen|2010|p=154}} She appeared in three commercially successful films released in 1941, beginning with [[Raoul Walsh]]'s romantic comedy ''[[The Strawberry Blonde]]'' with [[James Cagney]].{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=167}} Set during the [[Gay Nineties]], the story involves a man who marries an outspoken advocate for women's rights after a rival steals his glamorous "strawberry blonde" girlfriend, and he later discovers her to be a loving and understanding wife.{{sfn|Kass|1976|pp=64–65}} The film was a critical and commercial success.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=171}} In [[Mitch Leisen]]'s romantic drama ''[[Hold Back the Dawn]]'' with [[Charles Boyer]] for [[Paramount Pictures]], she transitioned to a different type of role{{nsmdns}}an ordinary, decent, small-town teacher whose life and sexuality are awakened by a sophisticated European gigolo, whose own life is positively affected by her love.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=173}} Leisen's careful direction and guidance appealed to de{{nbsp}}Havilland, much more than the workman-like approach of her Warner Bros. directors.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|pp=175, 179}} Bosley Crowther wrote in ''The New York Times'' that she "plays the school teacher as a woman with romantic fancies whose honesty and pride are her own{{nsmdns}}and the film's{{nsmdns}}chief support. Incidentally, she is excellent."<ref name="nytimes-hbtd-crowther"/> For this performance, she garnered her second Academy Award nomination, this time for Best Actress.{{sfn|Kass|1976|p=67}}

De{{nbsp}}Havilland was re-united with Flynn for their eighth movie together, Walsh's epic ''[[They Died with Their Boots On]]''. The film is loosely based on the courtship and marriage of George Armstrong Custer and [[Elizabeth Bacon Custer|Elizabeth "Libbie" Bacon]].{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=181}} Flynn and de{{nbsp}}Havilland had fallen out the previous year, mainly over the roles she was being given, and she had intended not to work with him again.{{sfn|Matzen|2010|p=143}} Flynn said, "She was sick to death of playing 'the girl' and badly wanted a few good roles to show herself and the world that she was a fine actress."{{sfn|Flynn|2002|p=211}} After she learned from Warner that Flynn had come to his office saying he needed her in the film, de{{nbsp}}Havilland accepted.{{sfn|Matzen|2010|p=154}} Screenwriter [[Lenore Coffee]] was brought in to add several romantic scenes and improve the overall dialogue,{{sfn|Matzen|2010|p=154}} resulting in a film that includes some of their finest work together.{{sfnm|1a1=Kass|1y=1976|1p=40|2a1=Thomas|2y=1983|2p=185}} Their final on-screen appearance is Custer's farewell to his wife.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=185}} "Errol was quite sensitive", de{{nbsp}}Havilland later remembered, "I think he knew it would be the last time we worked together."{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=185}} Flynn's final line in that scene would hold special meaning for her: "Walking through life with you, ma'am, has been a very gracious thing."{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=186}} ''They Died with Their Boots On'' was released on November 21, 1941, and while some reviewers criticized the film's historical inaccuracies, most applauded the action sequences, cinematography, and acting.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|pp=184–185}} Thomas M. Pryor of ''The New York Times'' found de{{nbsp}}Havilland "altogether captivating".<ref name="nytimes-tdwtbo-pryor"/> The film went on to earn $2,550,000 ({{Inflation|US|2550000|1941|fmt=eq|r=-5}}) and was Warner Bros' second-biggest money-maker of that year.<ref name="variety-tdwtbo-101"/>

In 1942, de Havilland appeared with [[Henry Fonda]] in [[Elliott Nugent]]'s romantic comedy ''[[The Male Animal]]'', about an idealistic professor fighting for academic freedom while trying to hold onto his job and his wife Ellen, portrayed by de{{nbsp}}Havilland. While the role was not particularly challenging, her delineation of an intelligent, good-natured woman trying to resolve the unsettling circumstances of her life played a major part in the film's success, according to Tony Thomas.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|pp=189–191}} The film was a critical and commercial success, and Bosley Crowther of ''The New York Times'' noted that de{{nbsp}}Havilland "concocts a delightfully pliant and saucy character as the wife".<ref name="nytimes-tma-crowther"/> Around the same time, she appeared with [[Bette Davis]] in [[John Huston]]'s drama ''[[In This Our Life]]'' (1942). Based on the [[Pulitzer Prize for Fiction|Pulitzer Prize]]-winning [[In This Our Life (novel)|novel of the same name]] by [[Ellen Glasgow]], the story is about two sisters whose lives are destroyed by the anger and jealousy of one of them.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=193}} Crowther gave the film a negative review but praised de{{nbsp}}Havilland's "warm and easy performance".<ref name="nytimes-itol-crowther"/> During production, de{{nbsp}}Havilland and Huston began a romantic relationship that lasted for three years.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=195}}

According to de{{nbsp}}Havilland, one of the few truly satisfying roles she played for Warner Bros. was the title character in [[Norman Krasna]]'s romantic comedy ''[[Princess O'Rourke]]'' (1943), in which she starred alongside [[Robert Cummings]].{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=34}} Filmed in July and August 1942,<ref name="tcm-po-opi"/> the story is about a European princess in New York City visiting her diplomat uncle, who is trying to find her an American husband. Intent on choosing her own match, she boards a plane heading west and ends up falling in love with an American pilot, who is unaware of her true identity.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|pp=199–200}}{{#tag:ref|The plot and several story devices{{nsmdns}}including the princess waking up in the bed of an honorable bachelor{{nsmdns}}was resurrected a decade later in ''[[Roman Holiday]]'' with [[Audrey Hepburn]].{{sfn|Kass|1976|p=74}}|group=Note}} Released on October 23, 1943,<ref name="tcm-po-opi"/> the film did well at the box office.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=200}} Crowther called it "a film which is in the best tradition of American screen comedy" and found de{{nbsp}}Havilland's performance "charming".<ref name="nytimes-po-crowther"/>
{{Quote box|align=left|width=37%|salign=right|quote=I wanted to do complex roles, like Melanie for example, and Jack Warner saw me as an ingénue. I was really restless to portray more developed human beings. Jack never understood this, and ... he would give me roles that really had no character or quality in them. I knew I wouldn't even be effective.|source=— Olivia de Havilland{{sfn|Kass|1976|p=77}}}}

After fulfilling her seven-year Warner Bros. contract in 1943, de{{nbsp}}Havilland was informed that the contract had been extended by six months to allow for the times that she had been suspended.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=35}} The studios had adopted the position that California law allowed them to suspend contract players for rejecting a role, and the period of suspension could be added to the contract period.{{sfn|Kass|1976|p=78}} Most contract players accepted this, but a few tried to challenge the assumption, including Bette Davis, who mounted an unsuccessful lawsuit against Warner Bros. in the 1930s.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=37}} On August 23, 1943, acting on the advice of her lawyer [[Martin Gang]], de{{nbsp}}Havilland filed suit against Warner Bros. in [[Los Angeles County Superior Court]], seeking [[declaratory judgment]] that she was no longer bound by her contract.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=36}}<ref name="scholar-dehavilland-warner"/> She used the grounds that an existing section of the California Labor Code forbade an employer from enforcing a contract against an employee for longer than seven years from the date of their first performance.{{sfnm|1a1=Kass|1y=1976|1p=78|2a1=Thomas|2y=1983|2p=36}} When the court found in favor of de{{nbsp}}Havilland in November 1943, Warner Bros. immediately appealed.{{sfn|McDonald|Carman|Hoyt|Drake|2015|p=215}}

A little over a year later, the [[California Court of Appeal for the Second District]] ruled in de{{nbsp}}Havilland's favor.<ref name="scholar-dehavilland-warner"/>{{#tag:ref|Two months later, the [[Supreme Court of California]] refused to review the case.{{sfn|Kass|1976|p=80}}|group=Note}} The decision was one of the most significant and far-reaching legal rulings in Hollywood, reducing the power of the studios and extending greater creative freedom to performers.<ref name="reuters-belloni"/> California's resulting "seven-year rule", as articulated by the Court of Appeal in analysing Labor Code Section 2855 in this case, is still known as the [[De&nbsp;Havilland Law]].<ref name="reuters-belloni"/>{{sfn|McDonald|Carman|Hoyt|Drake|2015|p=210}} Her legal victory, which cost her $13,000 ({{Inflation|US|13000|1944|fmt=eq|r=-4}}) in legal fees, won de{{nbsp}}Havilland the respect and admiration of her peers, among them her own sister Joan Fontaine, who later commented, "Hollywood owes Olivia a great deal."{{sfn|Shipman|1970|p=153}} Warner Bros. reacted to the lawsuit by circulating a letter to other studios, which had the effect of a "virtual blacklisting".{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=36}} Consequently, de{{nbsp}}Havilland did not work at a film studio for almost two years.{{sfn|Thomas|1983|p=36}}
[[File:Olivia de Havilland at Naval Air Station Kodiak Alaska 20 March 1944.jpg|thumb|alt=Visiting a wounded soldier in a hospital|At the Naval Air Station in [[Kodiak, Alaska]] (March 20, 1944)]]

She became a [[naturalized citizen]] of the United States on November 28, 1941, ten days before the U.S. entered [[World War II]] militarily.<ref name="nytimes-citizen"/><ref name="cnn-facts"/> During the war years, she actively contributed to the war effort. In May 1942, de{{nbsp}}Havilland joined the [[Hollywood Victory Caravan]], a three-week train tour of the country that raised money through the sale of [[war bond]]s.<ref name="startrib-welter"/> Later that year, she began attending events at the [[Hollywood Canteen]], meeting and dancing with troops.{{sfn|Wallace|2002|p=179}} In December 1943, she joined a [[USO]] tour that travelled throughout the U.S. and the South Pacific, visiting wounded soldiers in military hospitals.{{sfn|Kass|1976|p=78}}<ref name="academy-of-achievement"/> She earned the respect and admiration of the troops for visiting the isolated islands and battlefronts in the Pacific.<ref name="sas-walter"/> She survived flights in damaged aircraft and a bout with [[viral pneumonia]] that required several days' stay in one of the island barrack hospitals.<ref name="academy-of-achievement"/><ref name="sas-walter"/>{{#tag:ref|In 1957, in appreciation of her support of the troops during World War II and the Korean War, de{{nbsp}}Havilland was made an honorary member of the 11th Airborne Division and was presented with a United States Army jacket bearing the 11th's patch on one sleeve and the name patch "de{{nbsp}}Havilland" across the chest.<ref name="sas-walter"/>|group=Note}} She later remembered, "I loved doing the tours because it was a way I could serve my country and contribute to the war effort."{{sfn|Bubbio|2001|p=63}}