Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond

Vivien Leigh: Scarlet and Beyond (1990)

*** (out of 4)

Good, if not total complete, documentary about the life and career of Vivien Leigh who died at a relatively early age but before that she managed to win two Academy Awards for Best Actress including landing the most sought after role of all time with GONE WITH THE WIND. At 45-minutes we start off learning about Leigh's early life, how she began acting and how she ended up with her name. From here we see some of her parts in England and then learn how she ended up getting the role in GONE WITH THE WIND. From here we see clips from various films including WATERLOO BRIDGE, CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA, ANNA KARENINA, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and SHIP OF FOOLS. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Elizabeth Ashley, Kim Hunter, John Geiland, Garson Kanin and Stanley Kramer are just a few of the people interviewed and they all deliver interesting stories about the actress. A major portion of the film talks about her affair and eventual marriage to Lawrence Olivier and the various problems the couple faced. The second half of the film goes over their divorce and the various mental and physical issues that started to take over Leigh. All in all this is a good little film but there's no question that it's a product of its time and that a fuller, more detailed film would do the actress justice.