Showing posts with label Vivien Leigh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vivien Leigh. Show all posts

09 February 2025

Vivien Leigh

Extraordinarily beautiful British actress Vivien Leigh (1913-1967) won two Academy Awards for playing Southern belles: Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939) and Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). On stage, she starred – often with her husband, Laurence Olivier - in parts that ranged from the heroines of Noel Coward and George Bernard Shaw comedies to Shakespearean characters like Ophelia, Juliet and Lady Macbeth.

Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in Gone with the wind (1939)

Italian postcard by Zincografica, Firenze. Photo: Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939).

Vivien Leigh
French postcard by Éditions P.I., Paris, no. 321 Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.

Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier in Fire Over England (1937)
British postcard by Art Photo, no. 104. Photo: London Film / Erich Pommer Production. Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier in Fire Over England (William K. Howard, 1937).

Vivien Leigh and Rex Harrison in Storm in a Teacup (1937)
British Art Photo postcard, no. 123. Photo: Victor Saville / London Films. Vivien Leigh and Rex Harrison in Storm in a Teacup (Ian Dalrymple, Victor Saville, 1937).

Vivien Leigh and Warren Beatty, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961)
Spanish postcard by C y A, no. 89. Photo: Mundial Films / Warner Bros. Vivien Leigh and Warren Beatty in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (José Quintero, 1961).

Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in Gone with the wind (1939)
Dutch postcard by Filmfreak Productions / Painted Movies, no. FA 386. Illustration by Renato Casaro for Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939).

Fire over England


Vivien Leigh was born Vivian Mary Hartley in Darjeeling, India, to Ernest Hartley, a British Officer in the Indian Cavalry, and Gertrude Robinson Yackje. In 1917, her father was relocated to Bangalore, while Vivian and her mother stayed in Ootacamund.

At age six, Vivian was sent to a convent school in England. In addition to taking the usual classes, Vivian studied violin, piano, cello, and ballet, and participated in school plays. A friend there was the future actress Maureen O'Sullivan, to whom she expressed her desire to become 'a great actress'.

In 1931 her father helped her enrol at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. She met Herbert Leigh Holman, known as Leigh, a barrister thirteen years her senior. Despite his disapproval of ‘theatrical people’, they were married in 1932, and upon their marriage, she terminated her studies at RADA. In 1933, she gave birth to a daughter, Suzanne, but felt stifled by her domestic life. Her friends suggested her for a small part in Things Are Looking Up (Albert de Courville, 1935), which marked her film debut.

She engaged an agent, John Gliddon, who recommended her to film director and producer Alexander Korda, but he rejected her as lacking potential. Cast in the play 'The Mask of Virtue' in 1935, Vivien Leigh received excellent reviews followed by interviews and newspaper articles. Korda, who attended her opening-night performance, admitted his error and signed her to a film contract.

Laurence Olivier saw Leigh in 'The Mask of Virtue', and a friendship developed after he congratulated her on her performance. While playing lovers in the film Fire Over England (William K. Howard, 1937), Olivier and Leigh developed a strong attraction, and after filming was completed, they began an affair. Olivier was at that time married to the actress Jill Esmond.

Vivien Leigh
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 1224. Photo: Cannons.

Vivien Leigh
British postcard in the Picturegoer series, London, no. 1124b. Photo: Paramount.

Vivien Leigh
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. D 133. Photo: Warner Bros.

Vivien Leigh
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W 422. Photo: London Film Productions.

Vivien Leigh in A Midsummer Night'Dream (1937)
British postcard by Theatre Museum, no TNM 46. Photo: J.W. Debenham. Vivien Leigh as Titania in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' by William Shakespeare, Old Vic Theatre, 1937.

Vivien Leigh
British Real Photograph postcard, no. F.S. 71. Photo: Antony Beachamp. Caption: Vivien Leigh, screen heroine of Gone With The Wind is not only one of the most beautiful women in the world, she is also a superb stage and screen actress. Her husband is Sir Laurence Olivier.

Leslie Howard, Olivia De Havilland and Vivien Leigh in Gone with the wind (1939)
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 345. Photo: David O'Selznick Production / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Leslie Howard, Olivia De Havilland and Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939). Caption: Bridal scene from Gone with the Wind.

Fire over Atlanta


Vivien Leigh played Ophelia in Olivier's 'Hamlet' in an Old Vic Theatre production. They began living together, as their respective spouses had each refused to divorce. Leigh appeared with Conrad Veidt in the spy thriller Dark Journey (Victor Saville, 1937), and with Robert Taylor and Maureen O'Sullivan in A Yank at Oxford (Jack Conway, 1938). During the production of the latter, she developed a reputation for being difficult and unreasonable, and Korda instructed her agent to warn her.

Her next role was in St. Martin's Lane/Sidewalks of London (Tim Whelan, 1938) with Charles Laughton and Rex Harrison. Laurence Olivier travelled to Hollywood to play Heathcliff in Samuel Goldwyn's production of Wuthering Heights (William Wyler, 1939), leaving Vivien Leigh in London. She was offered the secondary role of Isabella, but she refused it, saying she would only play Cathy, a role already assigned to Merle Oberon.

Leigh's American agent was the London representative of the Myron Selznick Agency, and in 1938, she asked that her name be placed in consideration for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in David O. Selznick's (Myron’s brother) production of Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939 an epic adaptation of the bestseller by Margaret Mitchell. David O. Selznick watched her films, and from that time she became a serious contender for the part. Leigh travelled to Los Angeles, ostensibly to be with Olivier.

When Myron Selznick, who also represented Olivier, met Leigh, he felt that she possessed the qualities his brother was searching for. Myron took Leigh and Olivier to the set where the burning of the Atlanta Depot scene was being filmed and introduced Leigh. The following day, Leigh read a scene for Selznick, who organised a screen test and wrote to his wife, "She's the Scarlett dark horse and looks damn good. Not for anyone's ear but your own: it's narrowed down to Paulette Goddard, Jean Arthur, Joan Bennett and Vivien Leigh".

Filming proved difficult for Leigh; director George Cukor was dismissed and replaced by Victor Fleming, with whom Leigh frequently quarrelled. Her role opposite Clark Gable brought Leigh immediate attention and fame. Among the ten Academy Awards won by Gone with the Wind was the Best Actress award for Leigh, who also won a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress.

Leslie Howard and Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939)
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 346. Photo: David O'Selznick Production / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Leslie Howard and Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939).

Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in Gone with the wind (1939)
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 347. Photo: David O'Selznick Production / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939).

Vivien Leigh and Hattie McDaniel in Gone with the wind (1939)
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 349. Photo: David O'Selznick Production / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Vivien Leigh and Hattie McDaniel in Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939).

Vivien Leigh in Gone with the wind (1939)
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 350. Photo: David O'Selznick Production / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939).

Vivien Leigh
Belgian postcard by Les Editions d'Art L.A.B., Bruxelles (Brussels), no. 1040. Photo: MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer). Publicity still for Gone With The Wind (1939). This postcard was given to us by Gill4kleuren.

Vivien Leigh and Leslie Howard in Gone with the Wind (1939)
Belgian postcard by Les Editions d'Art L.A.B., Brussels, no. 2027. Photo: David O'Selznick Production / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Vivien Leigh and Leslie Howard in Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939).

Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind (1939)
Belgian postcard by LAB, no. 2028. Photo: MGM. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939).

Adulterous Nature


In 1940, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh were married. Leigh hoped to star with her husband and made a screen test for Rebecca (Alfred Hitchcock, 1940). Selznick noted that she didn't seem right as to sincerity or age or innocence, and he subsequently cast Joan Fontaine. He also refused to allow her to join Olivier in Pride and Prejudice (Robert Z. Leonard, 1940), and Greer Garson took the part Leigh had envisioned for herself.

Waterloo Bridge (Mervyn Leroy, 1940) was to have starred Olivier and Leigh; however, Selznick replaced Olivier with Robert Taylor, then at the peak of his success as one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's most popular male stars. Leigh's top billing reflected her status in Hollywood, and the film proved to be popular with audiences and critics.

She and Olivier mounted a stage production of 'Romeo and Juliet' for Broadway. The New York Press publicized the adulterous nature that had marked the beginning of Olivier and Leigh's relationship and questioned their ethics in not returning to England to help with the war effort, and the critics were hostile in their assessment of the production. The couple had invested almost their entire savings into the project, and its failure was a financial disaster for them.

Next, they filmed That Hamilton Woman (Alexander Korda, 1941) with Olivier as Horatio Nelson and Leigh as Emma Hamilton. The film was popular in the United States and an outstanding success in the Soviet Union. The Oliviers returned to England, and Leigh toured through North Africa in 1943, performing for troops before falling ill with a persistent cough and fevers. In 1944 she was diagnosed as having tuberculosis in her left lung. But after spending several weeks in hospital, she appeared to be cured.

When she suffered a miscarriage, she fell into a deep depression. This was the first of many major breakdowns related to bipolar disorder. She was well enough to resume acting in 1946, in a successful London production of Thornton Wilder's 'The Skin of Our Teeth', but her films of this period, Caesar and Cleopatra (Gabriel Pascal, 1945) and Anna Karenina (Julien Duvivier, 1948), were not great successes. In 1947 Olivier was knighted, and Vivien Leigh accompanied him to Buckingham Palace for the investiture. She became Lady Olivier, and after their divorce, per the style granted the divorced wife of a knight, she became, socially, Vivien, Lady Olivier.

Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor in Waterloo Bridge (1940)
Belgian postcard by Les Editions d'Art L.A.B., Bruxelles, no. 2011. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor in Waterloo Bridge (Mervyn LeRoy, 1940). The Belgian title was La valse dans l'Ombre.

Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor in Waterloo Bridge (1940)
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 1393. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor in Waterloo Bridge (Mervyn LeRoy, 1940).

Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh as Romeo and Juliet
Swiss postcard by News Productions, Baulmes, no. 55833. Photo: W. Eugene Smith. Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier in a stage production of 'Romeo and Juliet' in 1940.

Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier in Lady Hamilton (1941)
Vintage postcard. Photo: Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier in That Hamilton Woman / Lady Hamilton (Alexander Korda, 1941).

Vivien Leigh in That Hamilton Woman (1941)
French postcard by Editions La Malibran, Paris / Saint Dié, no. CA 19. Vivien Leigh in That Hamilton Woman / Lady Hamilton (Alexander Korda, 1941).

Vivien Leigh in Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)
Dutch postcard by Hemo. Photo: Eagle Lion. Vivien Leigh in Caesar and Cleopatra (Gabriel Pascal, 1945).

Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
French postcard by Éditions Hazan, Paris, 1995, no. 6479. Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (Elia Kazan, 1951).

Romantic, emotionally fragile, and tragic


Vivien Leigh played the role of Blanche DuBois in the West End stage production of Tennessee Williams's 'A Streetcar Named Desire'. Like Blanche, Leigh was romantic, emotionally fragile, and tragic. After a run of 326 performances, she was also engaged for the film version opposite Marlon Brando. The film version, A Streetcar Named Desire (Elia Kazan, 1952) had glowing reviews, and she won a second Academy Award for Best Actress, a BAFTA Award and a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress.

In 1953, Leigh travelled to Ceylon to film Elephant Walk with Peter Finch. Shortly after filming commenced, she suffered a breakdown, and Paramount Pictures replaced her with Elizabeth Taylor. Olivier returned her to their home in England, where between periods of incoherence, Leigh told him that she had been having an affair with Finch. She gradually recovered over several months.

Noël Coward was enjoying success with the play 'South Sea Bubble', with Leigh in the lead role, but she became pregnant and withdrew from the production. Several weeks later, she miscarried and entered a period of depression that lasted for months.

In 1960, she and Olivier divorced, and Olivier married the actress Joan Plowright. Vivien’s new partner Jack Merivale proved to be a stabilising influence for her. Though she was still beset by bouts of depression, she continued to work in the theatre and in 1963 won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in 'Tovarich'.

She also appeared in the films The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (José Quintero, 1961) opposite Warren Beatty, and in the all-star Ship of Fools (1965, Stanley Kramer). After many long years of battling manic depression and several outbreaks of tuberculosis, Vivien Leigh's body gave out. She died in London in 1967.

Vivien Leigh
Italian postcard by Bromostampa, Milano, no. 105.

Vivien Leigh
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, no. 609. Photo: Warner Bros.

Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier in Antony and Cleopatra (1951)
French postcard in the Collection 'Portraits de Cinema' by Editions Admira, Aix-en-Provence & Chapman Collection / SNAP Photos / Cosmos, no. PHN 661. Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier in William Shakespeare's 'Antony and Cleopatra' (1951). In 1951 the play ran in repertory with G.B. Shaw's 'Caesar and Cleopatra' at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York.

Vivien Leigh
Dutch postcard, no. AX 283. (Foto-archief Film en Toneel). Photo: Warner Bros.

Vivien Leigh as Viola in 'Twelfth Night' (1955)
British postcard in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Series, no. 30. Photo: Angus McBean. Vivien Leigh as Viola in 'Twelfth Night', written by William Shakespeare, Stratford-Upon-Avon, 1955.

Vivien Leigh in The Deep Blue Sea (1955)
German collector card in the "Filmstars von Hollywood bis Tokio" series III. Photo: Vivien Leigh in The Deep Blue Sea (Anatole Litvak, 1955).

Vivien Leigh and Lee Marvin in Ship of Fools (1965)
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 475. Vivien Leigh and Lee Marvin in Ship of Fools (Stanley Kramer, 1965).


Vivien Leigh screentests for Gone with the Wind. Source: VivienLeighCom (YouTube).


Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor dance the farewell waltz in Waterloo Bridge (1940). Source: TheEagle54 (YouTube).


Trailer of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). Source: British Film Institute (YouTube).

Sources: Brian McFarlane (Encyclopedia of British Film), Leigh Milla (Vivien-Leigh.com - now defunct, Robert Ortiz (Find A Grave), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

02 January 2019

Gone with the Wind (1939)

Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) is eighty years after its release still one of the most brilliant and captivating Hollywood films. It's a grand epic, more than four hours long, about the times of American Civil War and how it affected a group of Southern landed gentry. If you account for inflation, Gone with the Wind is probably the highest-grossing film ever released. Stars are the indomitable Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara, the oldest daughter and presumed heir of the Tara plantation, and Clark Gable as Rhett Butler, her on and off romantic interest and rival.

Vivien Leigh and Hattie McDaniel in Gone with the wind (1939)
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 349. Photo: David O'Selznick Production / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) with Vivien Leigh and Hattie McDaniel.

Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in Gone with the wind (1939)
Italian postcard by Zincografica, Firenze. Photo: publicity still for Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) with Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh.

Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in Gone with the wind (1939)
Dutch postcard by Filmfreak Productions / Painted Movies, no. FA 386. Illustration by Renato Casaro for Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939).

An anti-hero who will remain in your memory forever


Gone with the Wind (1939) brought together the best people in Hollywood. The end result is a stunning film, which remains remarkably faithful to Margaret Mitchell's novel about the South, before and after the Civil War. The vision of David O. Selznick, the power behind bringing the novel to the screen, pays off handsomely. Credit must also be given to the director, Victor Fleming, and his vision, as well as the adaptation by Sydney Howard, who gave the right tone to the film. The gorgeous cinematography created by Ernest Haller gives us a vision of the gentle South before the war, and the Phoenix raising from the ashes of a burned Atlanta. The music of Max Steiner puts the right touch behind all that is seen in the film.

Crucial for the success of Gone with the Wind (1939) was the casting of British Vivien Leigh as southern belle Scarlett. Her beauty, her sense of timing, her intelligent approach to this role, makes this a hallmark performance. Leigh created an unforgettable, multi-layered character. Scarlett is not a pleasant person, not at all. she can be whiny, needy and mousy. She's also scheming, manipulative, almost purely after her own interest. And Scarlett sure does not take a no for an answer. At times, you literally despise her, but then in the next breath she shows strength and wisdom. Scarlett goes from riches to rags, back to riches again and in the process finds an inner strength she didn't know she possessed. Classic is the scene in which she swears that she and hers shall never suffer again. The public understands where she is coming from and admires her. Scarlett is not immune to the suffering of others either, she is loyal to those she considers hers and her sheer willpower and force of personality are impressive and make her an anti-hero, who will remain in your memory forever.

Scarlett is beautifully set up and contrasted by those around her. There is an incredible unmatched chemistry between the two romantic leads. Clark Gable as the irrepressible Captain Rhett Butler has this air of over-confidence. No one else comes to mind for playing him with the passion he projects throughout the film. Butler is the macho party man with nothing holding him down including political ties. Captain Butler is torn between his loyalty to the cause of the South and his sense of decency. However, his reputation as a drunkard and a rich bachelor suits him fine. When Scarlett comes into his life, he falls hopelessly in love with the most unlikely girl and she plagues him for years. His love for Scarlett, the woman he knows is in love with a dream, speaks eloquently for itself. In the last half hour of the film when he's hit with unbelievable tragedy and he edges to the point of madness, Gable reaches dimensions he never did before or subsequently. Throughout the film, he looks incredible handsome and relaxed, and Gable proves in the film why he was one of the biggest stars of Hollywood's Golden Age.

The supporting cast is huge and does an incredible job. Leslie Howard is also very good as Scarlett's love interest for years and years, wealthy plantation owner Ashley Wilkes. Ashley is a strong character. He's the one that reluctantly enlists in the Confederate Army while the cynical Rhett Butler makes some big bucks as a blockade runner. Howard gives a perfect balance to the man in love with his wife, while Scarlett keeps tempting him. Olivia de Havilland plays the loving and kind Melanie Wilkes, who marries Ashley away from Scarlett. Melanie is the counterpoint to Scarlett, an incredibly kind and decent soul who can't see bad in anyone. Melanie remains loyal to the woman that does everything to undermine her marriage to Ashley. Thanks to the talent of Olivia de Havilland, Melanie never becomes a maudlin character. For her role, de Havilland got her first Oscar nomination in the Supporting Actress category.

Other actors in the cast include Harry Davenport, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil, Butterfly McQueen, George Reeves (the future Superman), and Richard Farnsworth. My favourite however is Hattie McDaniel, a natural actress and a joy to watch. She is just wonderful as 'Mammy' the beloved house servant. She was the first African American actor to be nominated for an Academy Award, and it's still remarkable that McDaniel won an Oscar in a land that was so bigoted at the time. Hattie McDaniel was absent from the premiere of the film, as she and the other black cast members were prevented from attending the premiere due to Georgia's Jim Crow laws, which kept them from sitting with their white colleagues. Upon learning that McDaniel had been barred from the premiere, Clark Gable threatened to boycott the event, but McDaniel convinced him to attend.

Leslie Howard, Olivia De Havilland and Vivien Leigh in Gone with the wind (1939)
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 345. Photo: David O'Selznick Production / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) with Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland and Vivien Leigh. Caption: Bridal scene from Gone with the Wind.

Leslie Howard and Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939)
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 346. Photo: David O'Selznick Production / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) with Leslie Howard and Vivien Leigh.

Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in Gone with the wind (1939)
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 347. Photo: David O'Selznick Production / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) with Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable.

Leslie Howard and Olivia de Havilland in Gone with the wind (1939)
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 348. Photo: David O'Selznick Production / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) with Leslie Howard and Olivia de Havilland.

Vivien Leigh in Gone with the wind, 1939
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 350. Photo: David O'Selznick Production / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) with Vivien Leigh.

The most successful film in box-office history


Production of Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) was difficult from the start. In July 1936 — a month after Margaret Mitchell published her novel —Selznick bought the rights for $50,000. Then, filming was delayed for two years because of David O'Selznick's determination to secure Clark Gable for the role of Rhett Butler, and the 'search for Scarlett'. Gable was under contract to MGM, which never loaned him to other studios. Eventually, O'Selznick struck a deal with MGM. His father-in-law, MGM chief Louis B. Mayer, offered in August 1938 to provide Gable and $1,250,000 for half of the film's budget but for a high price: Selznick would have to pay Gable's weekly salary, and half the profits would go to MGM while Loew's, Inc — MGM's parent company — would release the film.

The search for Scarlett has become a Hollywood legend. O'Selznick built publicity for the film by searching for the role and began a nationwide casting call that interviewed 1,400 unknowns. The effort cost $100,000 and was useless for the film, but created 'priceless' publicity. Many famous—or soon-to-be-famous—actresses were considered, but only thirty-one women were actually screen-tested for Scarlett including Jean Arthur, Tallulah Bankhead, Diana Barrymore, Joan Bennett, Paulette Goddard, Susan Hayward and Lana Turner. Gone With the Wind started filming without a Scarlett as the famous burning of Atlanta sequence was done first. While it was being done, David O. Selznick settled on a fairly unknown British actress, at least in the USA, Vivien Leigh. Her casting was announced on 13 January 1939.

The original screenplay was written by Sidney Howard. His first submission was far too long, and would have required at least six hours of film. The screenplay underwent many revisions by several writers in an attempt to get it down to a suitable length. The original director, George Cukor, was fired three weeks into filming and was replaced by Victor Fleming, who was directing The Wizard of Oz at the time. Fleming in turn would during filming be briefly replaced by Sam Wood while Fleming took some time off due to exhaustion. Fleming was dissatisfied with the script, so Selznick brought in famed writer Ben Hecht to rewrite the entire screenplay within five days. Hecht returned to Howard's original draft and by the end of the week had succeeded in revising the entire first half of the script. Selznick undertook rewriting the second half himself but fell behind schedule, so Howard returned to work on the script for one week, reworking several key scenes in part two. Despite the number of writers and changes, the final script was remarkably close to Howard's version.

About 300,000 people came out in Atlanta for the film's premiere at the Loew's Grand Theatre on 15 December 1939. Gone with the Wind received positive reviews upon its release, although some reviewers found it overlong. The casting was widely praised, and many reviewers found Leigh especially suited to her role as Scarlett. At the 12th Academy Awards, it received ten Academy Awards (eight competitive, two honorary) from thirteen nominations, including wins for Best Picture, Best Director (Victor Fleming), Best Adapted Screenplay (posthumously awarded to Sidney Howard), Best Actress (Vivien Leigh), and Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel). It set records for the total number of wins and nominations at the time.

Upon its release, Gone with the Wind broke attendance records everywhere. It became the highest-earning film made up to that point, and held the record for over a quarter of a century. When adjusted for monetary inflation, it is still the most successful film in box-office history. It was re-released periodically throughout the 20th century and became ingrained in popular culture. The film has been placed in the top ten of the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 American films since the list's inception in 1998. In 1989, the United States Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Gone with the Wind is told from the point of view of the South, and it tends to portray slaves as a simpler people, who are being gently looked after by their white masters. More often than not the slaves are shown either as people of limited understanding or as straight up mentally handicapped. It usually isn't the focus of the film, but the story is about the Civil War so it's always on the background. Therefore, seeing the film today makes you feel uncomfortable sometimes, but on the other hand, the film also offers that rare chance to see lots of superb singing, dancing, and acting by African-Americans in a Hollywood production of the 1930s.

Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind (1939)
Austrian postcard by HDH Verlag, Wien (Vienna), no. 3394. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Films Austria. Publicity still for Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) with Clark Gable.

Vivien Leigh in Gone with the wind (1939)
German postcard by Rüdel-Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 732. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) with Vivien Leigh.

Vivien Leigh in Gone with the wind (1939)
Vintage card. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) with Vivien Leigh.

Vivien Leigh
Belgian postcard by Les Editions d'Art L.A.B., Bruxelles (Brussels), no. 1040. Photo: MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer). Publicity still for Gone With The Wind (1939) with Vivien Leigh.

Leslie Howard and Olivia De Havilland in Gone with the Wind (1939)
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 247. Photo: publicity still for Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) with Leslie Howard and Olivia de Havilland.

Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: MGM. Publicity still for Gone with the Wind (1939) with Vivien Leigh.

Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in Gone With The Wind
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: MGM. Publicity still for Gone with the Wind (1939) with Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh.

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.