Vivien Leigh: Becoming Scarlett

How the Award Winning Actress Won Her Part in Gone With The Wind

Aug 1, 2009

A brief look at the film that they said couldn't be done and the woman who proved that the most coveted female role in cinematic history could be played by no other.

In June 1936, Margaret Mitchell published Gone With The Wind, and, after some reluctance, producer David O. Selznick bought the film rights and set about making the movie all others said would be impossible. George Cukor, a close friend of Selznick, was the immediate choice for director and Sidney Howard, by far the best dramatist of the age, was the first screen writer of many who would attempt to translate Mitchell’s epic novel into a motion picture. He understood that the movie belonged to the heroine and so the search began immediately for the perfect Scarlett O’Hara.

The period in which Selznick began this colossal project found most of the world in difficultly. The United States were waiting for the depression to end and Europe was straining under the growing awareness of World War Two lurking around the corner. Moments of relief could be found in films therefore Hollywood saw themselves in the noble role of a creator of worlds in which the public wanted to live. Thirty-four year old David O. Selznick had the same ambition in mind and planned to bring the Old South back to life.

Casting the Impossible

By the time auditions began, Gone With The Wind was a US bestseller and Margaret Mitchell, who wanted nothing to do with the movie, was soon a celebrity. Every girl in America saw herself as Scarlett and they flocked to auditions in their hundreds. Around two-hundred of the most famous actresses in the States were recommended for the role and many were screen-tested including Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Miriam Hopkins and Joan Crawford, but Selznick was looking for someone extraordinary.

In 1938 several versions of the script by various writers existed and were starting to be cut together. Shooting was due to start in January, 1939 but Selznick had yet to cast one single part. The public were demanding that Clark Gable should play Rhett Butler and, despite not wanting the part, MGM finally loaned him to Selznick, along with vitally needed funding, in return for a large share of the early profits and the promotion rights. Olivia de Havilland won her part of Melanie, having begged Warner Bros. to loan her out, and Leslie Howard was soon tempted into the role of Ashley Wilkes. The favourite for Scarlett at this point was Selznick’s friend and neighbour, Paulette Goddard.

Burning Atlanta

With news of Gone With The Wind and rumours of its cast lining nearly every paper, Vivien Leigh left England aboard the Queen Mary in the autumn of 1938, to follow Laurence Olivier to New York. She took with her a copy of Margaret Mitchell’s book and, during the journey, memorised some of Scarlett’s speeches, for this was one part she knew she might just win. On the first day of December 1938, over two years since Selznick had begun his search, Vivien Leigh arrived in Hollywood to be greeted by Selznick’s brother, Myron, with the question; “Would you like to go to a fire?”

Fifteen days after Vivien’s arrival in Hollywood, David O. Selznick was planning to shoot the unforgettable fire of Atlanta scene, without having even cast the characters who were supposed to be in it. At the time, there were only seven Technicolor cameras in existence and all of them were brought to Selznick’s L.A. production lot, ready to capture the first, and most dramatic, sequence of Gone With The Wind. This sequence could only be done once. As the old sets from Selznick’s previous movies were burned and pulled apart for the cameras, Myron introduced Vivien to his brother with the reported words; “Hey genius, meet your Scarlett O’Hara!”

She looked as if she had stepped from the pages of Mitchell's novel and on Christmas day, Vivien was told she had the part. Even though she had been well prepared and determined to win the part, she is quoted as having been shocked all the same when she was asked to report for a screen test and even more so when the part was finally hers. Opinions within the United States were mixed. Many thought it was outrageous that Selznick had had to go to so far as England to find a girl worthy to play the most sought after female role of all time. There were, however, a few southerners who found the revelation somewhat amusing. Better and English girl, they said, than a Yank.

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The copyright of the article Vivien Leigh: Becoming Scarlett in Film Stars is owned by Claudia J. Beresford. Permission to republish Vivien Leigh: Becoming Scarlett in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.