Vivien Leigh

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Lore & Background

Vivien Leigh was cast as Scarlett O'Hara after a nationwide search that interviewed 1,400 unknown women. The production was troubled: filming was delayed for two years until January 1939 because Selznick was determined to secure Clark Gable for Rhett Butler. The original director, George Cukor, was fired shortly after filming began and was replaced by Victor Fleming, who in turn was briefly replaced by Sam Wood while taking time off due to exhaustion. Post-production concluded in November 1939, just a month before the premiere. At the 12th Academy Awards, *Gone with the Wind* received ten Academy Awards from thirteen nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (Fleming), Best Adapted Screenplay (posthumously awarded to Sidney Howard), Best Actress (Leigh), and Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel, becoming the first African-American to win an Academy Award). The film set records for the total number of wins and nominations at the time.

Reader's Guide

Vivien Leigh's performance as Scarlett O'Hara earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress at the 12th Academy Awards. The film received generally positive reviews upon its release on December 15, 1939, with the casting widely praised, though the long running time received criticism. *Gone with the Wind* was immensely popular when first released, becoming the highest-earning film made up to that point and holding the record for over a quarter of a century. When adjusted for monetary inflation, it remains the highest-grossing film in history. It was re-released periodically throughout the 20th century and became ingrained in popular culture. In 1989, it became one of the twenty-five inaugural films selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Did You Know?

• Vivien Leigh won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Scarlett O'Hara in *Gone with the Wind* at the 12th Academy Awards.
• The role of Scarlett was challenging to cast, and 1,400 unknown women were interviewed for the part.
• The film's production was delayed for two years until January 1939 because Selznick was determined to secure Clark Gable for the role of Rhett Butler.
• Hattie McDaniel won Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film, becoming the first African-American to win an Academy Award.
• *Gone with the Wind* set records for the total number of Academy Award wins (ten) and nominations (thirteen) at the time.

Landing the Role Amid Production Chaos

The path to Vivien Leigh becoming Scarlett O'Hara was anything but straightforward. The production of the 1939 epic, adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel, was plagued by delays and upheaval from the very start. Producer David O. Selznick held the project hostage for two full years, refusing to begin shooting until he locked in Clark Gable for the part of Rhett Butler. The role of Scarlett itself proved extraordinarily difficult to fill—approximately 1,400 unknown actresses were interviewed before the part was settled. On the writing side, Sidney Howard's first draft was too long and required multiple rewrites by several additional screenwriters. Behind the camera, the situation was equally turbulent: original director George Cukor was dismissed shortly after principal photography commenced, Victor Fleming took over, and then Sam Wood briefly stepped in while Fleming rested from exhaustion. Filming finally wrapped in July 1939, and post-production was not finished until November—barely a month before the December 15 premiere. Leigh emerged from this storm as the face of what would become cinema's most iconic Southern heroine.

The Character of Scarlett O'Hara

In the film's narrative, set against the backdrop of the American Civil War and Reconstruction, Leigh portrays Scarlett as a fiercely determined young woman raised on a Georgia cotton plantation. Her story begins on the eve of war at the family estate, Tara, where she is consumed by her attraction to Ashley Wilkes. After being rebuffed at the Twelve Oaks engagement party, she catches the eye of the charismatic Rhett Butler. Scarlett's journey through the conflict is marked by profound loss—she witnesses the death of her first husband Charles, the death of her mother from typhoid, and the mental collapse of her father. When Tara is pillaged and the family is left destitute, she vows to keep them alive, even if it means working the cotton fields herself. Her subsequent marriages—to Frank Kennedy and then to Rhett—carry the weight of survival and desire. Leigh's portrayal of this complex woman navigating a world in collapse became the defining performance of her career.

Academy Award Triumph

When the 12th Academy Awards ceremony took place, *Gone with the Wind* dominated the night in a way that had never been seen before. The film collected ten Academy Awards—eight in competitive categories and two honorary—from a total of thirteen nominations, setting new records for both the number of wins and the number of nominations at a single ceremony. Vivien Leigh's performance as Scarlett O'Hara earned her the Best Actress trophy, cementing her status as one of Hollywood's leading ladies virtually overnight. Other major wins went to director Victor Fleming, a posthumous Best Adapted Screenplay for Sidney Howard, and Best Supporting Actress for Hattie McDaniel, who made history as the first African-American to receive an Oscar. The casting was widely praised by critics who reviewed the film upon its December 15, 1939 release, though the film's considerable running time drew some criticism. For Leigh, the award transformed her from a relatively unknown British actress into a global star.

Enduring Legacy and Cultural Controversy

The financial and cultural footprint of *Gone with the Wind* has proven nearly impossible to match. At its initial release, it became the highest-earning film ever produced, a record it held for more than twenty-five years. When adjusted for inflation, it still stands as the highest-grossing movie in history. The film was re-released periodically throughout the twentieth century, embedding itself so deeply into popular culture that it became a shared reference point for generations. In 1989, it was selected as one of the twenty-five inaugural films preserved in the United States National Film Registry. Yet its legacy is not without shadow. The film has been criticized as historical negationism, glorifying slavery and the Lost Cause of the Confederacy myth. Paradoxically, it has also been credited with triggering changes in how African-Americans were depicted cinematically. For Vivien Leigh, the film remains both her greatest triumph and the work most inextricably tied to her name.