Gossip Friday: Update on Scarlett

From July 1939:

Hollywood–The movie capital has not been kind to Vivien Leigh, and Miss Leigh, in turn, hates Hollywood. Neither knows much about the other, but it is unlikely that there will be time for revision of opinions. When the last mile of film has been ground through David Selznick’s cameras, his Scarlett O’Hara expects to be gone with the wind.

On January 13 (which fell on a Friday), when Miss Leigh was formally signed to the most coveted role in the most talked-about picture in screen history, Hollywood welcomed her with mixed jealousy and resentment, blank puzzlement about her qualifications, feigned pity for the difficulty of her role, and with smirking asides about her private life. The English girl was in a spot, and she knew it.

Curious correspondents were rebuffed by Selznick’s flat order of “No interviews.” His stated reason was that he did not want his star publicized so far in advance of the picture’s release. He also was apprehensive that Miss Leigh–who is fearfully outspoken when she chooses to talk–might admit almost anything about her attachment to Actor Laurence Olivier. After all, both players are married–though not to each other.

There being no source of authentic information, the rumor factories went to work. During an average day in Hollywood you could hear that Miss Leigh was being intolerably temperamental that her Mayfair accent was spoiling the picture, that she was going to be fired, that she was she was going to quit, A change of photographers, a change of directors, a 10-day suspension of production, and common knowledge of the incredible amount of waste film footage and retakes were all cited as if to her discredit.

She is a genuinely fine actress. From the beginning, her assumed southern accent never has caused any real difficulty. She is punctual, a hard worker and usually a patient one. She is utterly exacting but not unreasonably demanding of the services of makeup experts, wardrobe women, and the like. She never has tossed a tantrum for the amusement or embarrassment of the rest of the company.

“This Leigh girl is the quietest high explosive ever invented,” said one man. “When she blows up, nobody but Selznick or Fleming (the director) ever knows what it’s all about.”

Production troubles on “Gone with the Wind,” never rightly attributed to the English star, actually were mostly due to the fact that Mrs. Sidney Howard had a baby! Having written the screenplay, but wanting to rush to his wife’s side, Howard was unable to remain to whittle the enormous document down to filmable size. When other writers were called in for the job, George Cukor, the original director, disapproved their treatment of the story. He quit.

It was a fairly amicable parting except for Miss Leigh’s distress at losing the guidance of a man in whom she had utter confidence. From the beginning, Clark Gable (who is Rhett Butler) would have preferred Victor Fleming to Cukor. And now Fleming, whom Miss Leigh didn’t know at all, was assigned the direction.

Divided loyalties brought rumors of a bitter feud between the stars. Snorted the actress: “Just because Clark and I aren’t having a romance, Hollywood thinks we must be fighting!”

The two have not been especially friendly. Miss Leigh almost always has lunched alone in her half of a bungalow on the lot. The rear suite, with a separate entrance, is Gable’s. But he lunches in the studio cafe with the gang.

When she sat behind the camera it was usually with Leslie Howard, who plays Ashley Wilkes., or Olivia de Havilland, who plays Melanie. The latter has become Scarlett’s most articulate and enthusiastic champion.

Miss Leigh likes games. She did badly at Chinese checkers, was better at backgammon, anagrams, and salvo. On location one day she played catch with oranges and demonstrated that she could juggle three of them.