Author: Kendra

lists the oliviers

7 Awesome Things About Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier

By

If you have been a fan of Vivien Leigh and/or Laurence Olivier for some time, you probably have a list of reasons why they appeal you. But if you’re a new fan, have just discovered this website, or are simply searching for answers as to why anyone would still be fascinated by two people who not only got divorced but have both been dead for over two decades, you’ve stumbled upon the right blog entry. Here are 7 reasons why I adore Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, and why you should give a damn, as well.

01. They were gorgeous

Let’s get the obvious superficialities out of the way first. Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier were two of the most good looking people to have ever graced the silver screen or stage. If you’ve had a look through some of the pictures in the gallery, I’m sure you’ll agree. Vivien’s looks carried her to instant fame after her West End debut in The Mask of Virtue in 1935. Larry was a heartthrob who’s amazing bone structure and intense eyes captivated both men and women. Together, Vivien and Larry were a tour de force of beauty. Their natural attraction helped them gain legions of admirers around the world.

02. They set a standard for fashion

Some stars have become synonymous with having amazing fashion sense. Take Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly for examples. The same was true for the Oliviers. When they became a couple, Vivien transformed him from casual to ultra-chic. He was seen in impeccably tailored suits from Savile Row, trench coats, fedoras, cravats. Even his casual wear was stylish. Vivien’s sense of style never left Larry. Although he reverted back to his previous style after their divorce, he continued to wear smart suits for formal business meetings. Vivien herself had impeccable taste in fashion. Always wanting to be on the cutting edge (and having the money to afford it), Vivien modeled for Vogue magazine for more than a decade and had many of her clothes personally fitted by top designers. Some of the clothiers she promoted through her modeling work as well as her personal fashion sense included Jeanne Lanvin, Pierre Balmain, Christian Dior, Elsa Schiaparelli, Edward Molyneux and Mainbocher. Even in austere wartime Britain, Vivien Leigh managed to look amazing. This was in part because she knew how to work a low key outfit. She also knew how to recycle accessories. Click here for photos of Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier in fashion magazines.

03. They were the definition of glamor

The Oliviers lived a high-class lifestyle: a cottage in Chelsea, a mansion near Oxford, Rolls Royces, fur coats, jewels, fashionable parties, holidays to Jamaica, New York, France, Italy, Spain. I don’t think the phrase “low key” would apply here. But their glamour extended beyond material possessions and wealth. They both had an impenetrable air of charm and charisma which enabled them to become stars of the first order. For Vivien, who hated being called “pretty” or “beautiful”, glamour was more than what a person wore. Glamour was a state of mind. She had exceptional taste in art, music, fashion and interesting people. They were cultured and cultivated. For me, the Oliviers seem to have been in a completely different league from anyone we have in Hollywood today. Step aside, Brangelina.

04. They were true film stars

Vivien Leigh always maintained that she never wanted to be considered a film star. Being a film star was, in her opinion, “a false life lived for fake values and publicity.” Being an actress and being a film star were two completely different things. While this is true, Vivien was, indeed, a film star. Gone with the Wind secured her immortality as a star more than any other film she made, and while it was both her blessing and her curse during her lifetime, it ensured that she would never entirely slip under the radar. Much like his second wife, Laurence Olivier always detested acting in films. Maybe “detest” is too strong a word. He never really liked it very much. For Larry, theatre was the true actors’ medium while film was the directors’ medium. What he meant was actors had much more freedom to explore their parts and develop their performances on stage as opposed to having their performances edited together in the cutting room. Makes sense to me. But make no mistake, Larry was a formidable film star who has influenced many actors today. And hey, 10 acting Oscar nominations in a career ain’t bad.

05. They ruled the British stage

As mentioned earlier, The Oliviers preferred acting on stage to acting on film. Many British actors got their start on stage, but British theatre would certainly not be what it is today without the influence and trailblazing efforts of Laurence Olivier, and Laurence Olivier would not have been Laurence Olivier without some help from Vivien Leigh. From the beginning, Larry saw in Vivien a source of inspiration, and vice versa. He envisioned them being England’s answer to Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Their beauty, determination, and strong work ethic helped them to solidify their positions as Theatre Royalty. Larry revolutionized the Old Vic when he co-managed with Ralph Richardson during WWII, and his dream of founding a National Theatre finally came true when he was appointed the RNT‘s first artistic director. There are many who say Vivien was not as strong on stage as she was on film, and prejudiced critics such as the dreaded Kenneth Tynan accused her of not being up to her husband’s standards. She was considered too beautiful to be truly talented. Yet despite critical misgivings, the public loved Vivien, and even after she and Larry divorced, her star power continued to draw in sell-out crowds for the rest of her life.

06. They appreciated the little things

One of my favorite quotes from Vivien Leigh goes like this:

“I realize that the memories I cherish most are not the first night successes, but of simple, everyday things: walking through our garden in the country after rain; sitting outside a cafe in Provence, drinking the vin de pays; staying at a little hotel in an English market town with Larry, in the early days after our marriage, when he was serving in the Fleet Air Arm, and I was touring Scotland, so that we had to make long treks to spend weekends together.”

Often times, I think we get so caught up in that we want to achieve that we don’t stop and appreciate what we really have. A garden, wine in the country, elicit rendezvous with a lover, things that truly spice up one’s life experience. I love that Larry and Vivien appreciated the little things, when their lives were packed full of interesting and significant events. This leads me to the seventh, and probably the biggest thing that I love about the Oliviers…

07. They had an epic romance

Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier knew (in Vivien’s case) that there was a strong attraction (in Larry’s case) from the very beginning. It was practically love at first sight. Their love story rivaled that of any they played out on stage or screen. Seeing photos, reading stories about them, and reading some of the letters they wrote to one another, it’s enough to make any romantic swoon. They exemplified a loving and professional relationship for many of their colleagues. Although they both paid a high price for their wild abandonment that culminated in the destruction of their marriage, I find it impossible not to admire what they went through in the first place just to be together, and how they nurtured one another professionally throughout their 23 years together. It’s clear that they never quite got over one another in the end. “I’d rather have lived a short life with Larry,” Vivien Leigh told her journalist friend Radie Harris toward the end of her life, “than face a long one without him.” Many people yearn for a romance like that, but most never find it.

cinema experiences laurence olivier reviews

Cinema Experiences: Term of Trial

By

In the 1960s, Laurence Olivier successfully bridged the gap from studio films to the British New Wave with his performance as Archie Rice in the 1960 Tony Richardson film The Entertainer. Two years later he continued his string of “ordinary” characters by playing Graham Weir in Peter Glenville’s Term of Trial, which was screened at the BFI last night as part of their Projecting the Archive series. Jo Botting, the curator of fiction at the BFI archive, gave an introduction before the film. She read excerpts from Sarah Miles’ autobiography and talked about how the film was received upon its initial release.

Term of Trial is one of Olivier’s lesser-known films and, much like in William Wyler’s Carrie (1951), he delivers a quietly powerful and underrated performance as an alcoholic school teacher in gritty northern England who becomes the object of one of his female students’ affection. Graham Weir, despite being a genuinely nice man who wants to change students’ lives for the better through his teaching, is accused of sexual assault when he rejects the advances of young Shirley Taylor (played brilliantly by an 18 year old Sarah Miles in her first film role), his prized pupil. Shirley is so enraged and hurt by Mr. Weir’s rejection that she brings false claims against her once revered teacher. Graham is in a lose-lose situation all around. At home, his nagging, selfish wife (Simone Signoret) accuses him of not being man enough to give her the life she thinks she deserves. He is frustrated at school by the defiance of a trouble-making student (Terrence Stamp), and the accusations brought against him cost him the coveted job of head schoolmaster.

It seems that many people found–and still find–Olivier miscast as Weir, but I thought it one of his best performances. Subdued yet sympathetic throughout most of the film, Olivier the great stage actor breaks free when he is given full reign of the scene when Graham stands accused in court. All of his sublimated emotions and frustrations suddenly explode (we get a glimpse of something boiling beneath the surface in a previous scene when his wife’s comments cause him to violently slap her across the face). Paul Dehn, critic for the Daily Herald said of Olivier’s performance in the courtroom scene:

“Olivier’s own long speech from the dock is a piece of inarticulate agonising as unforgettably delivered as the best of his Shakespearean soliliquies.”

I urge anyone who mistakenly accuses Olivier as being nothing but a hack or ham actor to reconsider his performances in this film as well as in Carrie.

Term of Trial has an all-around strong cast. Simone Signoret was, as always, tough as nails. I had the opportunity to see Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Les Diaboliques the previous evening and was blown away by her performance as a school teacher who helps to murder her colleague’s headmaster husband (with whom she was also having an affair). Sarah Miles was surprisingly very good as Shirley and more than held her own opposite her acting idol. Miles also claims to have had an on and off affair with Olivier that started during filming and lasted for several years. I had only seen her previously in David Lean’s Irish epic Ryan’s Daughter and didn’t think much of her at the time; my mistake. Terrence Stamp (also in his first film role) plays the thug character to perfection, the incarnation of so many angry young men of the period.

What I love about Olivier was his ability to develop his acting style through different filmic periods. From matinee studio idol to Shakespearean expert, everyday average Joe to supporting player in later years. It’s always a pleasure to see the range of his film acting. There are people who insist he was best on stage, and perhaps he was, but he was also a damn good film actor, and that’s all we have left. Let’s appreciate his films while we can.

vivien leigh

Vivien Leigh by Augustus John

By

Vivien Leigh by Augustus John

Vivien Leigh by post-impressionist artist Augustus John, 1942 (sorry, I said it was 1940 on Facebook but I was wrong). The sketch on the left appeared in the London Illustrated News and the portrait was displayed in London’s National Portrait Gallery in 1972, in an exhibition called ‘The Masque of Beauty.”  It previously hung on the wall in Tickerage Mill. The painting was commissioned by Laurence Olivier but was never finished, allegedly because Olivier thought the painter had become too infatuated with his subject.

Keith Roberts of the Burlington Magazine commented that it was not a very good painting because John’s style conflicted with Vivien’s striking features and delicate bone structure. I find it interesting. It reminds me of something one would see on the cover of a gothic novel.

classic film general discussion link love lists

Stylish Bloggers and Classic Film Link Love

By

Carley from The Kitty Packard Pictorial has bestowed a Stylish Blogger Award upon vivandlarry.com!  This came as a pleasant surprise because I only recently discovered the wonders of the Kitty Packard Pictorial during the fabulous blog-a-thon Carley hosted to honor Jean Harlow’s 100th birthday and the recent publication of  Mark A. Viera’s new book Harlow in Hollywood. Carley is really knowledgeable about classic films and her blog is so fun to read! Definitely recommended.

The rules are that I have to list 7 facts about me and pass the award on to 7 other stylish (i.e. totally fabulous) blogs. So, here are 7 things about me that may or may not be interesting:

1.  I miss California. Don’t get me wrong, I love living in London and plan to stay here for a while after my programme, but the coming of spring makes me nostalgic for balmy weather and the beach (and legit Mexican food!). I also miss my cat Coco, but I know she’s happy living at my parents’ house. No matter where I may roam, I’ll always be a California girl at heart.

… Continue reading

articles guest post vivien leigh

Backstage with Vivien Leigh

By

I was recently contacted about a never-before-published interview that Vivien Leigh had done in 1966 during the run of her last play, Ivanov, in which she co-starred with her good friend John Gielgud. Peter Coyne, a former student and good friend of the interviewer, Richard F. Mason, was kind enough to choose vivandlarry.com as the source of publication. He has written a marvelous introduction to the interview, as well as provided a scan of the letter Vivien sent to Mr. Mason in response. Thanks, Peter.

Richard F. Mason was a professor of drama and director of university theater productions at Hofstra University on Long Island from 1964 until 1993. I was his student there from 1977 until 1981, and his friend thereafter. He wrote the following interview with Vivien Leigh in 1966, when she was appearing in New York City in her last play, Ivanov. Mason was still fairly new to New York at that time, having recently moved into the Charles Street apartment in Greenwich Village where he would live until his dying day, November 26, 2010. Although he was already 37 years old at the time of the interview, there is still a touch of the “stage door Johnny” about him, even if one armed with a PhD. He often mentioned in later years, when recalling the experience, the degree to which he felt star-struck, and how his time with Vivien felt rather like being in a dream state. Writing was never as great a strength for him as teaching and directing were, yet he manages to be rather funny in his own very arch way (to me, at least), and Vivien herself says she was “delighted” with the result.

Since Mason frequently references in his interview a piece about Vivien Leigh written by Elaine Dundy that had just been published, a summary of that article might be helpful. It appeared in the Village Voice on May 5, 1966, under the headline, Vivien Leigh: On Interviewing a Star On a Wet Washington Day. Ms. Dundy describes the colorful roles Vivien has played, the exciting life she has lived, and labels her an “Adventuress.” She describes boarding the plane for Washington, hauling herself and her overnight gear through a D.C. downpour to get to the theater, all for what she labels a “Snub Interview.” Her greeting from the star: “‘Don’t come near me!’she cries out as I advance into the dressing room. ‘I’ve got a cold.’ (I mention this as the most gracious thing she will say to me in the next 20 minutes.)” Her Vivien emerges as not chatty, but catty. There is one hilarious moment: After a pause, Vivien says to the writer, “I loved that piece you wrote about Barbra Streisand.” Response: “I have never written about Barbra Streisand in my life.” In the end, Ms. Dundy must make due with terse, sometimes monosyllabic answers (“No.”) to her rather inane questions. She dashes for the last flight back to New York City instead of remaining in Washington overnight as planned, feeling very snubbed indeed.

Now, for a glimpse at a very different Vivien Leigh, as seen through the eyes of young Professor Mason in his heretofore unpublished interview. I hope you will enjoy reading it.

• • • • • •

… Continue reading