classic film general discussion gone with the wind interviews vivien leigh
Today I had the great opportunity to interview Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne. We spoke of TCM’s Summer Under the Stars, Gene Tierney, the qualities that make a film “essential”, the merits of GWTW, and of course, the one and only Vivien Leigh.
Vivien Leigh as Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Directed by Tyrone Guthrie for the Old Vic Company, 1937-38 season
Costumes by Oliver Messel
Photos from Vivien Leigh’s performance in the Old Vic production of Midsummer are by far my favorite. Oliver Messel’s costumes, the make-up, her beauty. Perfect. I have more rarities from this production to scan for vivandlarry.com, but I thought I would share one of my favorites here first.
One of my favorite things to do is search through piles of old things in book and antique stores. They always say one person’s trash is another person’s treasure, and it’s true! Now, I’m no dumpster diver (okay, my old roommates and I salvaged awesome and perfectly usable furniture for our old apartment. Hey, living in Southern CA ain’t cheap!), but I’ve found some really neat things going through stacks of paper goods in old, musty stores.
Here is one of my favorite finds:
This was found in a fantastic little emphemera shop in Charing Cross Road in London. I had stumbled across this place while doing a summer abroad in Sussex; I had taken the train up to London for the day to meet a friend and had some time to kill, so I just started wandering and there I was. I made a mental note about the place since the owner had some pretty interesting treasures, and when I went back in February 2009, I stopped in again, this time with my friend and fellow Larry and Vivien fan, Kasia. This store is the kind of place that has books piled up everywhere, and it takes a minute for the owner to remember where he’s put things. I started going through an old shoebox full of playbills when I came upon this white envelope. Opening it, I found this!
classic film laurence olivier vivien leigh
Vivien Leigh: November 5, 1913-July 7, 1967
Laurence Olivier: May 22, 1907-July 11, 1989
In Memoriam
In the past, I have done the sort of bi-annual birthday/death day tributes to Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh in which I talk about what they mean to me, what they accomplished in their lifetimes, and why they are still relevant. This time, however, I thought I would let those who knew these marvelous and influential people speak for themselves.
July 16, 1967I can’t even remember the date of the morning Coley came into my suite at the Savoy, suffused with tears, and told me that Vivien had died. The shock was too violent. I mind too deeply about this to go on about it very much. She was a lovely, generous and darling friend, and I shall miss her always. Apparently Jacko [Marivale] came back from the theatre, saw her sleeping peacefully and went to warm up some soup for himself in the kitchen. When he came back a few minutes later she was lying on the floor in a welter of blood having had a haemorrhage. Jacko, with almost incredible courage and tact, cleaned up all the hideous mess because he knew that she would hate anybody, even the doctor, to see her like that. Then he telephoned for the doctor. Jacko is a good and kind man. A day or two later he rang me up and asked me to read the address at her memorial service which is, I believe, to be on the twenty-fourth. I lovingly but very firmly refused. I truly do not believe I could have done it without breaking down and making a shambles of it. I know this was cowardly, but I can’t regret it. The emotional strain would be ghastly, and as I am not feeling any too well at the moment it would possibly cause me great damage. All my own loved ones agree and I can only hope that they’re right. If it could have helped Vivien in any way I would have done anything, but it couldn’t because she’s gone for ever. I loathe and despise the miserable Christian trappings of death.
When Julien DuVivier’s production of Anna Karenina was released in theatres in 1948 it received less-than-stellar notices, especially concerning its leading lady, Vivien Leigh. Critics called it a “beautiful failure” and said Vivien failed to portray the depth of Anna’s emotional suffering. I cannot compare this film to the Garbo version as I have not seen it, but I can compare it to Leo Tolstoy’s novel–having read it–and I personally think Vivien did a wonderful job portraying Anna.
Consider this:
The best part of the novel, and the focus in the film, is Anna’s adulterous love affair with count Vronsky. Our Vronsky was miscast Irish newcomer Keiron Moore, also known as that drunk guy from Disney’s Darby O’Gill and the Little People. He apparently didn’t think much of Vivien as an actress or a person, but she clearly out-acted him in this film. In fact, Martin Stockham, author of The Korda Collection, mentions that Moore’s acting ability was overwhelmed by that of Vivien and co-star Ralph Richardson who played Karenin. Vivien and Keiron had terrible on-screen chemistry, which is an obstacle in itself that must have been hard to overcome.
Stockham also notes that Vivien had very much wanted Laurence Olivier to play Vronsky, but Larry was unavailable on account of filming Hamlet.
Leigh missed having the strength of Olivier to play opposite her. She was also finding it difficult to avoid comparing her own personal life with that of Anna in the film, a situation that caused a severe bout of depression during filming.
Whether Vivien’s depression was due to her comparison with the fictional heroine or simply a bipolar mood swing is probably debatable, but Vivien’s real life pathos greatly contributes to her performance as Anna. Anna is a tragic character; Vivien was a rather tragic person, and it is to her credit as a performer that she played the dramatic and tense scenes in which she goes head to head with Ralph Richardson with subtlety and elegance, where it could have easily been over the top.
Anna Karenina does not feature highly on my list of favorite films, but I do think it’s one of Vivien Leigh’s better roles. I would recommend it for Vivien’s performance (and Ralph Richardson…and Cecil Beaton’s costumes, which are absolutely heavenly).