Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond (1990)

The tragic life and career of two-time Oscar winner Viviemn Leigh, who battled tuberculosis and manic-depression but always remained a star.

Director:

Gene Feldman

Writers:

Gene Feldman, Suzette Winter

Stars:

Jessica Lange, Vivien Leigh, Gertrude Hartley

Cast

Credited cast:
Jessica Lange	...	Herself - Host
Vivien Leigh	...	Herself (archive footage)
Gertrude Hartley	...	Herself, Vivien Leigh's mother (archive footage)
Garson Kanin	...	Himself
Claire Bloom	...	Herself
Radie Harris	...	Herself - Journalist
John Gielgud	...	Himself (as Sir John Gielgud)
Rachel Kempson	...	Herself (as Lady Redgrave)
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.	...	Himself
Kim Hunter	...	Herself
Elizabeth Ashley	...	Herself
Laurence Olivier	...	Himself (archive footage)
Stanley Kramer	...	Himself
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michael Redgrave	...	Himself (archive footage)
Alexis Smith	...	Herself (archive footage)

Storyline

Documentary on the life and career of Vivien Leigh who made 19 films in her 30 year career and won 2 Academy Awards as Best Actress (for A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and Gone with the Wind (1939) ). She was born in India in 1913, the daughter of a prosperous stock broker. She was bundled off to boarding school in England at age 6 and her parents only re-settled there when she was 15. Her first marriage, to wealthy barrister Leigh Holman, lasted for several years until she met Laurence Olivier. Once they each obtained divorces from their respective spouses they were married in 1940. After starring in A Yank at Oxford (1938) she received the role that would define her in the public's mind, Scarlett O'Hara. By the early 1950s, her relationship with Olivier began to unravel as her mood swings became more pronounced. She was distraught at the break-up of her marriage and at the dwindling number of roles available to her. Her last film was Ship of Fools (1965). She died in 1967 in London...

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Plot Keywords:

tuberculosis | manic depression | divorce | actress | reference to vivien leigh | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Vivien Leigh: Nie tylko Scarlett O'Hara

Filming Locations:

Notley Abbey, Aylesbury Road, Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Turner Pictures (I),Wombat Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

46 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This documentary is featured in the 4-Disc Collector's Edition DVD set for Gone with the Wind (1939), released in 2004.

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Quotes

Host: For her performance in "A Streetcar Named Desire" Vivien won her second Academy Award as Best Actress. It had been a triumph. In Blanche she exposed aspects of herself she had never shown before on screen or stage: her fragility, sudden dips into despair and desperation tht in the future would become more and more difficult.

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Soundtracks

Tara's Theme
(uncredited)
Composed by Max Steiner
Background music for "Gone with the Wind" montage

User Reviews

Nice Documentary on Leigh

Vivien Leigh: Scarlet and Beyond (1990)

*** (out of 4)

Good, if not total complete, documentary about the life and career of Vivien Leigh who died at a relatively early age but before that she managed to win two Academy Awards for Best Actress including landing the most sought after role of all time with GONE WITH THE WIND. At 45-minutes we start off learning about Leigh's early life, how she began acting and how she ended up with her name. From here we see some of her parts in England and then learn how she ended up getting the role in GONE WITH THE WIND. From here we see clips from various films including WATERLOO BRIDGE, CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA, ANNA KARENINA, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and SHIP OF FOOLS. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Elizabeth Ashley, Kim Hunter, John Geiland, Garson Kanin and Stanley Kramer are just a few of the people interviewed and they all deliver interesting stories about the actress. A major portion of the film talks about her affair and eventual marriage to Lawrence Olivier and the various problems the couple faced. The second half of the film goes over their divorce and the various mental and physical issues that started to take over Leigh. All in all this is a good little film but there's no question that it's a product of its time and that a fuller, more detailed film would do the actress justice.