Vivien Leigh - A timeless performance

Rating: Null/10 (6 July 2003)

The most amazing thing about "Gone With the Wind" may not be any more than the simple truth of the acting-with the paramount contribution being England's great Vivien Leigh . Vivien Leigh gives a timeless performance so real and true to Margaret Mitchell's vision of Scarlett O'Hara that the author herself called her "perfect." Considering that Mitchell would not go on record about anything else related to the movie,it is the highest accolade possible. Never mind the more than deserved Academy Award, this is one of the most modern or even post modern performances committed to film.
From the first moment that she is introduced on camera, she is the living, breathing Scarlett and all the subtlety, nuance and feline charm that exude from this phenomenal actress bring the entire film to life. It is rare that an actor seems to just exist on camera and still be the character like this, but it is a tribute to Leigh's skill and naturalness that makes Scarlett seem uncontrived as a performance. It is also a rare peak into what psychologists might call the "feminine-hysterical" psyche.

In any case, I guarantee that Scarlett will be understood better by women more than by most men. Vivien Leigh so understood the character that she brings things subtlety from the book to the screen. The scene in which she descends the stairs at the Atlanta mansion to find Rhett in the drawing room, for example, contains a brief bit where she glances behind her as if she might better make a break for it. That moment came directly from the book and not the script or director. Selznick was telling Leigh to throw the "damned" book away, but she studied it before each scene and it shows. Recently, after a viewing in Los Angeles, a man who had obviously been dragged to see the film for the first time by his girlfriend was heard to say "That Vivien Leigh could be acting now." In looking at the jumbled script it is almost impossible to figure out how any actress could make some of the expository dialogue sound natural or memorable. Vivien Leigh does it brilliantly. She is natural and yet expressive.
There will be many who do not like or admire Scarlett. But it would be a sorry soul indeed who did not perceive the mastery and genius of this performance by Leigh. As subjective as it is, I believe this may be unsurpassed by any cinematic performance. How many times do you leave the theatre remembering the name of the main character? What performance has ever spoken to the collective heart so loudly ("Garland in "Oz," perhaps, or Brando as Don Corleone) Even Leigh admitted it was difficult to find sympathetic characteristics in Scarlett, but she manages to convey the unique vulnerability and determination that are the very heart of "Gone With the Wind." The actors around her shine as if illuminated by the nucleus of this great performance-and I don't think Gable, De Havilland or McDaniel could ever have been surpassed. I believe it was "Entertainment Weekly" that when polled a few years ago declared Vivien Leigh's the most deserved Oscar in the history of the Academy Awards. I see little reason that it should ever change...