I completely agree. While Gone With the Wind - towering achievement that it is - is not one of my favourites (even from 1939 there are several movies I love more), there is simply no denying that Leigh's Scarlett is one of the most vivid, most complex, most unforgettable performances in the history of movies. Famously, just about every young actress in Hollywood was after the role (is there a film about the casting and production of this movie? If there isn't, there probably should be!) but GWTW without Leigh's Scarlett is simply inconceivable.

I think her role was the weakest of the nominees. Bette Davis was robbed!

@genplant29 said:

I think pretty much everyone readily agrees that the right actress, Vivien Leigh, was selected to portray Scarlett O'Hara.

Here's what the Wikipedia article about this film has to say about Miss Leigh's outstanding performance:

Much of the praise was reserved for the casting, with Vivien Leigh in particular being singled out for her performance as Scarlett. [New York Times critic Frank S.] Nugent described her as the "pivot of the picture" and believed her to be "so perfectly designed for the part by art and nature that any other actress in the role would be inconceivable". Similarly, [The Nation's Franz] Hoellering found her "perfect" in "appearance and movements"; he felt her acting best when she was allowed to "accentuate the split personality she portrays" and thought she was particularly effective in such moments of characterization like the morning after the marital rape scene. [Variety's John C.] Flinn also found Leigh suited to the role physically and felt she was best in the scenes where she displays courage and determination, such as the escape from Atlanta and when Scarlett kills a Yankee deserter.

This isn't a movie that I love, or that I consider perfect (I rate it a solid 8 [perhaps as high as 8.5]), or that's anywhere amongst my favourite Classic films, but certainly is one that I like, appreciate, and find very watchable, and that I recognize there to be much about (regarding the filmmaking and quality of production, as well as certain performances) to admire. It's well worth watching.

Vivien Leigh's standout performance is an especially excellent reason to watch this landmark film.

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Please check out the following list of titles and celebrities I've created TMDb threads for: https://www.themoviedb.org/list/118052

Leigh's Scarlett is wonderful no doubt but what other actresses were considered for the role? I can't even imagine anyone other contemporary actress pulling it off as well as her.

@movie_nazi said:

@genplant29 said:

I think pretty much everyone readily agrees that the right actress, Vivien Leigh, was selected to portray Scarlett O'Hara.

Here's what the Wikipedia article about this film has to say about Miss Leigh's outstanding performance:

Much of the praise was reserved for the casting, with Vivien Leigh in particular being singled out for her performance as Scarlett. [New York Times critic Frank S.] Nugent described her as the "pivot of the picture" and believed her to be "so perfectly designed for the part by art and nature that any other actress in the role would be inconceivable". Similarly, [The Nation's Franz] Hoellering found her "perfect" in "appearance and movements"; he felt her acting best when she was allowed to "accentuate the split personality she portrays" and thought she was particularly effective in such moments of characterization like the morning after the marital rape scene. [Variety's John C.] Flinn also found Leigh suited to the role physically and felt she was best in the scenes where she displays courage and determination, such as the escape from Atlanta and when Scarlett kills a Yankee deserter.

This isn't a movie that I love, or that I consider perfect (I rate it a solid 8 [perhaps as high as 8.5]), or that's anywhere amongst my favourite Classic films, but certainly is one that I like, appreciate, and find very watchable, and that I recognize there to be much about (regarding the filmmaking and quality of production, as well as certain performances) to admire. It's well worth watching.

Vivien Leigh's standout performance is an especially excellent reason to watch this landmark film.

---

Please check out the following list of titles and celebrities I've created TMDb threads for: https://www.themoviedb.org/list/118052

Leigh's Scarlett is wonderful no doubt but what other actresses were considered for the role? I can't even imagine anyone other contemporary actress pulling it off as well as her.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlett_O%27Hara#Searching_for_Scarlett

While others of the prospects unquestionably were terrific (various of them major star) actresses, none of those mentioned seem like they truly would have embodied the full 3D Scarlett anywhere near as spot-on perfectly as did Vivien Leigh. It's like Miss Leigh, on the screen, actually was Scarlett. And what an absolute beauty she was.

It's interesting that, per the Wikipedia article, "....Leigh was cast—despite public protest that the role was too "American" for an English actress...." Watching the movie, I never at all have thought she either sounds or seems other than like truly a Southerner. (On the other hand, at all times Leslie Howard, who portrays Ashley Wilkes, 100% sounds and seems British.)

No doubt the people who, prior to seeing the film, thought Leigh would be and seem too English realized their misgivings were entirely unwarranted once they saw the presented performance up on the screen.

By the way, the other Best Actress Oscar contenders for 1939 were:

• Bette Davis – Dark Victory (as Judith Traherne)
• Irene Dunne – Love Affair (as Terry McKay)
• Greta Garbo – Ninotchka (as Nina Ivanovna 'Ninotchka' Yakushova)
• Greer Garson – Goodbye, Mr. Chips (as Katherine)

Tough competition, for sure. (Garson can be effectively ruled out as a serious contender as the role of Katherine, in Chips, had nowhere near as much screen time, therefore was a substantially shorter performance than either of the other actresses gave, and with nowhere near the complexity.)

I think the Academy got it right, as in every way Vivien Leigh gave an exceptional star-making breakout performance in an unforgettable role, in the what was, up to that time (and for several years that followed), most wildly popular movie ever made - a film that, meanwhile, was widely being viewed, in 1939-40, as perhaps the greatest American film to date.

@bratface said:

@movie_nazi said:

@genplant29 said:

I think pretty much everyone readily agrees that the right actress, Vivien Leigh, was selected to portray Scarlett O'Hara.

Here's what the Wikipedia article about this film has to say about Miss Leigh's outstanding performance:

Much of the praise was reserved for the casting, with Vivien Leigh in particular being singled out for her performance as Scarlett. [New York Times critic Frank S.] Nugent described her as the "pivot of the picture" and believed her to be "so perfectly designed for the part by art and nature that any other actress in the role would be inconceivable". Similarly, [The Nation's Franz] Hoellering found her "perfect" in "appearance and movements"; he felt her acting best when she was allowed to "accentuate the split personality she portrays" and thought she was particularly effective in such moments of characterization like the morning after the marital rape scene. [Variety's John C.] Flinn also found Leigh suited to the role physically and felt she was best in the scenes where she displays courage and determination, such as the escape from Atlanta and when Scarlett kills a Yankee deserter.

This isn't a movie that I love, or that I consider perfect (I rate it a solid 8 [perhaps as high as 8.5]), or that's anywhere amongst my favourite Classic films, but certainly is one that I like, appreciate, and find very watchable, and that I recognize there to be much about (regarding the filmmaking and quality of production, as well as certain performances) to admire. It's well worth watching.

Vivien Leigh's standout performance is an especially excellent reason to watch this landmark film.

---

Please check out the following list of titles and celebrities I've created TMDb threads for: https://www.themoviedb.org/list/118052

Leigh's Scarlett is wonderful no doubt but what other actresses were considered for the role? I can't even imagine anyone other contemporary actress pulling it off as well as her.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlett_O%27Hara#Searching_for_Scarlett

There are a lot of people in that list that have the acting chops but not the right look and vice versa. Susan Hayward definitely had the right look but not the chops and Bette Davis had the chops but not the right look.