Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond

"Vivien Leigh: Scarlett & Beyond" is a decent 1990 bio of Vivien Leigh, who gave us such a vivid portrayal of Scarlett O'Hara, Blanche DuBois, and appeared with great success in films like "Waterloo Bridge," "That Hamilton Woman," and "Ship of Fools." There are some wonderful clips and photos of the young Leigh, supplied by her daughter Suzanne, as well as home movies of Leigh and Olivier and film clips of early performances. The focus of the bio is her rise to stardom and her love affair and marriage to Laurence Olivier.

Though there are many references to her mental illness, it seems to be downplayed. It isn't clear why - it certainly wasn't the poor woman's fault that she suffered from manic-depression, but the effects of this were not mentioned: her removal from an airplane, her attempt to run away with actor Peter Finch (the inspiration for the film "The VIPS"), and the most stunning effect of all - that she would stand backstage hallucinating and walk onstage and be letter perfect. The pity is that back then, there was nothing to help her.

The effect of Leigh's illness on her marriage is mentioned, but one is left with the impression that Olivier dumped her for a younger woman. He did, but don't tell me this disease, uncontrolled, is easy to live with. Rachel Kempson (Mrs. Redgrave) said "Larry got tired." Tired? An understatement I'm sure.

Vivien Leigh was a tremendous actress and an equally great beauty. Though this is a good documentary, with interviews with the aforementioned Rachel Kempson, Garson Kanin, John Gielgud and others, it could have been more in depth. Yes, she was beautiful, yes, she was fragile, but she was so much more. Narrated and hosted by Jessica Lange, an odd choice, and the result is uneven.

I've seen a few biographies about Vivian Leigh and this one made for Turner Classic Movies is probably the best. It isn't perfect, but does a good job of encapsulating her life and career.

The story begins in India--where Vivian was born. I was saddened to hear that at a very early age (I think 6), she was sent off to England for schooling--and was away from her family for about a decade. I know that sort of thing was done back then, but you wonder how much of an impact this had on her--it surely couldn't have been good. And, considering her instability as an adult, perhaps the impact was disastrous. Now I am not blaming Vivian's bipolar disorder on this but you do wonder if it somehow contributed to it or exacerbated it. Sad.

The film then discusses her stage and film successes as well as her tempestuous relationship with Laurence Olivier. Now I have always disliked the pair as people, as they both left spouses in order to move in together. This selfishness was, at times, excused as some great love affair by the folks they interviewed for the film and I guess that's just how show type people are--but it seemed pretty sad. However, when I heard more about how she mistreated Olivier almost from the very beginning, I felt a bit sad for him as well--as well as her announcing (as per IMDb) that she'd been having affairs and wasn't interested in him any more sexually (ouch!!). But this wasn't mentioned in the show--just that she was increasingly unstable. Perhaps the folks making the film just wanted to make her look great and fill the viewer with a sense of awe...but it did seem a bit dishonest. Now I DO understand that folks with bipolar disorders do act this way sometimes--much of it due to the illness. But it would have put the end of their marriage in a much clearer context.

Apart from this, the film is everything you'd expect---interviews, film clips, photos, etc.. I noticed one reviewer commented that Jessica Lange's narration was not especially good. I would agree--though I am sure she's a nice person. It's just that her expressions and speech sometimes didn't seem to match what she was discussing.

A most unsatisfying documentary. Biggest problem is it's too damn short! Forty five minutes is just not enough time to deal with arguably the greatest English language film/theatre actress of the first half of the twentieth century. I mean you could easily devote an hour to her dysfunctional marriage to arguably the greatest English language film/theatre actor of the first half of the twentieth century. And another hour to the making of her two greatest movie roles. And a third hour to her mental/physical travails.

And speaking of Leigh and Olivier I did not much care for the general "poor, put upon Larry" thrust of the documentary, especially considering that the guy was consistently callous toward her, refusing to cast her in "Hamlet" because she was too old for Ophelia (he wasn't exactly a spring chicken as Hamlet, now was he?) and "The Entertainer" because she was too good looking. This condescension is particularly galling when you consider the fact that she was every bit as talented as he was, if not better when you realize the emotional demons with which she struggled.

I also could have done without narrator Jessica Lange's breathy, hushed tones of adoration. And those cheesy background sets whenever Lange is on screen remind one of junior college drama class productions.

Bottom line: Ms. Leigh remains a subject in search of a decent documentary. Give this one a C.

PS...Top five Leigh film performances:

5) Waterloo Bridge 4) Ship Of Fools 3) Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone 2) GWTW 1) Streetcar.

What's really surprising about VIVIEN LEIGH is that she was chosen to play Scarlett O'Hara after what was really an unimpressive and veddy British appearance in A YANK AT OXFORD, sporting pencil thin eyebrows of the period and wearing unflattering hairdo and dowdy clothes. Nothing in that performance could have induced anyone into thinking she could be transformed a year later into Scarlett O'Hara. Selznick himself confesses that he was not even sure after seeing her in the costume epic, FIRE OVER ENGLAND.

And as the narrator so rightly observes, she began her British film career as "a not very successful actress." The remark is fully understood when clips are shown of her first British films.

Of course, all that changed once she did GWTW and WATERLOO BRIDGE, but by then she had been given the Hollywood glamor treatment that successfully made over her looks, a credit to the studio make-up artists as well as the astute Hollywood cameramen who photographed her. It's almost as if the Vivien Leigh of Great Britain left her British look and manner behind when she turned to tinsel town. Perhaps she was already a split personality in the making.

Not exactly the sort of in-depth biography Miss Leigh deserves and on that score it is unsatisfying. It is superficial at best.

But then, she was a very complex person and her life became a constant struggle with inner demons brought on by drugs to combat her illnesses. Some day, hopefully, a fuller, more truthful examination of her faults and virtues will become available to give us a better understanding of this fragile British actress who had her most famous roles playing Southern American women. Too bad Olivia de Havilland wasn't contacted to add something to the backstory of GWTW. De Havilland has been known to say that Vivien was "very much like Scarlett" in real life. Her secretary, Sunny Lash, said the same thing. Like Scarlett, Vivien could be "very cunning and always got her own way".

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.