Vivien Leigh's birthday

Ninety-nine years ago today, in Darjeeling India, as the sun began to set, a baby girl was born to Ernest and Gertrude Hartley. She was named Vivian Mary, and she would grow up to become the  famously beautiful and talented actress Vivien Leigh.

In my opinion, nobody has ever been more aptly named than Vivien (except maybe Grace Kelly). Vivien always had zest for life, needed very little sleep, and was always alert and energetic. And indeed, the name Vivian is of Latin descent, meaning 'full of life'.

Above all else though, Vivien Leigh was an actress, and if you ask me, a thumping good one at that. Unfortunately for us, she much prefered acting on the stage to films. Couple this with ill health, and the result is a rather small filmography- nineteen films, to be exact. Naturally, I think she's great in all of them, however, I present to you five of the films she made that you really ought to see.

Sidewalks of London (1938) In this film, Vivien plays Libby (short for Liberty), a semi- charming but none-too-likeable street urchin who joins a team of buskers led by Charles Laughton, falls in love with Rex Harrison, and gets famous. It's pre- Scarlett O'Hara, but you can see her cutting her teeth being manipulative and not very nice.

 That Hamilton Woman (1941) Teamed up for the third and final time on film, Vivien and Laurence Olivier played real life lovers Emma Hamilton and Lord Nelson. In period costumes and in beautiful black and white cinematography, Vivien Leigh has never looked more ethereal. And boy, do she and Laurence Olivier smoulder.

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)   For the defining portrayal of Blance DuBois, Vivien won her second Academy Award as best actress. Watching her psyche slowly unravel and come to a shattering head is always unnerving and ultimately devastating.

Gone With the Wind ((1939) For many people, this is THE Vivien Leigh performance. And rightly so. It is stellar, and is one of the greatest performances ever captured on film. I want to find somebody who's never seen this film and show it to them just so I can watch their reactions.










Waterloo Bridge (1940) For me, this is Vivien Leigh's greatest performance. I love how understated and subtle she is here. I also think it was a really smart choice to do this film after Gone With the Wind, as the character is the complete opposite of Scarlett O'Hara. Not to mention that the soft black and white cinematography makes her look absolutely luminous. I really can't laud this movie enough. I really, really, can't.


And, just as an added bonus, I present to you, my favorite picture of Vivien Leigh ever.

Happy Birthday, beautiful Vivien.

I've heard it called the easiest way. I wonder who thought of that. I know one thing- it couldn't have been a woman.

 

Waterloo Bridge, 1940

 This is my favorite Vivien Leigh film. Ever. I like it more than Gone With the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire. Put together. Which is saying a lot, being that those are two of my favorite films. But as much as I love those two films, I really honestly can say I like this one better. And I think she's superb in it.

She plays Myra, a ballerina who meets Roy, a soldier during an air raid (played by MGM's pretty boy in residence Robert Taylor) falls in love with him after a whirlwind courtship, and plans to marry him. Unfortunately, it's wartime, and he is called to the front in France. She misses a performance in order to see him off but misses him, only getting a glance of his train pulling out of the station. Subsequently, she is fired from the ballet company. One day, while reading the paper, she sees Roy's name among the casualties list. Out of work, hungry, and desperate, Myra turns to prostitution in order to survive. While strolling though the train station one night in an attempt to pick up a client, she sees Roy among the returning soldiers. Ecstatic at seeing her, Roy is ready to pick up the pieces and finish where they left off. But for Myra, it's not so easy.

I credit this as Vivien Leigh's greatest performance, as I have mentioned before. Of course, I am in no way disregarding her performances in Gone With the Wind or A Streetcar Named Desire. To do so would be completely asinine. However, her performance in Waterloo Bridge is a much more laid back, subtle performance. There are scenes where she doesn't say a word and just acts with her eyes. The scene where this is best illustrated is when she sees Roy amongst the returning soldiers at the train station. She squints ever so slightly, as if she's making sure she's seeing what she thinks she is. Slowly, her eyes widen in shock, disbelief, and horror

image courtesy of www.vivandlarry.com

I'm not sure how much control she had over her career in terms of choice of roles, but I think it was a really smart decision to do this film after Gone With the Wind. It's a completely different character than Scarlett O'Hara, and she proved with this film that she was no one-trick-pony, and that her Oscar was no fluke. It's such an amazing, beautiful performance, and I can't for the life of me figure out why she didn't receive an Oscar nomination for this film. 

If you haven't seen this film, do yourself a huge favor and get yourself a copy. I highly doubt you'll be disappointed.

A Vivien Leigh birthday tribute.

Day 01 — Your favorite song
Day 02 — Your favorite movie
Day 03 — Your favorite television program
Day 04 — Your favorite book
Day 05 — Your favorite quote
Day 06 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 — A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 — A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 — A photo you took
Day 10 — A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 — A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 — A fictional book
Day 14 — A non-fictional book
Day 15 — A fanfic
Day 16 — A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 — An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 — A talent of yours
Day 20 — A hobby of yours
Day 21 — A recipe
Day 22 — A website
Day 23 — A YouTube video
Day 24 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 — Your day, in great detail
Day 26 — Your week, in great detail
Day 27 — This month, in great detail
Day 28 — This year, in great detail
Day 29 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 — Whatever tickles your fancy

 

I'm sorry that I didn't get to post this when I really wanted to. Three days ago (November 5th) was Vivien Leigh's 97th birthday. And so I wanted to do a photo tribute to her on that day, but since I worked all day, I didn't get to then, so I'm doing it now. All images courtesy of vivandlarry.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vivien Leigh

November 5, 1913-July 7, 1967 

 

 

Another of my favorites

Day 3 | Favorite Vivien Leigh Photo

Photo courtesy vivandlarry.com

This is my favorite picture of Vivien Leigh ever taken. I think it's always been. It was taken on the set of Gone With the Wind and I just love how natural and relaxed she looks.

I love you. I've always loved you. I've never loved anyone else. I never shall. That's the truth Roy.

photo courtesy vivandlarry.com

Day 2 | Favorite Vivien Leigh Film

My favorite Vivien Leigh film is 1940's Waterloo Bridge.  She made it right after Gone With the Wind, and it really showed people that she wasn't just a flash in the pan or a one-dimensional actress.
She plays a ballerina who falls in love with a soldier during World War One. As is the tradition of most wartime romance movies, things don't work out as the characters plan. However, what makes Waterloo Bridge different is its truly heartbreaking ending as well as Vivien's performance. It's so subtle and honest and totally beautiful. If you haven't seen this gem of a film, do yourself a favor and get out to a Barnes and Noble's and get yourself a copy.

Fiddle-dee-dee. War, war war.

So I guess there's this new thing going around on a bunch of blogs. It's called 30 Days of Vivien Leigh and  from what I understand it's circulating around on a bunch of different people's blogs on a whole bunch of different blogging sites/networks. Being that Vivien Leigh is my favorite actress and I love photos of her and talking about her, I am totally jumping on this bandwagon.  So, on y va! Here we go!

photo courtesy vivandlarry.com

Day 1 | The first picture of Vivien you ever saw

Let me start out by saying that I don't exactly remember the actual first time I saw Vivien Leigh. I'm sure that throughout my life I had seen her without knowing who she was. I vaguely remember seeing a picture of what was then "some old movie star" on a wall in a diner when I was about 15. I don't remember who the picture was of, but a part of me really wants to say that it was Vivien Leigh. I say that because the first time I saw a specific portrait of her I felt somehow like I had seen it before.
I also remember being at a friends house when I was about ten and her parents were watching Gone With the Wind. I didn't know what they were watching, I just remember seeing a little girl jump a pony and fly over its head. And I remember some man on the screen yelling "Bunny! Bunny!" (Yes, at ten I heard Bunny, not Bonnie)
I think it's pretty safe to say that Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara is sort of ingrained into our subconscious very much in the same way as Marilyn Monroe and Elvis. Gone With the Wind is the most famous film ever made, and so we're all somewhat familiar with it even if we've never even seen the film itself.

Anyhow, the first time I really "saw" Vivien Leigh was when I first watched Gone With the Wind when I was sixteen years old. TCM was showing Gone With the Wind as that week's Essential. I remember when I found out that Gone With the Wind was going to be shown I got so excited for it. I watched it in its entirety on Saturday night and on Sunday I watched half of it again. (Back then TCM would rerun their essentials on Sunday). For the rest of the summer I rented Gone With then Wind from my library (on VHS!) and watched it every other week I think. Finally, by the end of the summer, I had saved up enough money to go to Best Buy and buy my own DVD. I remember I spent $31 on it.

The summer of 2006 marked my fascination with a lot of things. It was when I first discovered TCM and the majority of my favorite actors and actresses and films. It also lead to my discovery of the greatest picture ever made, and more importantly, to Vivien Leigh.