Vivien Leigh

To continue her contract with Alexander Korda， Vivien would now star in a second feature1 alongside Olivier， entitled Twenty-One Days. A low budget drama about a convicted killer and the wife of the murdered man. Filming began in May of 1937， scripted by Graham Greene. On June 16th， after a brief run on stage in Hamlet， again opposite Olivier， Vivien left her husband Leigh，moving to Chelsea with her new found love. Their secret affair had gone as far as it could， as did each of their marriages. On the set， the conversation turned to the topic of the day—the casting of Gone with the Wind; as described by Caroline Lejeune， film reporter —\"somebody turned to Olivier and said， 'Larry， you'd be marvelous as Rhett Butler. ' He laughed it off， but the suggestion was not too preposterous2， the discussion of the casting went on in a desultory3 fashion， until the new girl， Vivien Leigh， brought it to a sudden stop. She drew herself up on the rain-swept deck，all five feet nothing of her， pulled a coat round her shoulders and stunned us with the sibylline4 utterance:'Larry won't play Rhett Butler， but I shall play Scarlett O'Hara. Wait and see....'\"

Since Vivien was now living with Olivier， her daughter Suzanne was in the care of Gertrude， Vivien's mother. The next few years for the new couple would be spent waiting for an official divorce. Vivien was loaned to MGM to make A Yank at Oxford to increase her American exposure—a move that would benefit both Alexander Korda's role as her producer and Vivien's career， especially if she was to be considered for the role of Scarlett O'Hara. She worked on A Yank at Oxford during the autumn of 1937 with her former convent schoolmate，and now actress， Maureen O'Sullivan， while Olivier shot The Divorce of Lady X with Merle Oberon.

1937 had ended and a new year of work began. Vivien started shooting St. Martin's Lane in January 1938. This was her 9th film， and co-starred Charles Laughton and Rex Harrison. She played a busker5 that rises to stardom in London. When it was released， the reviews were positive， stating that Vivien had improved her acting enough to stand alongside Charles Laughton on screen. Laurence Olivier was just as busy. He was asked to play the part of Heathcliff opposite Merle Oberon in a Hollywood production of Wuthering Heights. Accepting this offer， he left England on November 5th 1938—Vivien's 25th birthday. Wanting to be with him as soon as possible， she abandoned her winter plan of performing in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Old Vic， and left heading towards California on Saturday November 27th for a two week trip\"...partly because Larry is there， and partly because I intend to get the part of Scarlett O'Hara\".It was a journey that would not only change Vivien's career—but would change the search for Scarlett forever...

On the set of Twenty-One Days， she displayed her unyielding desire for the part of Scarlett by talking to a film reporter from the Evening News—\"I'm reading Gone With the Wind， but if I brought it here I shouldn't be able to start working. I've never been so gripped by anything in my life. It's the finest book I've ever read， what a grand film it would make! I've cast myself for Scarlett O'Hara.\"

Margaret Mitchell's book，Gone With the Wind had sold 326 000 copies during the first six weeks of publication and won The Pulitzer Prize of 1937. Taking four years to write， it has sold millions more copies in the decades that followed， and started a world wide phenomenon. Still a recent best-seller in 1938， Vivien re-read the book on her journey towards Hollywood to visit Laurence Olivier. This is what she thought of it :\" From the moment Iread GWTW， I was facsinated by the lovely wayward6， tempestuous Scarlett. I fel that I loved and understood her， almost as though I had known her in the flesh. When I heard that the book was to be filmed in Hollywood early in 1939 I longed to play the part...\"

After a remarkably well timed introduction to David O·Selznick by her Hollywood agent on December 10th， the first night of location shooting， Vivien did screen tests for her dream role. Both Selznick， and the film's director George Cukor， were impressed by her talent and beauty. She wrote back to her hus- band Leigh Holman:\"You will never guess what has happened and no one is more surprised than me. You know that I only came out here for a week. Well， just two days before I was supposed to leave， the people who are making Gone With the Wind saw me and said would I make a test—so what could I do and now I am working frantically hard and rehearsing， and studying a Southern accent which I don't find difficult anyway ...The part has now become the biggest responsibility one can imagine and yet it would be absurd not to do it given the chance...

Vivien spent time at a beach house for relaxation， and took piano lessons in the evenings while Olivier was away in NewYork performing in No Time for Comedy. She disliked Hollywood im mensely saying， \"I could not stay here half the year...the more I see of Hollywood the less possible it becomes. \"This was a trying time for their relationship， and they saw little of each other during the early months of 1939. She kept a copy of Margaret Mitchell's book nearby on the set， and resented if writers diverged from the original text during the constant re-writes of the script. Vivien completed her work on June 27th and as they say， the rest is history. Her performance carried the film and helped create the success and popularity that would never cease， even today， six decades later.

As soon as filming was finished， Vivien did a screen test for Alfred Hitchcock for the film version of Daphne De Maurier's Rebecca. She didn't seem right for the part—qualities which made her ideal for Scarlett now made her unsuited for such a restrained role.Olivier did a screen test opposite her，and he eventually went on to play the role of Maxim in the finished film. Rebecca ended up winning best picture the year following Gone With the Wind. The couple were able to return to London in July for a holiday and returned to Hollywood in August with Vivien's mother. After doing some retakes for GWTW， Vivien next was given the lead role in MGM's Waterloo Bridge as part of her new Hollywood contract， although she would have preferred working on Pride and Prejudice. Olivier had the option to work with her as the leading man in Waterloo Bridge or take the lead in Pride and Prejudice. Vivien would work on either film， as long as she could work with Olivier. Due to her contract， however， she ended up signing on toWaterloo Bridge without him.Meanwhile，she prepared for the grand opening of GWTW in Atlanta. It opened to great reviews and Vivien became the talk of the town. Right after Christmas， she began work on Waterloo Bridge， taking ballet lessons for a scene early on in the film， and voice lessons to improve her acting technique. Robert Taylor ended up being cast across her instead of Olivier which bothered Vivien， but she got along well with him， having worked together previously in A Yank in Oxford.

At this point in 1940， Leigh Holman finally filed for divorce. This meant that after 6 months wait， Vivien would be free to marry Olivier. On February 29th， the annual Academy Awards were held in the Ambassador Hotel in Hollywood. Vivien arrived with Olivier and at 1 a.m.， her name was announced for best actress. Gone with the Wind was released two months later in her home country—and ended up running consecutively7 for 4 years in London. In May， Waterloo Bridge was released in America to favorable reviews and critics were surprised to see a different side of the actress， not just another variation on Scarlett. Howard Barnes， wrote about Waterloo Bridge in New York Herald Tri- bune—\"it is apparent， now， though， that her career is based on great talent and great beauty rather than on the supposed break she got8 when she was picked to play the most popular heroine of our day. Actually Gone with the Wind was extremely lucky to have her in it. Any film， or any stage work for that matter， is blessed by her participation. For here is an actress who combines all of the sorcery9 of a vivid personality with brialliant acting execution.\"

Vivien followed Waterloo Bridge with Romeo and Juliet on stage in New York with Olivier directing and co-starring. This was thought to have a good potential for profit—neither of them having made much money with their recent film roles. However， Romeo and Juliet on Broadway didn't do well， and it ended up running for only 35 performances. After a brief summer holiday， Vivien returned to Hollywood and began preparing for her new role as Lady Hamilton， a film that was thought as a suitable propaganda vehicle for US-Britain. Enough time had passed， and as soon as both their divorces became absolute， Vivien and Olivier could finally marry. The ceremony took place at the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara on August 31st，1940，with Katharine Hepburn as the maid of honour and a subsequent honeymoon on actor Ronald Colman's yacht.

In September， the new \"Mr and Mrs Olivier\" began working together on the set of That Hamilton Woman. It was difficult to receive a production code of approval with a story that involved a man living in sin with another man's wife，but after several changes in the script，That Hamilton Woman(Lady Hamilton) was released in America in July 1941. Vivien's name appears above Olivier's on the opening titles， notably because of her success in Gone With the Wind. This unfortunately would be the last time the Oliviers made a film together.

Despite poor reviews，That Hamilton Woman became a box office success as well as a favorite film of Winston Churchill's. Vivien's daughter during this time was placed in a new school， and living in Vancouver，Canada，with her grandmother， Gertrude. The Oliviers returned home to Britain at Christmas and by this point， America had gotten involved in the war. She had plans to join the Old Vic Theatre Company， but instead began work on The Doctor's Dilemma which would tour for half year before opening in London in March of 1942. It ran successfully for a year with over 450 performances， ending on April 25th， 1943.

The war was in full swing by now， so Vivien joined several other actors in a review that would tour North Africa to help with the war effort. As they left England， she heard the tragic news that Leslie Howard， her co-star from Gone with the Wind， had been shot down in a plane flying from Lisbon. The review went on， and there were several performances a day taking place on ships， aircraft carriers， and in hospitals， to help the men in action stationed overseas. Vivien took part wearing a Scarlett O'Hara style costume performing various skits and reciting poems and parts of popular plays. At the end of August， she returned to England and met up with Laurence Olivier， who was hard at work on his film version of Henry V. Not wanting to return to America， she signed onto a film version of George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra， which didn't begin shooting until June of 1944. Production was very difficult with the war occurring on every side and sets were large and expensive， causing delays. The dialogue made things worse with co-stars not performing up to standard since Shaw's script was very complex in comparison to costumeand Hollywood dramas of the time. In September， Vivien fell badly on the set and suffered a miscarriage shortly afterwards. This period was also the beginning of noticeable swings into manic depression17—a disease that was both misinterpreted and diffi- cult to control at the time.

為延續(xù)與亞歷山大·柯達(dá)的合同，費(fèi)雯麗現(xiàn)在將與奧立佛一道主演名為《二十一天》的第二部正片。這部低成本的戲，講的是一名被判罪的殺人犯與受害人妻子的故事。1937年5月，開始拍攝，由格雷厄姆·格林編劇。6月16日，在舞臺(tái)上再次與奧立佛演對手戲，短暫地出演《哈姆雷特》后，費(fèi)雯麗離開其丈夫利，與其新情人共赴切爾西。他倆相愛的秘密就跟他倆每次的婚姻一樣已四下傳開了。在拍攝間，人們的交談轉(zhuǎn)向了當(dāng)時(shí)的熱門話題——《亂世佳人》的角色問題。正如卡羅琳·利朱尼這位影片記者的描述——“有人轉(zhuǎn)向奧立佛，說，‘勞倫斯，你演白瑞德準(zhǔn)會(huì)很棒?！恍α酥?，但這一提議并不很蠢……對該片的角色問題，人們還在散漫地爭論，直到新來的姑娘費(fèi)雯麗的出現(xiàn)，才使這一切戛然而止。她在大雨沖刷的甲板上挺得筆直，五英尺的身軀一絲不掛，接著拖過一件上衣圍住雙肩，發(fā)表了一通女巫似的講話，令我們目瞪口呆：‘勞倫斯決不會(huì)演白瑞德，可我將演郝斯佳。等著瞧吧……’”

既然費(fèi)雯麗現(xiàn)在與奧立佛同住，其女兒蘇珊娜則由費(fèi)雯麗的母親格特魯?shù)抡樟稀?/p>

隨后的幾年，這對新情侶一直在等待著能正式離婚。費(fèi)雯麗被轉(zhuǎn)借給米高梅公司，拍攝《美國佬在牛津》，以增加她在美國露臉的機(jī)會(huì)——這一舉動(dòng)既有利于充當(dāng)其制片人的亞歷山大·柯達(dá)的工作，也有利于費(fèi)雯麗的事業(yè)，特別是如果她打算讓人家考慮她出任郝斯佳一角。1937年的整個(gè)秋季，她都在與其昔日修道院的校友、現(xiàn)在的女演員莫莉妮·沙利文一道忙于《美國佬在牛津》的拍攝，同時(shí)奧立佛與美莉·奧本羅拍了《X夫人離婚記》。

1937年結(jié)束了，又開始了新一年的合作。1938年1月，費(fèi)雯麗開始拍《圣馬丁小巷》，這是她的第九部影片，與查爾斯·拉夫頓和雷克斯·哈里遜合作演出。她飾一位終于在倫敦躍升為明星的街頭藝人。該片問世時(shí)，評論界的反應(yīng)是肯定的，指出費(fèi)雯麗的表演進(jìn)步很大，足以在銀幕上與查爾斯·拉夫頓并駕齊驅(qū)。勞倫斯·奧立佛也一樣忙。有人請他在好萊塢制作的《呼嘯山莊》中扮演赫斯克利夫這個(gè)角色，與美莉·奧本羅演對手戲。接受了這一提議后，他在1938年11月5日——費(fèi)雯麗25歲生日那天離開了英國。由于很想盡快與他相會(huì)，她放棄了在老維克劇團(tuán)出演《仲夏夜之夢》的冬季計(jì)劃，隨即在11月27日，星期六就出發(fā)了，前往加利福尼亞州，作為期兩周的旅行……“部分原因是拉里在那兒，部分原因是我想得到郝斯佳這個(gè)角色?！边@次旅程，不僅將改變費(fèi)雯麗的事業(yè)，而且將永遠(yuǎn)改變對郝斯佳的搜尋工作……

在1937年拍《二十一天》的攝制間里，她給《晚間新聞》的記者講了這番話，透露了自己對郝斯佳這一角色的無盡渴望：“我一直在看《飄》，可要是我把它帶到這兒來，我就沒法干活了。在我的一生中，還從未有什么東西像這樣抓住了我的心。這是我曾看過的最好的書，要是拍成電影，那將是一部怎樣的巨片！我早給自己拍完了郝斯佳這個(gè)角色?！?/p>

《飄》的瑪格麗特·米切爾寫的書，出版的頭六周，它就售出了326000 本，于1937年榮獲普利策獎(jiǎng)。這本耗時(shí)四年寫成的書，隨后的幾十年里，又賣出了數(shù)百萬冊，開始在全世界廣為流傳。1938年它仍然是一本炙手可熱的暢銷書。在前往好萊塢看望勞倫斯·奧立佛的途中，費(fèi)雯麗又重閱了此書。這是她對它的評價(jià)：“從我看了《飄》起，這位可愛又桀驁不馴的郝斯佳就使我心醉神迷。我覺得自己愛上了她，也理解她，幾乎像從骨子里了解她。一聽說此書即將要在1939年初拍成電影，我真希望能演此角……”

12月19日，在確定開拍的頭一天夜里，在其好萊塢的經(jīng)紀(jì)人顯然很及時(shí)的安排下，與大衛(wèi)·奧·塞爾茲尼克初次相見后，費(fèi)雯麗在銀幕上試演了她夢想的角色。塞爾茲尼克和該片的導(dǎo)演喬治·庫克都對其才華和美貌留下了印象。她在給其丈夫利·霍爾曼的回信中寫道：“你永遠(yuǎn)想像不出所發(fā)生的一切，最感到吃驚的是我。你知道，我出現(xiàn)在此地只不過一周。哎呀，就在兩天前我要離開時(shí)，拍《亂世佳人》的那幫人看見我。問我是否愿意試鏡頭，所以我能怎么辦呢，于是現(xiàn)在我發(fā)瘋般地干活、排演，學(xué)習(xí)南方口音，我怎么也沒覺得難學(xué)……這個(gè)角色現(xiàn)在在我心中責(zé)任最重，你怎么想像也不過分?？墒墙o你這個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)不上那才蠢呢……”

在奧立佛遠(yuǎn)在紐約演出《不是喜劇的時(shí)刻》的日子里，費(fèi)雯麗有時(shí)候在海灘上的屋子里修養(yǎng)，晚上就上鋼琴課。她十分厭惡好萊塢，說：“我在這兒連半年也呆不下去……我越了解好萊塢，這就越不可能?！边@是考驗(yàn)他倆關(guān)系的關(guān)鍵時(shí)刻，而在1939年的前幾個(gè)月，他倆幾乎互不相見。她在攝影間里總在身邊帶著一本瑪格麗特·米切爾寫的書。如果在劇本不停的修訂當(dāng)中，執(zhí)筆人偏離了原著的內(nèi)容，她就有怨言。費(fèi)雯麗在6月27日完成了這部影片，正如他們所言，其余的皆成了歷史。她的表演為此片增光添彩，為創(chuàng)下永無止境——即使在60年后的今天也一樣——的成功和知名度作出了貢獻(xiàn)。

拍攝工作一完畢，費(fèi)雯麗就為阿爾弗雷德·希樞柯克將達(dá)芙妮·德·莫里爾的《麗貝卡》搬上電影試了鏡頭。她似乎不適合演此角色——那些性格使她成為郝斯佳的理想人選，現(xiàn)在卻使她不宜演這樣一個(gè)受壓抑的角色。奧立佛在銀幕上試演了與她相對的角色，結(jié)果還接著在拍成的影片中演了馬克西姆一角。在《亂世佳人》之后的那一年，《蝴蝶夢》最終榮膺最佳影片。7月，這對情侶得以返回倫敦休假，8月，隨同費(fèi)雯麗的母親又回到好萊塢。在為《亂世佳人》補(bǔ)演一些鏡頭后，費(fèi)雯麗下一步分得了米高梅公司的《魂斷藍(lán)橋》一片中的主角，這是她與好萊塢訂的新合同的一部分，盡管她本人更愿意演《傲慢與偏見》。奧立佛可以選擇作為男主角，與她共演《魂斷藍(lán)橋》或是接受《傲慢與偏見》中的主角。費(fèi)雯麗愿意演其中的任意一部，只要能與奧立佛共事。然而，由于合同的原因，她最終在他缺席的情況下，簽約了《魂斷藍(lán)橋》一片。就在同時(shí)，她高興地出席了在亞特蘭大舉行的《亂世佳人》的首映式。這次開映，受到了高度的評價(jià)，費(fèi)雯麗成了該市人們談?wù)摰闹行?。就在圣誕節(jié)過后，她開始了《魂斷藍(lán)橋》的拍攝工作，為片中開頭的一個(gè)鏡頭上芭蕾舞課以及練聲課，來提高自己的表演技巧。羅伯特·泰勒最終取代了奧立佛與她演對手戲，這使費(fèi)雯麗憂慮不安，但她與他和睦相處，因?yàn)橐郧霸凇睹绹性谂＝颉分袃扇艘呀?jīng)合作過。

就在1940年的這個(gè)時(shí)刻，利·霍爾曼終于提請離婚。這意味著六個(gè)月后，費(fèi)雯麗就可自由地與奧立佛結(jié)婚。2月29日，一年一度的美國電影學(xué)院獎(jiǎng)在好萊塢的大使旅館舉行。費(fèi)雯麗與奧立佛一起到場，清晨1點(diǎn)，宣布她的名字榮登最佳女演員的榜首。兩個(gè)月后，《亂世佳人》在她的祖國放映，最終在倫敦連續(xù)放了四年。5月，《魂斷藍(lán)橋》在美國問世了，受到良好評價(jià)，評論家們驚奇地看到了這位女演員不同的一面，并不只是郝斯佳的變形?；羧A德·巴尼斯在《紐約先驅(qū)論壇報(bào)》上這樣撰文評價(jià)《魂斷藍(lán)橋》：“不過，現(xiàn)在這一點(diǎn)顯而易見：她的事業(yè)靠的是杰出的才華和非凡的美貌，而絕非她碰上人為安排的好運(yùn)氣，恰好被選中飾演了當(dāng)代最走紅的女主角。事實(shí)上，《亂世佳人》有她加盟才是幸運(yùn)之至。從此事來看，任何影片或任何戲劇演出，多虧有她參加。這是因?yàn)椋@兒有一位女演員，能將鮮明的人物形象所包含的所有魅力與精湛的藝術(shù)表演融合在一起?！?/p>

在《魂斷藍(lán)橋》之后，由奧立佛出任導(dǎo)演和搭檔，費(fèi)雯麗在舞臺(tái)上出演了《羅密歐與朱麗葉》。這一舉措，是考慮到它具有創(chuàng)收的良好潛力——畢竟兩人最近演的電影角色都沒賺多少錢。然而，《羅密歐與朱麗葉》在百老匯并不賣座，只演了35場就收場了。在短暫的夏季休假之后，費(fèi)雯麗返回好萊塢，開始為漢密爾頓夫人這一新角色做準(zhǔn)備，這部電影被公認(rèn)是為美英兩國服務(wù)的合適的宣傳車。經(jīng)過了足夠的時(shí)間，一旦他們兩人的離婚都落實(shí)下來，費(fèi)雯麗和奧立佛終于可以結(jié)婚了。1940年8月31日，結(jié)婚典禮在位于圣·巴巴拉的圣·伊斯德羅大農(nóng)場舉行，由凱瑟琳·赫本當(dāng)伴娘，隨后乘坐男演員羅納爾德·科爾曼的游艇去度蜜月。

9月，新的“奧立佛先生和太太”開始在《那個(gè)漢密爾頓女人》的攝制間里共事。這樣的故事，涉及一個(gè)男人和另一個(gè)男人的妻子在罪孽中同居的事，很難獲準(zhǔn)開拍。但是劇本幾經(jīng)修改后，《那個(gè)漢密爾頓女人》(即《漢密爾頓夫人》)于1941年7月在美國問世。顯然由于費(fèi)雯麗在《亂世佳人》中大獲成功，在影片開頭的字幕上，她的名字排在奧立佛的名字前。不幸的是，這是奧立佛夫婦最后一次在一起拍片。

盡管評論不佳，《那個(gè)漢密爾頓女人》既受到溫斯頓·丘吉爾的青睞，票房收入也頗豐。這段時(shí)期，費(fèi)雯麗的女兒被送至一所新學(xué)校，一直與其祖母格特魯?shù)峦≡诩幽么蟮臏馗缛A。圣誕節(jié)時(shí)，奧立佛夫婦回到了英國的家中。此時(shí)，美國已卷入了戰(zhàn)爭。她沒有加入老維克劇團(tuán)的打算，可轉(zhuǎn)而卻開始《醫(yī)生的困境》的演出，這出戲作了半年的巡回演出，才在1942年3月在倫敦上演。它成功地上演了一年，共演了450多場，到 1943年4月25日才結(jié)束。

到這個(gè)時(shí)候，戰(zhàn)爭已全面鋪開。所以費(fèi)雯麗與好些其他的男演員一起參加了檢閱活動(dòng)，這次活動(dòng)將巡訪北非，為戰(zhàn)爭出力。正當(dāng)他們離開英國時(shí)，她聽到了噩耗：萊斯利·霍華德，與她共演《亂世佳人》的搭檔，在駛離里斯本的飛機(jī)上遭人槍殺。檢閱活動(dòng)繼續(xù)進(jìn)行，每天在好些艦船、航母上及醫(yī)院里，舉行好幾次演出，為駐海外的一線士兵服務(wù)。費(fèi)雯麗一一參與其中，身著郝斯佳式樣的時(shí)裝，表演了各種各樣滑稽劇、詩歌朗誦以及有名的戲劇段子。在8月底，她返回英國時(shí)，偶遇勞倫斯·奧立佛，他正辛苦地拍《亨利五世》的電影版。既然無意重返美國，她簽約了喬治·肖伯納的《埃及艷后》的電影版，該片直到1944年6月才開拍。由于大戰(zhàn)在四面爆發(fā)，拍攝工作異常艱難，布景間宏大而造價(jià)又高，造成了多次的耽擱。影片的對白使情況更糟，這是由于肖伯納的劇本比起當(dāng)時(shí)的時(shí)裝劇和好萊塢的戲要復(fù)雜得多，因此合演的明星們演得有失水準(zhǔn)。9月，費(fèi)雯麗在攝制間猛然摔倒，不久后慘遭流產(chǎn)。這段時(shí)期，也是她從明顯的周期性發(fā)病開始轉(zhuǎn)為狂郁癥——當(dāng)時(shí)這種病既遭到誤解，又難于控制。

（未完待續(xù)）