Image of Vivien Leigh as ‘Scarlett O’Hara,’ from here.
‘Fiddle-dee-dee! War, war, war; this war talk’s spoiling all the fun at every party this spring. I get so bored I could scream. Besides… there isn’t going to be any war.’
Scarlett O’Hara.
There are few movies I love more in life than ‘Gone With the Wind’ (1939). I can quote the majority of the movie I have seen it that much. I went dressed as a dead Scarlett O’Hara at Halloween (Ashley had a enough and shot Scarlett, that was my story!). But this is not a post about Scarlett or the Civil War; it is about the actress who played Scarlett- Vivien Leigh.
As of last week, the V&A have acquired the actress’ archive from Vivien Leigh’s grandchildren. The archive consists of scrapbooks, photo’s, letters and telegrams dating from 1938 until 1967. The archive gives an insight into one of the greatest actresses of the ‘Golden Era’ of Hollywood. One who is synonymous with the character of ‘Scarlett O’Hara’ and ‘Blanche Dubois’ in ‘A Streetcar named Desire.’
The Victoria & Albert museum hope to display some of the archive from Autumn 2013 onwards. It shall be displayed in the Theatre & Performance galleries of the museum. The hope is that Leigh’s personal archive shall depict her varied career and take her away from the ‘shadow’ of Scarlett & Blanche.
[c] The Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
I shall leave you now with one of my favourite clips from Gone With the Wind. It’s also very inspiring!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBAmLm_jYyY