{"id":109804,"date":"2015-11-05T12:07:26","date_gmt":"2015-11-05T17:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=109804"},"modified":"2023-06-06T21:47:01","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T01:47:01","slug":"happy-birthday-vivien-leigh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=109804","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday, Vivien Leigh"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nVivien Leigh in “The Mask of Virtue,” the West End production that made her a sensation in 1935<\/i><\/p>\n

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\nReview of “The Mask of Virtue,” calling out Leigh’s performance<\/i><\/p>\n

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\nVivien Leigh, again, in “The Mask of Virtue”<\/i><\/p>\n

4 years before Gone With the Wind<\/i>, which introduced Vivien Leigh to the world, she was plucked out of obscurity in London for a production of The Mask of Virtue<\/i>, in which she played a small but important role. <\/p>\n

Vivien was totally green as an actress, naive, but she captivated people in her audition. There was something about her<\/i>, that was obvious, something appealing, and her beauty was the kind that stopped you in your tracks.<\/p>\n

The general consensus was that they should cast her, even though they thought her voice was awful. It needed work. They worked with her on it rigorously. She was an apt pupil (something important to remember about her, as the excerpt below will show). <\/p>\n

Vivien Leigh had an unhappy life, in many respects, and she was tortured by insecurity and fragility, and the details are well-known so no need to go over that here. But what she had, as an actress, was not just beauty and talent (although she had those too), but a willingness to learn<\/i>, to try to rise to the challenge, even if that process was somewhat embarrassing at first (as it often is, even with great actors). You don’t get it “right” immediately, even if you are cast well. <\/p>\n

Along those lines as an example: Sidney Lumet tells some great stories about directing Katharine Hepburn in Long Day’s Journey<\/i>. She was a legend at that point, and he was young. From the first day, she set out to test him, seeing how much she could get away with. A common thing with huge stars and newbie directors. She insisted that the first reading be at her house. She had set a table, and placed herself at the head. Lumet knew that it was a defining moment, and so he said, “I prefer to sit at the head of the table.” Hepburn, a tough old warhorse, respected his mettle, and conceded that ground. Respect must be earned, you see. But one of the stories I really love, that will connect to Leigh, is that during the first read-through, everything was going along nicely (or so Lumet thought). He was overwhelmed by the cast at that table, and the three men were open to his input on this or that moment. He wasn’t sure about Hepburn, though. Would she even allow him to give her direction. Maybe 3\/4s of the way through the script reading, there was a pause, and Hepburn said, in a small voice, from her corner of the table, “Help??” It is a huge thing for an actress of her stature and caliber to admit she needs help (and that was actually one of her qualities that helped her be what she was. She accepted help from Hawks to get the screwball vibe for Bringing Up Baby<\/i>. She forced herself to go on tour with a Shakespeare production because she was afraid of doing it. And etc.)<\/p>\n

SO. Recognizing that you are not “all that,” even when you are a big star, is a huge deal. But it’s difficult, too, for younger actors. Younger actors, surrounded by professionals, can get intimidated and shut down. Or, worse, defensive. Or, even worse, they try to rise to the occasion, but are unable to do so. Or, even worse worse, they don’t even realize they need help<\/i>. It’s a common thing with young inexperienced actors. <\/p>\n

Vivien Leigh was different. She accepted all the help she could get. She allowed them to say to her her voice was bad, and she worked hard to overcome it, doing everything they told her. She knew she couldn’t compete with her experienced co-stars, and so she asked questions, accepted their help and guidance, rejected none<\/i> of it. She was on the verge of being fired at all times because her performance was not up to snuff. And she knew it. People were helpful, but at some point the show might have had to go on without her. A terrifying situation, one that would sink many an experienced actress. And there was rapid<\/i> improvement during the rehearsal process. Once she started learning, she couldn’t stop. And she altered her “instrument” to such a degree that it was able to fill up the theatre, play the role, and actually BE on that stage with those veterans. <\/p>\n

And who dominated the good press when it opened? Vivien Leigh. <\/p>\n

The excerpt below from a biography of Vivien Leigh talks in detail about that process for Leigh, and I find it so admirable. Imagine being told “Your voice is terrible” and NOT shutting down emotionally\/physically about it. Imagine nodding your head and knowing you needed to improve. Imagine being surrounded by people who are frustrated with your performance. And then imagine sticking to it and figuring it out. It’s such an important quality to have for any successful person. Leigh would face that again and again in her career, but it was there from the start. I might even say you either have it or you don’t. It’s a character<\/i> thing.<\/p>\n

Excerpt from Vivien: The Life of Vivien Leigh<\/a><\/i>, by Alexander Walker:<\/big><\/p>\n

She also had a realistic view of her own limitations and this, as well as Sydney Carroll\u2019s obvious fondness for her company, probably reprieved her in those first few weeks of rehearsals for The Mask of Virtue. It was a small cast: Lady Tree, Jeanne de Casalis and Frank Cellier (as the Marquis) were all accomplished players. Vivien was a tremulous beginner. They took pity on her. The play\u2019s construction as a chamber drama fostered a working intimacy between them all. They generously guided Vivien through the passages where her inexperience was shown up painfully. For two-thirds of the way, her role was relatively straightforward, personifying the putative chastity and purity that are used as bait for the nobleman; but the last third, when her duplicity is exposed, was much more taxing. Prostrating herself before the angry man, who is threatening to shoot her, she has both to beg forgiveness and declare that her love for him is genuine.<\/p>\n

The intelligence with which she read her lines might well have seen her through, but the muted appeal of her naturally small voice caused the audience to come to her, to lean towards her, so to speak, so as not to miss a word. Almost without trying, she invited them into her confidence, thus concentrating their attention, while those virginal looks which had perturbed the play\u2019s producers excited their sympathy.<\/p>\n

In later years, however, Vivien was the first to admit that she had been very lucky in the direction she received from Maxwell Wray and her fellow players.<\/p>\n

\u2018Every day during the three-week rehearsal they nearly fired me because I was so awful. I remember someone saying at the Ivy restaurant: \u201cShe\u2019ll have to go \u2013 she is terrible.\u201d I was lucky enough to wear a lovely pink dress, a lovely black dress and a wonderful nightdress \u2026 but I didn\u2019t know what to do \u2026 One of the women in the play had to say to me, \u201cI shall not make many demands on you,\u201d and I said, \u201cNot more than the gentleman, I\u2019m sure,\u201d and it brought the house down and I never knew why. I was that much of an ass. I suppose, though, I must have had some sort of timing to get the laugh.\u2019<\/p>\n

That was the naive side of Vivien, which some of her school friends had noticed: oddly, although she had a notable sense of often randy humour, she kept her professional innocence for quite a time \u2013 as one of her later films was to show.<\/p>\n

Those who knew Vivien best have given accounts which suggest that her part in the play was a triumph of personality over performance \u2013 allied to the expectancy that Sydney Carroll had created over the preceding weeks. John Gliddon was present. \u2018The play itself wasn\u2019t of much interest. But Vivien charmed everyone. The second act curtain went up and there she sat as the prostitute charming the old man. She charmed the whole audience. You could feel her charm come over the footlights.\u2019 Oswald Frewen agreed, though he waited for a week or so before going to see \u2018the Vivling\u2019, as he affectionately nicknamed the \u2018dear little creature\u2019. He found her deficient in exposing her own frailties \u2013 \u2018She had to cry two times and she could not do so convincingly, looking merely bored \u2013 or even asleep! \u2013 when she laid her head on the table to weep.\u2019 But he found her \u2018natural sweetness and loveliness\u2019 coming across strongly \u2013 and so, apparently, did everyone else.<\/p>\n

By the end of the evening, the promise that Sydney Carroll had hyped, to use a modern idiom, had been converted into what Harol Conway, the Daily Mail\u2018s theatre critic, called the next morning, \u2018one of the biggest personal ovations a newcomer has had on the London stage for quite a long time.\u2019<\/p>\n

The following forty-eight hours gave shape to Vivien\u2019s fortunes and ambitions for years to come. Her parents and her husband had been in the first-night audience on 15 May 1935, and all of them, accompanied by friends, made up a table at the Florida, a fashionable night-club, until the first editions came off the Fleet Street presses. Vivien didn\u2019t need to strain her eyes in the dim lights of the night-club in order to discern her triumph \u2013 it was writ in headlines. The critics praised her without exception and the reporters succeeded in extracting a news angle from her \u2018discovery,\u2019 so that it ran both in the review columns and on the news pages. A very powerful combination.<\/p>\n

\u2018New 19-year-old Star,\u2019 cried the Daily Mail. Harold Conway hadn\u2019t waited for his enthusiasm to cool. He had gone straight to Vivien\u2019s dressing-room to report (and create) the phenomenon. \u2018A new young British star \u2026 arose on the British stage last night with a spectacular suddenness which set playgoers cheering with surprised delight \u2026 In a difficult leading costume role, her exceptional beauty and assured acting set the experienced first-night audience excitedly asking each other who this unknown actress was.\u2019 The praise in the other papers was pervasive and unanimous. A sense of exhilaration was created by headlines and sub-heads like \u2018New Star to Win All London\u2019 \u2026 \u2018Young Actress\u2019s Triumph\u2019 \u2026 \u2018Actress Is a Discovery\u2019.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\nVivien Leigh in “A Streetcar Named Desire”<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vivien Leigh in “The Mask of Virtue,” the West End production that made her a sensation in 1935 Review of “The Mask of Virtue,” calling out Leigh’s performance Vivien Leigh, again, in “The Mask of Virtue” 4 years before Gone … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,39],"tags":[190,763],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109804"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109804"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":186925,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109804\/revisions\/186925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}