Vivien Leigh would’ve celebrated her 105th birthday on November 5, 2018. The two-time Oscar inner made only a handful of films before her untimely death in 1967 at the age of 53. Yet several of those titles remain classics. In honor of her birthday, let’s take a look back at 10 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in British India, Leigh appeared in a number of roles on both the stage and screen in England, including a production of “Hamlet” opposite her husband, Laurence Olivier.
She came to international attention after landing the coveted role of Scarlet O’Hara in David O. Selznick’s massive adaptation of Margaret Mitchell‘s bestseller “Gone with the Wind” (1939). Leigh was far from the first choice to embody the headstrong Southern belle who pines after a married man (Leslie Howard) while wedding another (Clark Gable) against the backdrop of the Civil War. Yet the...
Born in British India, Leigh appeared in a number of roles on both the stage and screen in England, including a production of “Hamlet” opposite her husband, Laurence Olivier.
She came to international attention after landing the coveted role of Scarlet O’Hara in David O. Selznick’s massive adaptation of Margaret Mitchell‘s bestseller “Gone with the Wind” (1939). Leigh was far from the first choice to embody the headstrong Southern belle who pines after a married man (Leslie Howard) while wedding another (Clark Gable) against the backdrop of the Civil War. Yet the...
- 11/5/2018
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this episode, David and Trevor discuss Eclipse Series 20: George Bernard Shaw on Film.
About the films:
The hugely influential, Nobel Prize–winning critic and playwright George Bernard Shaw was notoriously reluctant to allow his writing to be adapted for the cinema. Yet thanks to the persistence of Hungarian producer Gabriel Pascal, Shaw finally agreed to collaborate on a series of screen versions of his witty, socially minded plays, starting with the Oscar-winning Pygmalion. The three other films that resulted from this famed alliance, Major Barbara, Caesar and Cleopatra, and Androcles and the Lion, long overshadowed by the sensation of Pygmalion, are gathered here for the first time on DVD. These clever, handsomely mounted entertainments star...
About the films:
The hugely influential, Nobel Prize–winning critic and playwright George Bernard Shaw was notoriously reluctant to allow his writing to be adapted for the cinema. Yet thanks to the persistence of Hungarian producer Gabriel Pascal, Shaw finally agreed to collaborate on a series of screen versions of his witty, socially minded plays, starting with the Oscar-winning Pygmalion. The three other films that resulted from this famed alliance, Major Barbara, Caesar and Cleopatra, and Androcles and the Lion, long overshadowed by the sensation of Pygmalion, are gathered here for the first time on DVD. These clever, handsomely mounted entertainments star...
- 8/30/2016
- by David Blakeslee
- CriterionCast
Bay Street Theater has justannounced that My Fair Lady will be extended through September 4 due to popular demand. The classic musical has book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. It is based on the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw and Gabriel Pascal's motion picture. The production is directed by Michael Arden, Tony Award nominee and Outer Critics Circle Award-winner for Best Director of a Musical for the Broadway revival of Spring Awakening. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the starry cast onstage below...
- 8/9/2016
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Bay Street Theater has announcedMY Fair Lady, Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, Music by Frederick Loewe, Based onPygmalionby George Bernard Shaw amp Gabriel Pascal's motion picture, and Directed by Michael Arden, Tony Award nominee and Outer Critics Circle Award-winner for Best Director of a Musical for the Broadway revival ofSpring Awakeningis now in rehearsals in NYC.My Fair LADYwill runAugust 2 - 28. Check out photos below...
- 7/11/2016
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Bay Street Theater has announced the full cast and creative team ofMY Fair Lady, Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, Music by Frederick Loewe, Based onPygmalionby George Bernard Shaw amp Gabriel Pascal's motion picture, and Directed by Michael Arden, Tony Award nominee and Outer Critics Circle Award-winner for Best Director of a Musical for the Broadway revival ofSpring Awakening.My Fair LADYwill runAugust 2 - 28.
- 6/28/2016
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Bay Street Theater has announced some of the principal cast ofMY Fair Lady, Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, Music by Frederick Loewe, Based onPygmalionby George Bernard Shaw amp Gabriel Pascal's motion picture, and Directed by Michael Arden, Tony Award nominee and Outer Critics Circle Award winner for Best Director of a Musical for the Broadway revival of...
- 5/19/2016
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
'Henry V' Movie Actress Renée Asherson dead at 99: Laurence Olivier leading lady in acclaimed 1944 film (image: Renée Asherson and Laurence Olivier in 'Henry V') Renée Asherson, a British stage actress featured in London productions of A Streetcar Named Desire and Three Sisters, but best known internationally as Laurence Olivier's leading lady in the 1944 film version of Henry V, died on October 30, 2014. Asherson was 99 years old. The exact cause of death hasn't been specified. She was born Dorothy Renée Ascherson (she would drop the "c" some time after becoming an actress) on May 19, 1915, in Kensington, London, to Jewish parents: businessman Charles Ascherson and his second wife, Dorothy Wiseman -- both of whom narrowly escaped spending their honeymoon aboard the Titanic. (Ascherson cancelled the voyage after suffering an attack of appendicitis.) According to Michael Coveney's The Guardian obit for the actress, Renée Asherson was "scantly...
- 11/5/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Vivien Leigh: Legendary ‘Gone with the Wind’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ star would have turned 100 today Vivien Leigh was perhaps the greatest film star that hardly ever was. What I mean is that following her starring role in the 1939 Civil War blockbuster Gone with the Wind, Leigh was featured in a mere eight* movies over the course of the next 25 years. The theater world’s gain — she was kept busy on the London stage — was the film world’s loss. But even if Leigh had starred in only two movies — Gone with the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire — that would have been enough to make her a screen legend; one who would have turned 100 years old today, November 5, 2013. (Photo: Vivien Leigh ca. 1940.) Vivien Leigh (born Vivian Mary Hartley to British parents in Darjeeling, India) began her film career in the mid-’30s, playing bit roles in British...
- 11/6/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Turner Classic Movies' look at Arabs in Hollywood movies continues this evening with six movies. Why exactly Gabriel Pascal's film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) is one of the six, I don't know. Caesar was a Roman-born emperor; Cleopatra, a descendant of Greek royalty, was an Egyptian queen long before the Arab conquest of Egypt. Now, I may be puzzled about its inclusion, but Caesar and Cleopatra is very much worth watching chiefly thanks to Claude Rains' brilliant performance as the first half of the title role and Vivien Leigh's highly theatrical but enjoyable star turn as the second half of the title role. Kismet (1944) would have been more enjoyable had it been directed by Henry Hathaway, Michael Curtiz, Frank Lloyd, or even Lloyd Bacon. William Dieterle, best known for several ponderous Warner Bros. biopics of the '30s, had a heavy hand...
- 7/20/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Hamlet Star of the Month Jean Simmons is back on Turner Classic Movies this Tuesday evening, with five more films. Like last week, these are all from Simmons' British period: Trio, featuring three stories by W. Somerset Maugham; the thriller So Long at the Fair; Adam and Evelyne, which paired Simmons with future husband Stewart Granger; Laurence Olivier's Best Picture Oscar winner Hamlet; and Gabriel Pascal's film version of George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra. In Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) Simmons has what amounts to a bit part as a harp player. Claude Rains and Vivien Leigh are the capable [...]...
- 6/15/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
It’s that time of the week when you want to sit back, relax a bit and throw on something new and exciting. Well, you’ve come to the right place. It’s the second week in this Hulu Plus excursion, and I’ve had a blast with it. A lot of Daily Show, Colbert Report and Kitchen Nightmares intake in the last week. I can’t help but love my politically minded comedy and angry chef shows. But I digress.
This last week there was a ton of new content from Criterion put onto Hulu Plus. A wonderful array of films and a ton of supplemental material from certain films, which I will yet again break down for all of you, and the links will be within, so you don’t even have to search for them. We here at the Criterion Cast aim to please.
When the first...
This last week there was a ton of new content from Criterion put onto Hulu Plus. A wonderful array of films and a ton of supplemental material from certain films, which I will yet again break down for all of you, and the links will be within, so you don’t even have to search for them. We here at the Criterion Cast aim to please.
When the first...
- 5/8/2011
- by James McCormick
- CriterionCast
Vivien Leigh, Anna Karenina Turner Classic Movies' Vivien Leigh series comes to a close on Tuesday, Sept. 28, with four movies from Leigh's post-Gone with the Wind period, in addition to a rerun of Gene Feldman's 1990 documentary Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond, narrated by Jessica Lange. TCM's four last Leigh movies are José Quintero's The Roman Springs of Mrs. Stone (1961), Julien Duvivier's Anna Karenina (1948), Gabriel Pascal's Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), and Stanley Kramer's Ship of Fools (1965). All are worth watching for various reasons, Vivien Leigh's presence chief among them, but I'd say that only Duvivier's Anna Karenina is a truly good film (though it sure has its detractors). Based on a work by Tennessee Williams, The Roman Springs of Mrs. Stone deals with a theme much beloved by the playwright: an aging woman whose sexual urges drive her to do something not exactly bright.
- 9/28/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
I shall have many young kings with round, strong arms.
And when I am tired of them, I shall whip them to death.
Last week, controversy developed over reports that Angelina Jolie has been cast to take the lead role in a biopic about Cleopatra, the historical Queen of Egypt whose reputation over the centuries has developed to nearly legendary proportions. While I think Ms. Jolie has the perfect blend of beauty, attitude and screen presence to pull off a job that’s served as a platform for silver screen goddesses of decades past, critics take issue with the fact that a Caucasian woman is once again being awarded the opportunity to play one of history’s most noteworthy African female characters. Despite the legitimate argument that Cleopatra’s lineage included European ancestors, I understand the sensitivity of their concern. Similar objections have been voiced about the upcoming The Last Airbender,...
And when I am tired of them, I shall whip them to death.
Last week, controversy developed over reports that Angelina Jolie has been cast to take the lead role in a biopic about Cleopatra, the historical Queen of Egypt whose reputation over the centuries has developed to nearly legendary proportions. While I think Ms. Jolie has the perfect blend of beauty, attitude and screen presence to pull off a job that’s served as a platform for silver screen goddesses of decades past, critics take issue with the fact that a Caucasian woman is once again being awarded the opportunity to play one of history’s most noteworthy African female characters. Despite the legitimate argument that Cleopatra’s lineage included European ancestors, I understand the sensitivity of their concern. Similar objections have been voiced about the upcoming The Last Airbender,...
- 6/22/2010
- by David Blakeslee
- CriterionCast
Producer, director and cinematographer of many well-loved British film classics, including Oliver Twist, Tunes of Glory and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
The producer, director, writer and cinematographer Ronald Neame, who has died aged 99, played an important role in British cinema for more than half a century. The critic Matthew Sweet once called him "a living embodiment of cinema, a sort of one-man world heritage site". Neame was assistant director to Alfred Hitchcock on Blackmail (1929), the first British talkie; he was the cinematographer on In Which We Serve (1942), Noël Coward's moving tribute to the Royal Navy during the second world war; he co-produced and co-wrote David Lean's Brief Encounter (1945) and Great Expectations (1946); and he directed Alec Guinness in two of his best roles, in The Horse's Mouth (1958) and Tunes of Glory (1960). As if this wasn't enough, Neame also conquered Hollywoo d with one of the first and most successful disaster movies,...
The producer, director, writer and cinematographer Ronald Neame, who has died aged 99, played an important role in British cinema for more than half a century. The critic Matthew Sweet once called him "a living embodiment of cinema, a sort of one-man world heritage site". Neame was assistant director to Alfred Hitchcock on Blackmail (1929), the first British talkie; he was the cinematographer on In Which We Serve (1942), Noël Coward's moving tribute to the Royal Navy during the second world war; he co-produced and co-wrote David Lean's Brief Encounter (1945) and Great Expectations (1946); and he directed Alec Guinness in two of his best roles, in The Horse's Mouth (1958) and Tunes of Glory (1960). As if this wasn't enough, Neame also conquered Hollywoo d with one of the first and most successful disaster movies,...
- 6/20/2010
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
She’s a leading lady amongst Hollywood royalty, but Angelina Jolie may be adding another crown to her head. Stacy Schiff’s book “Cleopatra: A Life” has been optioned for a film adaptation, with Jolie in talks for the title role.
USA Today reports that Schiff and Little Brown publisher Michael Pietsch revealed earlier this week that producer Scott Rudin had purchased the rights to the biography, with Jolie in mind for the starring role. Rudin’s office has confirmed that the project is in development and “is being developed for and with Jolie.”
Although there is little else is known about the film the author has already given her preferences as to who should play Jolie’s on-screen lover:
Schiff says Jolie fills the bill. “Physically, she’s the perfect look,” she says. Brad Pitt is a no-brainer for Mark Antony. Juilus Caesar? That one had Schiff temporarily stumped.
USA Today reports that Schiff and Little Brown publisher Michael Pietsch revealed earlier this week that producer Scott Rudin had purchased the rights to the biography, with Jolie in mind for the starring role. Rudin’s office has confirmed that the project is in development and “is being developed for and with Jolie.”
Although there is little else is known about the film the author has already given her preferences as to who should play Jolie’s on-screen lover:
Schiff says Jolie fills the bill. “Physically, she’s the perfect look,” she says. Brad Pitt is a no-brainer for Mark Antony. Juilus Caesar? That one had Schiff temporarily stumped.
- 6/13/2010
- by Josephine Mangani
- The Film Stage
Leslie Howard, Wendy Hiller Pygmalion George Bernard Shaw is tonight’s star on Turner Classic Movies. Major Barbara (1941), directed by Gabriel Pascal, and starring Rex Harrison and Wendy Hiller, is on right now. I’ve watched it a couple of times, but I haven’t been able to really get into it. Even so, I thoroughly enjoyed both Robert Morley and Marie Lohr in supporting roles. Also of note, Deborah Kerr has what amounts to a bit part. The highly theatrical Caesar And Cleopatra (1945) offers two solid performances — Claude Rains as Caesar; Vivien Leigh as Cleopatra (right) — while Pygmalion (1938), co-directed by Anthony Asquith and Leslie Howard, is considered the best film adaptation of a Shaw play. Wendy Hiller, for her [...]...
- 4/16/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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