Customer Reviews

Vivien Leigh - Scarlett and Beyond [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a HUGE Vivien Leigh fan, so this biography video was a must have. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the video even if it was short. It contains some home videos and other video shots I had never seen! There are home videos of Vivien as a child, Vivien walking around a rose garden, Larry filming Vivien as they arrive via ship in New York, and there is even a brief interview with Larry & Vivien (lasts about 20 seconds). Otherwise, all the photographs and detailings of her life are general knowledge. The biography is mostly a brief synopsis of her life and career.

On thing about the biography that really bugged me was Jessica Lange. She was off-beat and kept looking to the side (as if someone on the set was distracting her). I believe the only reason Jessica Lange was chosen to host the biography was because of her run as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire. Her performance was often compared to Vivien's.

No matter what, this is definitely a must see for any Vivien Leigh fan.

Everybody knows Vivien's life was depressing, but why make it sadder? The music that was played in this film would make you cry you're eyes out. This movie was good though. It was extremely short. You cannot run through 53 years in 47 minutes. It tells you brief info about Vivien, but shows lots of behind-the-scene stuff and lots of other interesting clips. But what the problem was, was Jessica Lange. Obviously they needed a better host. She talked turning her head from side to side and looked like somebody was distracting her. And when she mentioned sad things, she looked like she was going to crack up. But obviously if you like Vivien Leigh like I do, Buy this. It's very ineresting.

Since I knew very little about Vivien other than her films, this biography was enlightening. I don`t think there is another biographical tape or DVD available, so I had nothing to compare it with. For those like me who have not read any books about her, I think it would be worth while. Lots of movie clips and pictures augment the story.

I believe that this was a well-made movie. Vivien Leigh has set the hearts of many Americans today. She has a heart that no woman or man could have today. When she made Gone with the Wind, it was the best move that she has made. Scarlett is a beautiful young lady who loved a man that had his life based on dreams, and not reality. When Scarlett got married to Rhett, she didn't believe that she actually really loved him but she did....This movie that was made about Vivien Leigh allows you to walk in her shoes, and live a life as she did... So everyone today should here about the greatest epic ever made!

Vivien Leigh died at the early age of 53 and while she was alive was quite often overshadowed by critics because of her beauty and the presence of her husband for 20 years, Laurence Olivier. Fellow artists name her stage Cleopatras(Shakespeare and Shaw) the very best they saw, as with her Lady Macbeth in the production of Macbeth in 1955 co-starring Olivier and directed by John Gielgud. Gielgud: "It`s a thousand pities that it wasn`t filmed"(Producers Korda and Mike Todd both died and Rank wouldn`t back it because of poor returnings after Olivier`s RICHARD III). Vivien also starred in the color film THE DEEP BLUE SEA(1955) with Kenneth More, directed by Anatole Litvak. Some critics suggest it was a good film and one of her very best interpretations. What I would like 2 say is this that this documentary doesn`t give her enough credit. It seems 2 take 2 much time 2 just make a summary of her life. Her involvement with Peter Finch and her mental collapse during ELEPHANT WALK is not mentioned at all. We who love her know it was much more 2 her than a quick rise to stardom(Scarlett)only to slip a few years later as a sick person and Lady Olivier. What many people seem 2 forget is that Laurence Olivier wasn`t doing that much of a career when he met a young Vivien Leigh. I believe it was Vivien`s manic mental state that made him climb the walls in creativity and make such a great career on stage and screen. When they parted in 1960 he became just another actor with his glories left in the past. Yes he was good 2 Vivien professionalwize, but Vivien was also very good 2 him. She kept him on the edge and was a far brighter person than him. She used herself as a wip 2 him and contnually supprorted him. Indeed she went back 2 Britain with him after THAT HAMILTON WOMAN and always made him the centre of her attention. Destructive things?, OK. But this was the case. Seeing Vivien Leigh in her films from 1939 and on is always a raveshing experience. Unless 1 counts ANNA KARENINA. It`s sad 2 see a sick woman in that 1(her energies all gone - u can read my review on it) JESSICA is a good hostess, but it should have been better researched. See my MORE ABOUT ME page about my thoughts of VIVIEN LEIGH