After the international success of "Gone With the Wind", Vivien became a huge star in Hollywood. Her next big role was in a drama "Waterloo Bridge" in 1940. along side Robert Taylor (Figure 8). The film was very popular among the public and the critics as well, and Vivien often cited it as her favourite. At that time, Vivien had already got into a huge fight with her former director David Selznick who refused to give her the main role in a movie "Rebecca", which was to be directed by Alfred Hitchcock with Laurence Olivier in the leading role. Selznick stated that "she doesn't seem right as to sincerity or age or innocence", and that she had shown no enthusiasm to play the role until Olivier was cast as a main actor. Selznick later refused once again to allow her to join her husband in "Pride and Prejudice", and after that, he and his former star were no longer in a friendly relationship.
Street Car Named Desire
Because of her short life she had made fewer than twenty films in her career including: Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), Anna Karenina (1948), The Deep Blue See (1955) and Ship of Fools (1965), which was, unfortunately, her last one. But her most famous role after Scarlett O’Hara was the role of Blanche DuBois in a Hollywood hit Street Car Named Desire in 1951. alongside Marlon Brando. She had played the role of Blanche on stage back in 1949. in "Aldwych Theatre". The play was directed by Laurence Olivier who said that she had done a magnificent job in portraying such a complex character. After 326 performances, she finally had to chance to play the role on screen, but she had problems in communicating with the director Elia Kazan, who had favored other actress over Vivien to play in the film. At first he was skeptical that she lacked talent, but later claimed that he became "full of admiration" for "the greatest determination to excel of any actress I've known. " She'd have crawled over broken glass if she thought it would help her performance. Vivien won her second Oscar for the role of Blanche as well as BAFTA award and a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. She later said that she hated her character stating: " It tipped me over into madness".
Because of her short life she had made fewer than twenty films in her career including: Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), Anna Karenina (1948), The Deep Blue See (1955) and Ship of Fools (1965), which was, unfortunately, her last one. But her most famous role after Scarlett O’Hara was the role of Blanche DuBois in a Hollywood hit Street Car Named Desire in 1951. alongside Marlon Brando. She had played the role of Blanche on stage back in 1949. in "Aldwych Theatre". The play was directed by Laurence Olivier who said that she had done a magnificent job in portraying such a complex character. After 326 performances, she finally had to chance to play the role on screen, but she had problems in communicating with the director Elia Kazan, who had favored other actress over Vivien to play in the film. At first he was skeptical that she lacked talent, but later claimed that he became "full of admiration" for "the greatest determination to excel of any actress I've known. " She'd have crawled over broken glass if she thought it would help her performance. Vivien won her second Oscar for the role of Blanche as well as BAFTA award and a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. She later said that she hated her character stating: " It tipped me over into madness".