Paulette Goddard's Screen Tests for "Gone With The Wind"

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Күн бұрын

David O. Selznick, with whom Paulette Goddard had signed a contract, liked her work in 'The Young in Heart' and was then thinking of Paulette for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone With The Wind". Screen tests convinced Selznick and the director George Cukor that Paulette would need coaching to be effective in the role, but that she was promising and she was the first actress who made a Technicolor screen test.
Russell Birdwell, who was the head of Selznick's publicity department, didn't like Paulette Goddard. He warned Selznick of the "tremendous avalanche of criticism that will befall us and the picture should Paulette be given this part...I have never known a woman, intent on a career dependent upon her popularity with the masses, to hold and live such an insane and absurd attitude towards the press and her fellow man as does Paulette Goddard...Briefly, I think she is dynamite that will explode in our very faces if she is given the part."
Selznick still showed interest in Paulette for the role of Scarlett. When Vivien Leigh was introduced to him, he wrote to his wife that Vivien was a "dark horse" and that his choice had "narrowed down to Paulette, Jean Arthur, Joan Bennett, and Vivien Leigh".
After they made screen tests with Vivien Leigh that pleased Selznick and Cukor, Selznick cancelled the further tests that should be made for Paulette and the part was given to Leigh. It has been suggested that Paulette lost the part because Selznick feared that questions about her marital status with Charlie Chaplin would cause a scandal. However, Selznick knew that Leigh and Laurence Olivier lived together, as both refused to divorce them. Chaplin's biographer Joyce Milton later wrote that Selznick was worried about issues by signing her to a contract that could cause a conflict with her existing contracts with the Chaplin studio.
This video shows the different screen tests Paulette Goddard did for "Gone With The Wind". If you like my content and you like to see more videos about Old Hollywood, just subscribe to my channel!
Yours, Mary
Video Sources:
"GONE WITH THE WIND Screen Tests for Female Characters":
www.youtube.co....
"Paulette Goddard's screen test as Scarlett O'Hara (Producer's Library copy)":
www.youtube.co....

Пікірлер: 54

@leeann152 6 ай бұрын

Goddards Scarlet was too hard , no innocence and vulnerability.

@JMelissaMc 5 ай бұрын

She looked too old and mature.

@citytrees1752 Жыл бұрын

Paulette is more like Scarlett when she's being herself than when she's acting - more playful and flirtatious.

@tonnasullivan9374 Жыл бұрын

I’m so glad they waited for the right Scarlet. She was good, but Vivian was extraordinary!!

@Im_so_Retro85 3 ай бұрын

Sorry, Paulette looked too old and didn't have that "spoiled, impetuous southern girl" vibe. Viv was born for that part. Absolutely knocked it out of the park.

@ChristieAdamsKangoo 2 ай бұрын

She didn't nail Young Scarlett at all. She looked too worldly. Vivian was able to capture Scarlett's spoiled naivete.

@joannah1887 6 ай бұрын

Paulette Goddard with the right makeup and hair could have easily played Belle but never Scarlett. Vivien Leigh was a naturally refined woman, with good schooling, travel, theatre training; she was ethereal and natural, characteristic only to her. She had flawless skin and coloring, delicate bones, nothing proportionally exaggerated, and the camera loved from any angle... 💙💙💙

@dawnriddle-knowlton9932 5 ай бұрын

Very well said

@ad6417 4 ай бұрын

Finally....someone was able to articulate what was missing. Refinement.....

@dianebadolato2837 9 ай бұрын

Paulette is beautiful but looks too old for the teenage Scarlett Vivien owned that role

@jennifer5512 2 жыл бұрын

Paulette Goddard was very good. Vivien Leigh was obviously the best but Paulette Goddard was #2.

@napndash 4 ай бұрын

Would smash Paulette over Viv 1000%

@RhaegarTargaryen1st 2 жыл бұрын

@1:57 Her "Mammy" is hilarious! 😄

@JohnLong-wt5xj Жыл бұрын

I'm in love with an actress from a hundred years ago.

@nuffzed2001 Жыл бұрын

“Those the odds” as they say

@jamesa.romano8500 Жыл бұрын

Paulette is a fascinating actress and I've felt that ever since watching the documentary which included the footage from her screen test. While its safe to say Vivien was the correct choice, watching the test its clear that Paulette was underestimated by just about everyone and proved herself to be a versatile actress. The fact that she got THAT close to the role, second only to a classically trained actress of Leigh's caliber, speaks volumes. She had spunk and never got the right chance to "prove" herself, even if she received an Oscar nomination later. Also pleasantly surprised to see some footage in here that wasn't included in the documentary

@colliric Жыл бұрын

Paulette masterpieces are The Great Dictator, The Women, The Ghost Breakers and Modern Times. She was also one of the greats from the era.

@DeepScreenAnalysis 10 ай бұрын

Paulette would have been perfect to play Scarlett in later years, but she didn’t have the youthful quality which Vivien brought to it… the epitome of the brat princess. Paulette was too womanly, and Scarlett needed girlishness.

@Squrtile101 6 ай бұрын

She's wonderful in the B&W scene with Ashley. But in the technicolor scene, she is cute and endearing but not present like Vivien Leigh. Viven Leigh had this intoxicating look in her eyes that commanded an audience, something Paullette was lacking.

@youisastar3246 8 ай бұрын

I felt very bad for Scarlett when Paulette said - "I'm sick of them. I'm tired of them." This is one scene where she outdid the impossible Vivien.

@mawamw9000 4 ай бұрын

Thanks god, David O. Selznick made the right choice with giving the role to Vivien Leigh - the one and only Scarlett!

@Mikado8848 2 жыл бұрын

Very good job.

@michaele7880 28 күн бұрын

Jeffrey Flynn looked more like the man Scarlett would be besotted with than Leslie Howard.

@christopherraven Жыл бұрын

Wow. She was truly great. Why wasn't she a HUGE star?

@ssjjggjj5561 3 ай бұрын

She was with Charlie Chaplin and it was never entirely sure whether they were married or living together or common law. Back in that day that was a huge detriment to a career.

@paulamiles9559 Жыл бұрын

Paulette is an exacting technician in her craft. I guess when you're married to Chaplin....

@renatoespinoza8792 Жыл бұрын

Paulette and Vivien look really alike! Maybe that's why they choose her.

@vmtz2001 2 жыл бұрын

Damn they cut that scene with Jeffrey Linn just before the best part!!! It’s where she kisses him and she says “Say jt, say you love me” It’s her best acting ever. He pulls her away and she gets this mischievous smile of satisfaction. The most raw sensuality ever. WTF!!!!

@viniciuspereira1608 Жыл бұрын

specifically what minute of the movie does this scene have?

@ladylin1992 Жыл бұрын

Jeffrey Linn was a nice piece of you know what. Could at least understand why Scarlet would chase him for so many years. He was FINE af

@Garsons-oq4lh 11 ай бұрын

@@ladylin1992Lynn

@DeepScreenAnalysis 10 ай бұрын

Jeffrey Lynn should have been cast instead of Leslie Howard.

@jeffreyglenn3193 Жыл бұрын

It's not even close, Vivien by a mile.

@lisab8334 2 ай бұрын

I love Paulette, but Vivenne was Scarlett and Scarlett was Vivenne. Period.

@laurawilde4784 6 ай бұрын

No need for rudeness Cukor!

@JMelissaMc 5 ай бұрын

It's called instruction!

@debfurey6364 5 ай бұрын

She was pretty, but i dont like her voice, Vivien Leigh, prettier and a much better Scarlett!!!

@carlwalsh7944 8 ай бұрын

I never liked Vivien Leigh--to my mind, Paulette Goddard was just perfect. Even these few clips are magnificent.

@annstillwell730 Жыл бұрын

Only 2 other ladies came close to Vivian Leigh....Paulette Goddard and Betty Davis. I think Leigh was the best choice certainly.

@bettyboop3726 11 ай бұрын

Vivien Leigh had class, Paulette did not. On dirait une paysanne endimanchée.

@ryanscottlogan8459 Жыл бұрын

She looked too old for the role.

@leewatson2102 Жыл бұрын

Nope never could have been the true Scarlett

@vicsaul5459 6 ай бұрын

She would have made a great Scarlett, her natural beauty was just radiant in Modern Times . Great personality and dancer too. 💃

@LisaAnne107 6 ай бұрын

All I can say is I'm glad that Vivian Leigh came along. She was the perfect Scarlett. Paulette Goddard was a little too old for the part and not as beautiful or talented as Vivian Leigh.

@user-oh5uq8kg1l 9 ай бұрын

Paulette would've made a great Mammy! 😆😉

@Heres_Johnny. 5 ай бұрын

She was a fantastic actress.

@Lommy9999 6 ай бұрын

Naomi Watts looks a lot like her.

@Tymie 9 ай бұрын

Of course ol' Viv was just great. But I do blame her for the ridiculousness of Movie Southern Accents that culminated in the likes of the lovely and great but daft Kevin Spacey. And right here you can see and hear Paulette Goddard do it even better than Alabamian Tallulah Bankhead.