Stone Cold

A cautionary tale.

Forever And A Day

Gene Tierney in Dragonwyck (20th Century Fox, 1946)

"The most exciting news is that Gene Tierney is to have the lead in Forever Amber at 20th. I read the book on the way to New York. 20th will have to do a lot of censoring..." -- Louella Parsons' column, November 28, 1944

"Although the start of Forever Amber at 20th Century Fox is quite some time away, the studio's costume department has already started to work on its end of the picture, and from this source comes the information that the wardrobe for the ambitious and romantic heroine is being made to fit Gene Tierney." -- Fred Stanley, The New York Times, December 3, 1944

"Gene Tierney is practically a sure bet to play Amber in Forever Amber..." -- Sheila Graham's column, October 21, 1945

Gene Tierney in Heaven Can Wait (20th Century Fox, 1943)

"Peggy Cummins, the British babe, is the 36th tested by 20th Century Fox for the title role of the girl with the one-track mind in Forever Amber. About 60 will be tried out before a selection is made. Producer William Perlberg says he wants an unknown for the role, since the picture obviously will make the girl a star..." -- Bob Thomas' column, October 29, 1945

Peggy Cummins, 20th Century Fox makeup and hairstyle test

"Miss Peggy Cummins, 19, five feet tall, blond, delicately pretty and chalky-faced, was carrying a thick script under her arm. The title of the script was obliterated with black pencil, but Page 1 started off with (we practically had to twist her arm to get a peek) 'Amber looks into a mirror...' But Peggy would confess to nothing except that a 20th Century Fox talent scout saw her on the London stage and shipped her off, a month ago, to Hollywood for 'tests.'" -- Erskine Johnson's column, November 16, 1945

"Gene Tierney Wants Lead In Movie Forever Amber... Miss Tierney said, 'I'd dye my hair sky blue or pink to play Amber.'" -- Earl Wilson's column, December 6, 1945

Gene Tierney in A Bell For Adano (20th Century Fox, 1945)

"Am nearly as sure as death and taxes that next year at this time I won't have to be explaining to you who Peggy Cummins is because her name will be known the length and breadth of the land...As I was the first to tell my readers that Vivien Leigh was chosen as Scarlett, I'll tell you now -- Peggy will play Amber." -- Louella Parsons' column, December 30, 1945

"A blonde, Welsh-born Irish girl of 19 named Peggy Cummins will play the lead in the film version of Forever Amber...Peggy's success as the uninhibited Amber will be a tribute to her acting ability...She has a small, elfin face and appears less like Amber than Alice in Wonderland..." -- Associated Press, January 14, 1946

Peggy Cummins, 1944

"When Peggy Cummins was selected to play the title role in Forever Amber, she undoubtedly felt herself a very lucky girl...But I wonder if this young English girl is so lucky after all?...The title role in Forever Amber is a tremendous responsibility, particularly for an unknown actress. Miss Cummins will be fortunate, indeed, if the release of the film doesn't make her forever unknown." -- Jimmy Fidler's column, February 21, 1946

Peggy Cummins in the aborted version of Forever Amber (20th Century Fox, unreleased)

"20th Century Fox has suspended filming of Forever Amber, because it has 'failed to measure up to standards,' and Peggy Cummins may be out as the star of the picture..." -- United Press, May 1, 1946

"Peggy Cummins was reported to be ill at her home following the climax of one of the weirdest and most costly producing debacles in Hollywood history...It was disclosed by studio sources that, when the script is rewritten and a new start made on the picture, Miss Cummins will be replaced by another actress..." -- Harold Heffernan, North American Newspaper Alliance, May 1, 1946

"Don't count Peggy Cummins out of Forever Amber yet...'The picture will be started again in September,' she said, 'and as far as I know, I am going to play Amber.' This despite the fact that Gene Tierney, Vivien Leigh, Susan Hayward, Lana Turner and others have been rumored for the role." -- Bob Thomas' column, July 11, 1946

Gene Tierney in Dragonwyck (20th Century Fox, 1946)

Vivien Leigh in That Hamilton Woman (United Artists,1941)

Susan Hayward in Reap the Wild Wind (Paramount, 1942)

Lana Turner in Honky Tonk (MGM, 1941)

"Linda Darnell today replaced Peggy Cummins in the title role in Forever Amber...After years of playing demure leads, [Darnell] rebelled and asked for stronger roles, even if they meant she would not get top billing. Her campaign finally resulted in her selection for the part of Amber." -- United Press, July 24, 1946

Linda Darnell in Hangover Square (20th Century Fox, 1945)

"First big picture to feel the effects of the technicians' surprise walkout would have to be, of course, none but your old friend, much-harrassed Forever Amber. This much-jinxed affair, called off after its first 35 day start with Peggy Cummins and a cost close to $500,000 may roll up a mishap record of some sort...They say Linda Darnell, with her hair all tinted blonde for Amber, is growing pretty fat while waiting around." -- Harold Heffernan, North American Newspaper Alliance, November 2, 1946

Costume test for Forever Amber (20th Century Fox, 1947)

"The troubles that have beset the filming of Forever Amber apparently aren't over. Linda Darnell, who succeeded Peggy Cummins in the title role, went to bed yesterday with a cold and a temperature of 101. The studio announced the production was off until her return." -- Associated Press, November 12, 1946

Linda Darnell in Forever Amber (20th Century Fox, 1947)

"'I've got news for you, honey. They've taken all the sex out of Forever Amber,' Linda Darnell told me just before she boarded a plane for three month vacation...'Really, honey,' she said, '[the censors] wouldn't let me do a thing. I didn't even see a bedroom, let alone a bed. They raised the neckline of all my dresses a couple of inches. The other girls in the picture show more than I do. That shadow you'll see following me around in the picture was made by a censor.'" -- Erskine Johnson's column, May 24, 1947

Thank you, joel65913, for the suggestion!

Walk On The Wild Side

Dana Andrews, Vivien Leigh and Peter Finch prepare to leave London to film on location in Ceylon, January 26, 1953

"Vivien Leigh is in Hollywood to complete her role in Elephant Walk, for which exteriors were filmed in Ceylon. When I saw her on the set, she was happily poring over a 10-page handwritten letter from her husband, Laurence Olivier..." -- Bob Thomas' column, March 6, 1953

"Vivien Leigh is dropping out of the movie Elephant Walk, and will return to England...Her studio said yesterday she was quitting the picture because of an acute nervous breakdown." -- Associated Press, March 18, 1953

Covered by a sheet, Vivien Leigh is carried aboard a plane on a stretcher, following her breakdown in Los Angeles, March 18, 1953

"If you want to take pictures of Miss Leigh, please don't get too close to her. I would appreciate it if none of you attempted to question her. She is ill. She might get frightened." -- Laurence Olivier to the assemblage of press meeting their airplane, March 19, 1953

"Screen star Vivien Leigh, hysterical when she boarded a plane in New York yesterday, stepped blithely out of it today, smiling happily...Somewhere over the Atlantic, she had made a remarkable -- if only temporary -- recovery from a nervous breakdown...Weeping hysterically, Miss Leigh had been put on the plane in New York's Idewild International Airport yesterday by Laurence Olivier and their friend, Danny Kaye..." -- Robert Musel for the United Press, March 20, 1953

Original wire photo caption: "3/19/53...Smiling, though obviously ill, actress Vivien Leigh is pictured with husband Sir Laurence Olivier on arrival in New York today from Los Angeles, en route to London. Suffering from a 'complete nervous breakdown,' the actress was carried into her plane last night on a stretcher."

"There will be two stars playing the same role now that Liz Taylor is in and Vivien Leigh is out of Elephant Walk...The studio will use many of Vivien's long shots, filmed in India." -- Erskine Johnson's column, March 31, 1953

"Elizabeth Taylor's poodle haircut was a real headache when she suddenly replaced Vivien Leigh in Elephant Walk. She had to have longer locks to match up with the Ceylon long shots of Vivien. She'll virtually be wearing a wig. Also, she is heavier than Vivien..." -- Harrison Carroll's column, March 31, 1953

"Elizabeth Taylor, according to producer Irving Ascher, is just right in all three dimensions -- bust, waist and hips -- for the camera in Elephant Walk. She has lost 30 pounds..." -- Erskine Johnson's column, May 9, 1953

Elizabeth Taylor in Elephant Walk (Paramount, 1954)

"If bad beginnings make for good endings, Elephant Walk should be the best picture of all time. Elizabeth Taylor has just one more day of shooting to finish, but the doctors don't know when she will be able to leave the hospital. The bit of flint that lodged in her eye during a storm scene on the set was rusty. The injury is not only very painful, but her face is badly swollen." -- Louella Parsons' column, May 14, 1953

"Elizabeth Taylor, recovered from an eye operation, revealed today she nearly lost the sight of one of her famous orbs...'You can still see the sear -- a fraction from the retina. If it had been a hair's width to the right, I wouldn't be able to see.'" -- Aline Mosby's column, June 5, 1953

Elizabeth Taylor in Elephant Walk (Paramount, 1954)

"You mustn't blame the elephants...I hope Elizabeth Taylor is very good in the part." -- Vivien Leigh to the United Press, July 18, 1953

Elizabeth Taylor in Elephant Walk (Paramount, 1954)

Role Play

Today, we're inaugurating a series of posts which take some quick peeks into "what might have been" -- the stars who were originally intended for some of our favorite films. These posts are tailor-made for lots of commentary and fun hypothesizing, so we encourage audience participation (and also welcome suggestions for future posts)! Have fun, darlings!

Paulette Goddard in Reap the Wild Wind (Paramount, 1942)

"The longest and most extensive search for a screen heroine ended today when Paulette Goddard was signed to a long term contract by David O. Selznick, producer of Gone with the Wind..." -- Louella Parsons' column, February 3, 1938

"Who's going to play Scarlett in Gone with the Wind? Paulette Goddard, and worry no more about it..." -- Buck Herzog's column, December 4, 1938

"Vivien Leigh, the young English actress who will play Scarlett O'Hara in the screen dramatization of Gone with the Wind, was 'terribly nervous'...but at the same time 'grateful beyond words.'" -- Associated Press, January 15, 1939

Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (Selznick International/MGM, 1939)

One Bad Apple

Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland in In This Our Life (Warner Bros., 1942)

Jo Ann Marlowe and Ann Blyth in Mildred Pierce (Warner Bros., 1945)

Kim Hunter and Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire (Warner Bros., 1951)

Faith Domergue and Linda Darnell in This Is My Love (RKO, 1954)

Rhonda Fleming and Arlene Dahl in Slightly Scarlet (RKO, 1956)

Mamie Van Doren and Elinor Donahue in Girls Town (MGM, 1959)

Sisters. It's Complicated.

Hush, Now!

"Thank you, no. I can just about stand looking at Joan Crawford's face at six o'clock in the morning, but not possibly Bette Davis'." - Vivien Leigh, after being asked to replace Crawford in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, opposite Davis

It Happened

When legends collide.

It's a Long, Long Way...

...from May to December.