What are the best Vivien Leigh movie performances?
Twice an Oscar winner, Vivien Leigh brought an extraordinary intensity to both Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind and Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire — two of cinema's most enduring performances. Which is her greatest?
Gone with the Wind
Leigh's portrayal of the determined, manipulative Scarlett O'Hara is one of cinema's most iconic performances, earning her first Academy Award and cementing her as a legend.
A Streetcar Named Desire
As the fragile, delusional Blanche DuBois, Leigh delivered a shattering portrayal of mental collapse that won her second Oscar and is widely considered her greatest dramatic achievement.
Waterloo Bridge
Playing a ballet dancer turned desperate wartime survivor, Leigh brought extraordinary emotional depth and sympathy to one of classic Hollywood's most tragic romantic heroines.
That Hamilton Woman
Leigh's passionate portrayal of Lady Emma Hamilton opposite Laurence Olivier's Lord Nelson was reportedly Winston Churchill's favorite film and showcased her gift for raw, earnest intensity.
Anna Karenina
Playing Tolstoy's doomed Russian aristocrat, Leigh delivered a controlled, emotionally devastating performance that let her intensity shine through elegant, restrained style.
Caesar and Cleopatra
Leigh brought playful wit and regal charisma to the young Cleopatra in this lavish George Bernard Shaw adaptation, earning admiration for her comedic range alongside dramatic gravitas.
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
In this Tennessee Williams adaptation, Leigh gave a courageous, vulnerable performance as an aging American actress adrift in Rome, exploring loneliness and fading beauty with unflinching honesty.
Ship of Fools
Leigh's final film performance as a divorcée seeking love on a transatlantic voyage was a poignant, critically praised swan song that earned her a Golden Globe nomination.
The Deep Blue Sea
Leigh played a woman consumed by passion for a younger man in Terence Rattigan's devastating study of destructive love, displaying extraordinary emotional range and psychological complexity.
21 Days
In this tense romantic thriller co-starring Laurence Olivier, Leigh's charismatic early performance demonstrated the screen magnetism that would soon make her an international superstar.
Dark Journey
A thrilling wartime spy drama in which Leigh played a double agent, this early role revealed her natural elegance and screen confidence and helped launch her to wider recognition.
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