75 Days. 75 Years: Actresses who had screen tests for role of Scarlett O’Hara

For 75 days, the Harry Ransom Center is raising funds for its 2014 exhibition The Making of Gone With The Wind. Opening on September 9, 2014, The Making of Gone With The Wind will reveal stories about the making of this quintessential film from Hollywood’s Golden Age and illustrate why it remains influential and controversial 75 years after it was released. Items from film producer David O. Selznick’s archive provide a behind-the-scenes look into the making of the film. Donations will help support outreach, additional exhibition tours, a published exhibition catalog, and complimentary programming and presentations.

David O. Selznick, the film producer of Gone With The Wind (1939), mounted a nationwide search for a woman to play the role of Scarlett O’Hara. Scores of women read for the part, but only the women listed here, some talented amateurs and some experienced actors, actually sat for filmed screen tests.

Selznick found Lana Turner “completely inadequate, too young to have a grasp of the part.” Until Vivien Leigh’s arrival, Paulette Goddard was Selznick’s first choice. Goddard made more screentests for the role than any other established actress and eventually signed an option agreement with Selznick in anticipation of getting the part.

The four finalists for the role of Scarlett were Goddard, Jean Arthur, Joan Bennett, and Leigh.

The exhibition will highlight over 300 original items from Selznick’s archive housed at the Ransom Center, including photographs, storyboards, correspondence, production records, audition footage, and fan mail. The exhibition will also feature gowns worn by Leigh as the beautiful and ambitious Scarlett O’Hara. The newly conserved costumes will be displayed together for the first time in more than 25 years.

Please click on thumbnails to view larger images.

Image: Memo to David O. Selznick regarding “Girls tested for the role of Scarlett,” ca. 1938.