Elephant Walk

Vivien Leigh, more than ten years after her success as Scarlett O’Hara, had proven that she was still hot by winning a second academy award in her other iconic role as Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar named Desire.

The experience seemed to be a troublesome one for the mentally fragile actress, though.

One night of January 1953, she decided to wake-up Peter Finch and his wife and propose the Australian actor to share the screen with her in a film called The Elephant Walk that they would shoot in Ceylon. In it, she would be a young British bride brought to a big mansion in India by her new millionaire husband, owner of a tea plantation. The latter neglects his wife and she becomes more and more attached to one of his friends, played by Dana Andrews.

Vivien had an ulterior motive for wanting Finch as her co-star: he was her lover. Laurence Olivier, her husband, although in the know of his misfortune, felt it would be good for Vivien’s health to be back to work in the country she was born in. Also, her problems were a lot for him to handle. She was a nymphomaniac and was dangerously close to a nervous breakdown.

The production had a big budget but it seemed worth it: the main cast was to travel to Ceylon to give the film the required authenticity the subject needed.

Leigh and Andrews on their way back

Olivier, Leigh and cast at Orly airport

On location, things soon got out of hand. So much so that Laurence Olivier was called by the producer to come to Ceylon on February 17, something he had tried to avoid, in an effort to help his wife go through the shoot. He stayed a little, then returned to Paris to work on a play. Soon after that, Finch and Leigh flew back to Hollywood, with a stop in Paris on the way, where Olivier was waiting for her.



 

Back in Hollywood, Leigh, Finch and Dieterle

Cecil B. DeMille visiting Vivien on the set at Paramount

Interiors were to be shot at the Paramount studio, but on March 15, Vivien had a nervous breakdown.

Her friends David Niven (in Bring on the empty horses) and Stewart Granger (in Sparks fly upward) both tell in their respective autobiography how they found her naked at home in a state of shock. Together, they had her committed to a hospital where she was taken care of, after-which she returned to England on March 21, on a much publicized flight delayed for 30 minutes in New York "while husband and friends coaxed the distraught actress aboard".



 

Studio recreation with a projection backdrop

Original scene with Vivien

When it became clear that she would be unable to complete the filming, Paramount decided to replace her by the beautiful Elizabeth Taylor. Unfortunately, since the film revolved mainly around her character, most of the footage shot on location could not be used.

Unusable exterior shot with Vivien

Director William Dieterle had somewhat expected Leigh’s defection and had filmed several shots with Leigh unrecognizable because her face was covered with big glasses or hats or she was too far or shot from behind. These shots still appear in the film, forcing Taylor to have a matching wardrobe to that of Leigh. Hence, the journey to Ceylon with the stars had been all for nothing as most of the exterior shots kept in the film could have been made with any stand-in.

...same scene, with Taylor

With Vivien...

Unfortunately, a film could not hide its heroin very long and many shots

Dieterle preparing the cobra scene

featuring Taylor had to be processed against a screen so it would appear that she was on location. Scenes like the one where Vivien charmed a cobra had to be cut entirely because they could not be duplicated in a studio. Gone was the feeling of authenticity, and the budget rose even more because of delays.

Vivien on location

Replacement scene in the studio

The resulting film opened to mixed reviews but is still a good one. It is available on DVD where you can easily spot Vivien Leigh. I would love to see a good documentary featuring the scenes she made, provided of course that Paramount kept them in their vault somewhere.



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That's all for today folks!