Damn You, Scarlett O'Hara: The Private Lives of Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier

This book is published by Blood Moon Productions which specializes in works that employ modern day, tabloid style ethics to exhume “real-life” stories from the glorified past. In this work, “Damn You, Scarlett O’Hara – The Private Lives of Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier,” authors Darwin Porter and Roy Moseley present an X-rated view of early 20th Century theatre and movie-making through revealing one of the most tragic love stories to take place behind stage and screen.I was pretty well disgusted after the first twenty or thirty pages of this book, as it seemed to be filled of laundry lists of actors and actresses, authors, directors, singers and movie moguls with a tabulation of their sexual preferences, escapades and infidelities; but once the work began to focus on the two primary characters – Vivien Leigh and Larry (Laurence) Olivier, the reader begins to see how such impulses and urges affected their lives and ended up leaving both multi-national stars feeling empty and alone.Shakespeare has hardly done better tragedy.I will say that of the shocking assertions made in this volume, many are third party allegations, few have impeccable credentials and even fewer are sufficiently referenced, so it is hard for me to pinpoint specific episodes from this book that “I know” actually transpired, but I think it’s reasonable to conclude that Porter and Moseley did present a true and general arch of Vivien’s and Larry’s glamorous but tortured relationship – a view mostly hidden to the general public during their celebrity heydays.

I gave this book three stars mainly because the writing style isn't as polished as it should be, and the first 7-8 Chapters are a bit dry, nothing gets really good until Larry and Vivien get "the party started" so to speak. Honestly, the reason why I think this book has gotten such bad reviews, is that certain fans don't want to have their idealized images of both Larry and Viv tarnished. They want a picture perfect romance, instead of the nitty gritty of a real life relationship between two very messed up people in a very messed up/in the closet( just research old Hollywood lavender marriages!)/over the top and controlling profession/industry. Having researched and read many thing about both Larry and Viv over 20 odd yrs, and reading between the not to concealed lines of other biographies etc....I'd have to say that a good 70% of this book is probably spot on accurate and true. Especially about Vivien, considering manic depression can bring on some very detrimental habits, like nymphomania, alcoholism and horrible impulse control in other aspects of life. 20% of the book was probably rumors and hearsay that was written down as fact and 10% may be completely off the top of the writers heads, mainly with the impression they give of having first hand accounts of dialogue between people, that unless they were a fly on the wall, one could never know for sure was actually said verbatim. All and all, this book wasn't off the mark by much, and I think it really did capture the totally off kilter ad toxic relationship that these two, no doubt very much in love but both very troubled individuals had, and other then maybe going back in to polish off the long winded and rather drab first few chapters, it really wasn't such a bad read at all.

As a fan and admirer of Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier this book was hard to read. The authors focus is not on the heart or talent of the famous couple , but instead focuses on the pair's hyper sex drive and many many adulterous affairs. Not shocking considering they were movie stars. It is the amount of partners and who the authors claim were Leigh and Olivier's lovers that is hard to believe. Both made love with men and women. It states that Larry had many ongoing secret relationships with men and that he probably was more gay then straight. What I really had a problem with were the many private conversations that are in the book that were attributed to the subjects. For instance a story involving Miss Leigh and Marlon Brando in which the two are alone together in a secret rendezvous. It claims that she told Marlon to " rape her like Stanley raped Blanche" in A Streetcar Named Desire. How would the authors know what was said? Everything in this book is a horny gay man's fantasy! All the men are gay or bisexual and the women sexually dominate and whorish. Read at the risk of never being able to see Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier as anything more then two sexually messed up people.

This book and this author make me sick. Darwin Porter is a non-stop trash factory, selecting dead movie stars for the focus of his novels (I call them novels for they are works of fiction, in my opinion, not biographies) and, therefore, no one can sue him for libel. He takes a few facts and runs with them, creating an overblown, fictional presentation of his biographies' subjects.This book in particular is reprehensibly offensive for he takes Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, two of the most immaculately talented, respected, and poised actors in film history, and portrays them as lecherous, uncontrollable sexual predators. This extremely offensive when one considers the travails Vivien Leigh had to deal with having bi-polar disorder during an era when it was not even identified, much less understood. What has always made Vivien such a compelling person was her ability to overcome her illness and produce some of the finest acting on film. Yet, this bozo cheapens her experiences, and Olivier's, all in the name of a quick buck. And he seems to feel no remorse in tainting the reputation of two great artists.I never write reviews on Amazon, but felt strongly compelled to do so here. While I may seem to exude a great deal of deference for the Oliviers, which some may try to translate into bias, I write this review as a condemnation of everything Darwin Porter stands for and every figure his "works" have defiled. The man is a self-indulgent, idiotic writer and one any self-respected reader should censure. This book, and all Porter's books, are utter trash and should be regarded as such.

This is quite a read , 648 pages no less, not the 435 shown. This is a full and frank assessment of the life and times of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh warts and all. Many of the reviewers doubted the veracity of the tales but the sexual proclivities of this couple and those alluded to in the book have been common knowledge for a long time. I myself watched two television programmes about Vivien Leigh detailing her rather unconventional life including the many trips into London looking for men to have sex with. Of course the private conversations were probably gossip and hearsay but a book like this could not have been written when the protagonists were still alive. A similar expose of Hollywood lives is Scotty Bowers Full Service which again is quite an eye opener. My only wonder is why straight women want to have an affair or marry a bisexual man. This is a book to pass on and not to keep but entertaining nevertheless.

I have just finished reading this book, and I can't make up my mind whether it's a revelation, or a deviation. I realise that the 'golden years' of theatre and cinema weren't as innocent and romantic as portrayed in the fan magazines, but this book exposes a society that would rival Sodom and Gomorrah in immorality. Famous and hallowed names are despatched in numbers to the naughty step of theatrical history-I'll never see Danny Kaye (among others) the same way again!Do I believe it all? The writers seem to have had very good connections in all corners of show business, so it does give some credence to their stories, though some things make me hold back my five stars. For instance conversations, many intimate, are recorded in a very precise fashion presumably as fact - how would they know these details without considerable artistic licence being used? Also on pages 458 - 459 it states, in reference to the film '49th Parallel'---'In the film, Larry was cast as a gentle French-Canadian trapper called "Johnnie". The French/Canadian accent he adopted was called "Clouseau-esqe"'---. This review was supposedly written in1941. Unless they were refering to someone else, I doubt anyone would have been aware of anything 'Clouseau' until the sixties...You pays your money and takes your choice.

Quite an insight into the past theatrical world, although the writer seems rather obsessed with sex. Not sure how the writer knows the unwitnessed dialogue between various lovers either. However, the gossipy nature of the book kept me riveted to the end.

This is the worst book I have ever read about these two great actors. Interesting that this type of rubbish was only ever published after the subjects had died and were obviously unable to respond with a libel suit. It is very sad that some people will believe this dribble!

Utter and complete rubbish! Don't waste your money on this fiction!