I’ve seen it a couple of times, and I do like it; but I didn’t know that it was an “audition” for Bette! It’s good; but it’s no GWTW. Now I understand!
That is only conjecture that has bandied about in the film industry for years, and I dont know that there has been any real concrete evidence to support this conjecture...but it truly does make perfect sense. since the leading womans role, in both films, is so similar...a willful strong, southern woman, strives to get her way in life...this is just too much of a coincidence...so I am sure that the conjectures, tho never proven, are quite true...Bette was trying out for the role of Scarlett, and rather than give just a short screen audition, she gave a film length film audition...it just did not pan out for her...
I dont think that anyone can imagine GWTW with any stars, other than what appeared in that film...they all seemed just perfect for their roles...
And I remember seeing Vivian Leigh in a StreetCar Named Desire, with Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, and Kim Hunter, where Leigh now plays a faded and disgraced southern belle, in more modern times...a great performance by her as well, in that movie...