Vivien Leigh the burning of the Atlanta Depot scene was being filmed and stage-managed an encounter, where he introduced Leigh, derisively addressing his younger brother, "Hey, genius, meet your Scarlett O'Hara." The following day, Leigh read a scene for Selznick, who organized a screen test with director George Cukor and wrote to his wife, "She's the Scarlett dark horse and looks damn good. Not for anyone's ear but your own: it's narrowed down to Paulette Goddard, Jean Arthur, Joan Bennett and Vivien Leigh". The director, George Cukor, concurred and praised Leigh's "incredible wildness". She secured the role of Scarlett soon after. Filming
Dark Victory Vivien Leigh in "Gone with the Wind". Max Steiner, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score for both this and "Gone with the Wind", lost to Herbert Stothart for "The Wizard of Oz". The film itself lost the Academy Award for Best Picture to "Gone with the Wind". "The New York Times" named "Dark Victory" as one of the "10 Best Films of 1939", as did "Film Daily", and the "National Board of Review" picked both Bette Davis and Geraldine Fitzgerald for Best Acting that year. The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these