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
Doris Davenport now classic "Gone with the Wind", she did well enough to become one of the finalists for the role, but lost out to actress Vivien Leigh. Despite not winning that major role, Davenport impressed MGM executive Samuel Goldwyn. In 1940, he gave a lead role to Davenport in the film "The Westerner", starring opposite Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan. That same year, she starred in the film "Behind the News" opposite Lloyd Nolan. It was her last role. With no other offers following that film, she soon retired from acting. She eventually settled in Santa Cruz, California, where she lived