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
Gone with the Wind (film) competitive wins stood until "Gigi" (1958) won nine, and its overall record of ten was broken by "Ben-Hur" (1959) which won eleven. "Gone with the Wind" also held the record for most nominations until "All About Eve" (1950) secured fourteen. It was the longest American sound film made up to that point, and may still hold the record of the longest Best Picture winner depending on how it is interpreted. The running time for "Gone with the Wind" is just under 221 minutes, while "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) runs for just over 222 minutes; however, including the overture, intermission, entr'acte,