Vivien Leigh friendship developed after he congratulated her on her performance. Olivier and Leigh began an affair while acting as lovers in "Fire Over England" (1937), but Olivier was still married to actress Jill Esmond. During this period, Leigh read the Margaret Mitchell novel "Gone with the Wind" and instructed her American agent to recommend her to David O. Selznick, who was planning a film version. She remarked to a journalist, "I've cast myself as Scarlett O'Hara", and "The Observer" film critic C. A. Lejeune recalled a conversation of the same period in which Leigh "stunned us all" with the assertion that
Of Mice and Men (1939 film) Of Mice and Men (1939 film) Of Mice and Men is a 1939 American drama film based on the 1937 play based on the novella of the same title by American author John Steinbeck, and starring Burgess Meredith, Betty Field and Lon Chaney Jr. The supporting cast features Charles Bickford, Roman Bohnen, Bob Steele and Noah Beery Jr. The film tells the story of two men, George and his mentally-challenged partner Lennie, trying to survive during the dustbowl of the 1930s and pursuing a dream of owning their own ranch, instead of always working for others. Starring in the lead