- [to critics about her reviews for "The Mask of Virtue" (1935), her second play on the London stage] It's much easier to make people cry than to make them laugh.
- Some critics saw fit to say that I was a great actress. I thought that was a foolish, wicked thing to say because it put such an onus and such a responsibility onto me, which I simply wasn't able to carry.
- Scorpios burn themselves out and eat themselves up and they are careless about themselves - like me. I swing between happiness and misery and I cry easily. I am a mixture of my mother's determination and my father's optimism. I am part prude and part non-conformist and I say what I think and don't dissemble. I am a mixture of French, Irish and Yorkshire, and perhaps that's what it all is.
- [when asked to take over Joan Crawford's role in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)] No, thank you. I can just about stand looking at Joan Crawford's face at six o'clock in the morning, but not Bette Davis'.
- [on Alexander Korda] Alex was like a father to us - we went to see him with every little problem we had. We usually left convinced that he had solved it - or that we'd got our own way.
- All day long you're really leading up to the evening's performance. To time everything correctly, you have to take care of yourself - which is a very difficult thing to do, because it's highly emotional
- Am I finished with Hollywood? Good heavens, no! I shall certainly go back there if there is a film to make.
- Actresses go on for a long time and there are always marvelous parts to play.
- [on Warren Beatty] He has the kind of magnetic sensuality you could light torches with.
- I'm not a film star; I am an actress. Being a film star is such a false life, lived for fake values and for publicity.
- Most of us have compromised with life. Those who fight for what they want will always thrill us.
- Who could quarrel with Clark Gable? We got on well. Whenever anyone on the set [of Gone with the Wind (1939)] was tired or depressed, it was Gable who cheered that person up. Then the newspapers began printing the story that Gable and I were not getting on. This was so ridiculous it served only as a joke. From that time on, the standard greeting between Clark and myself became, "How are you not getting on today?"
- I cannot let well enough alone. I get restless. I have to be doing different things. I am a very impatient person and headstrong. If I've made up my mind to do something, I can't be persuaded out of it.
- Comedy is much more difficult than tragedy - and a much better training, I think. It's much easier to make people cry than to make them laugh.
- [on Gone with the Wind (1939)] I was not at all upset or annoyed by the criticism. Why should I be? When an English girl is signed for such a typically American part, it is obvious that there will be comment. And even the worst comments were no worse than I expected!
- [on Scarlett O'Hara] I admired her tremendously, but at the same time I was furious with her for being so hard and selfish, and when Rhett Butler left her, I felt she had gotten exactly what she deserved. If her mother had lived or if she had allowed herself to come under the influence of Rhett Butler, she might have been a different girl. But because Rhett Butler was so much like her - though in a much nicer way - she didn't realize how right he was for her, but she was interested in Ashley, who was completely wrong for her.
- I didn't change my characterization [of Scarlett]. I just had to get used to working with different directors, but my characterization is my characterization, and I wouldn't change it for anyone.
- It was a terrific strain making Gone with the Wind (1939), and toward the end our nerves were all shot. And no wonder! We worked under three different directors, first George Cukor, then Victor Fleming and finally, Sam Wood. No sooner did we get used to the ideas of one director than a new one was brought in, and we had to learn to work with each in turn.
- I did meet Norma Shearer, and she was very gracious. Even before I met her, she sent me a wire congratulating me on being chosen for the role of Scarlett.
- Who could quarrel with Clark Gable? We got on well. Whenever anyone on the set was tired or depressed, it was Gable who cheered that person up. Then the newspapers began printing the story that Gable and I were not getting on. This was so ridiculous it served only as a joke. From that time on the standard greeting between Clark and myself became, "How are you not getting on today?"
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content