The Portrait Of A Lady

Vivien Leigh & The Stage

Talking to critics about her reviews for The Mask of Virtue (1935), her second play on the London stage: "Some critics saw fit to say that I was a great actress. I thought that was a foolish, wicket thing to say because it put such an onus and such a responsibility onto me, which I simply wasn't able to carry."

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"It is an agreeable task to be able to welcome a new actress with unrestrained praise. The Mask Of Virtue obtained a personal triumph of Vivien Leigh, a discovery of Sydney Carroll. Miss Leigh is ravishingly pretty which might not matter but that her talent equals her beauty. She moves with grace. She is lovely in repose. Her voice is most attractive, and warmth, ardour and sincerity are not wanting in her acting. Vivien Leigh gave genuine life to the part of the girl enchantingly reconciling her conflicting qualities. Her quiet dignity in the acceptance of a repugnant task, the growth affection, and the awakening to the sense of a triumph odious to her, were beautifully expressed and composed a performance that grew in loveliness and interest".

A. E. Wilson 
The Star - May 16th  1935

2003 � Vivien Leigh & The Stage.

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