A shocking love affair? Behind-the-scenes drama? Or something even more sinister? Here's why Vivien Leigh hated kissing Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind.
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00:00A shocking love affair, behind-the-scenes drama, or something even more sinister? Here's
00:05why Vivien Leigh hated kissing Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind.
00:10Hollywood stars are often so good at immersing themselves in their roles that it's difficult
00:14to imagine that there is anything other than pure chemistry between on-screen lovers. But
00:19it's certainly not always the case. Whether it is mutual dislike between actors, or the
00:24frustration one actor feels about another's on-set behavior, those who are talented at
00:29their craft perform so well that not a trace of that spitefulness is ever translated to
00:34the screen.
00:35This phenomenon isn't anything new to Hollywood, and there are countless examples of on-screen
00:39couples who never got along when the cameras weren't rolling. Who could ever imagine that
00:44William Frawley and Vivien Vance hated each other in real life? Or that there was a long-running
00:49feud between comedy legends Bud Abbott and Lou Costello? Even some of Hollywood's finest
00:54classics featured couples that weren't exactly thrilled about each other in real life. In
00:59fact, Gone with the Wind serves as perhaps the most famous example of love interests
01:04who were anything but smitten in real life.
01:06It just goes to show you that, no matter how attractive a star might be, there can be good
01:10reasons why another actor might not be thrilled about on-screen embraces or stage kisses.
01:16By her account, Vivien Leigh had good reason to hate kissing her co-star, Clark Gable.
01:21The casting of Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara shocked the film industry. Virtually unknown
01:26in the United States, the British stage actress, who would later be cemented into Hollywood
01:31history as the leading lady in one of its most iconic films — actress from Joan Crawford
01:36to Lucille Ball to Katherine Hepburn — all eyed the part. Even Clark's future wife, Carol
01:41Lombard, was up for it at one point.
01:43But Leigh won out over all of them. Some might assume the tension between Leigh and Gable
01:48had something to do with the former's infamous love affairs. Two years before Gone with the
01:52Wind began its long production, Leigh had fallen in love with screen legend Laurence
01:57Olivier, whom she had met while filming Fire Over England. The affair between Olivier and
02:02Leigh was problematic, given that each was married to another person at the time.
02:06Olivier had tied the knot with actress Jill Esmond in 1930, and Leigh was married to actor
02:12Herbert Leigh. But it was not the off-screen drama that made kissing Gable one of the more
02:16dreaded parts of her role in Gone with the Wind. No, it was much simpler than that. Leigh
02:22recoiled with disgust because of Gable's awful breath.
02:26Several years before filming Gone with the Wind, Gable had developed a serious gum infection
02:30that led to the removal of his teeth. While he was working on the set of the 1933 film
02:35Dancing Lady, the star was forced to undergo oral surgery that delayed the production.
02:40Once healed and fitted with dentures, Gable found himself plagued with a severe case of
02:44halitosis.
02:45Worse still, Gable inhaled a great number of cigarettes throughout the day, exacerbating
02:50his bad breath. Though numerous actresses who shared romantic screen time with him commented
02:55on his terrible mouth odor, you'd never have guessed that Leigh took issue with Gable's
03:00horrid breath on the set of the movie that vaulted her to stardom. She was just that
03:05good of an actress.
03:06Of her time with Gable on the Gone with the Wind set, Leigh once remarked,
03:10Kissing Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind was not that exciting. His dentures smelled
03:14something awful.
03:15"'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
03:19Despite her disgust at the prospect of kissing Gable, there is no debating the quality of
03:23their chemistry on the screen. Indeed, this iconic kiss between the two went on to become
03:28one of the most famous moments in movie history. Of course, considering what we now know about
03:33her feelings toward Gable's breath, it's clear that even more went into her Academy Award-winning
03:37performance than meets the eye.