In the film “Sidewalks of London” starring Vivien Leigh as Libby, the character of Charlie learns that Libby has not always been a street girl; she is merely down on her luck and has had to resort to pickpocketing to make a living. Whether this is true, the viewer never really sees any evidence to confirm or contest Libby’s assertion, but it is a testament to her character and to Leigh’s embodiment of that character that makes that fact negligible in importance in the overall scheme of the plot and its development. What isimportant is that Charlie believes Libby; she is a persuasive and convincing character who uses her feminine charms to her advantage every opportunity that she has to do so. While much of her charms are emphasized through the medium of her body, it is asserted time and again that Libby also has sharp and acute mental faculties that are just important—if not more so—to her success than her good looks.
As the film “Sidewalks of London” starring Vivien Leigh as Libby continues, the character of Charlie is so taken by Libby’s compelling character that he invites her to come dance with him, reforming her criminal ways and transitioning into a “career” as a street busker. Libby is enthusiastic and joins a quartet of performers happily; Charlie and Libby both view this temporary career as a stepping stone for Libby to get back on her feet, and Charlie is pleased with himself for holding a hand out to Libby so that she can quit her criminal lifestyle. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Libby, played by the actress Vivien Leigh has successfully convinced both Charlie and herself that she is not really a criminal, but that she just happened to be good at petty criminal acts. It is at this point in the movie when Leigh’s character gains complexity and her independence and strength as a woman are affirmed and confirmed. Although the character of Libby in the film “Sidewalks of London” played by Vivian Leigh is a charming and successful street performer with the quartet, she is unlike all of her partners because she has no ambitions to remain there.
The character of Libby in “Sidewalks of London” gains depth when she is offered the opportunity to become a stage actress by a man who is well-connected to the theatre. She continues to use her intelligence to position herself in order to attract opportunities that will benefit herself, even when the pursuit of these opportunities means hurting other people, leaving them behind, or taking advantage of them. Despite a certain degree of ruthlessness, everyone—including the viewer—remains captivated by Libby, who is as charming and attractive and clever as ever. Although the viewer may disagree with the way in which Libby manipulates and uses others, there is something about her that remains compelling and which prompts the viewer to forgive her even when she commits the same kinds of thoughtless actions over and over again. The fact that Libby is a woman and that she is claiming what she believes to be her own space and her own rights—and in the late 1930s at that—probably made her a fascinating character at the time the movie was released; it certainly has that effect today.
Vivien Leigh as Libby is vivacious, energetic, and outgoing and is an excellent candidate for character analysis in film. She is extroverted and charming. She is beautiful and she always holds the upper hand because of her twin skills at exercising her intellect and her beauty and attractive personality. When the character of Libby in the film “Sidewalks of London” has the opportunity to transition from street performing to stage performing, she is all too willing to leave her friends behind. It is telling that when Charlie announces to Libby that he loves her, she laughs at him, dismissing his declaration, and not only brushes him off, but essentially steps on him as she climbs up the ladder of opportunity. What is especially compelling is that as the character of Libby played by Vivien Leigh in the “Sidewalks of London” moves up the ladder of stardom, Charlie falls further and further down it. Charlie takes Libby’s place in the criminal world, though he goes far beyond what Libby had ever done. Although Libby has, in a certain sense, left a trail of destruction in her wake, Leigh plays her character’s strengths so well that the viewer never really reproaches her despite all her lack of consideration for anyone other than herself.
In the character of Gelsomina, played by Italian actress Giulietta Masina in her husband Federico Fellini’s 1954 film, “La Strada,” the viewer meets an altogether different type of woman and different type of actress (Bondanella 46). Where Leigh playing Libby emphasizes her beauty and her brains, Masina in the role of Gelsomina is marked by her simpleness, both in her looks and her mental faculties. Early in the film, when the viewer meets Gelsomina, who is being sought out to be purchased by a brutish street performing strong man named Zampano, Gelsomina’s mother, no great beauty herself, describes her oldest daughter as “‘a bit strange’” (shot 9) and ‘not like the other girls’” (Bondanella 56). These negative characteristics are emphasized time and again throughout the film by an array of other characters who come into contact with Gelsomina.
