in her 1932 movie "devil and the deep" there were three major co-stars, with tallulah getting top billing over gary cooper, charles laughton, and cary grant. david o. selznick, producer of "gone with the wind" (1939) called her the "first choice among established stars" to play scarlett o'hara. according to a memo from selznick, november 11, 1936: bankhead is first choice among established stars – and many votes coming in for her. although her screen test for the role in black-and-white was superb, she photographed poorly in technicolor. selznick also thought that at age 36, she was too old to play scarlett, who is 16 at the beginning of the film. the role eventually went to vivien leigh.