✿ The year she signed with Hal Roach, Goddard began dating Charlie Chaplin, a relationship that received substantial attention from the press. It marked a turning point in Goddard's career when Chaplin cast her as his leading lady in his next box office hit, Modern Times (1936).
Her role as 'The Gamin', an orphan girl who runs away from the authorities and becomes The Tramp's companion, was her first credited film appearance and garnered her mainly positive reviews, Frank Nugent of The New York Times describing her as 'the fitting recipient of the great Charlot's championship'.
Following the success of Modern Times, Chaplin planned other projects with Goddard in mind as a co-star, but he worked slowly, and Goddard worried that the public might forget about her if she did not continue to make regular film appearances. She signed a contract with David O Selznick and appeared with Janet Gaynor in the comedy The Young in Heart (1938).
Selznick, who was pleased with Goddard's performance in the film, strongly considered her for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind. Initial screen tests convinced Selznick and director George Cukor that Goddard would require coaching to be effective in the role, but that she showed promise, By December 1938, Selznick had narrowed the choices to Goddard and Vivien Leigh, who won the role after the two completed the only Technicolor screen tests for the role. Goddard's losing out on the role was attributable to several factors. Notably, the head of Selznick's publicity department Russell Birdwell had strong misgivings about Goddard, writing 'Briefly, I think she is dynamite that will explode in our very faces if she is given the part!' Chaplin's biographer Joyce Milton wrote that Selznick also worried about legal issues by signing Goddard to a contract that might conflict with her pre-existing contracts with the Chaplin studio.
The year she signed with Hal Roach, Goddard began dating Charlie Chaplin, a relationship that received substantial attention from the press. It marked a turning point in Goddard's career when Chaplin cast her as his leading lady in his next box office hit,
Modern Times (1936).
Her role as "The Gamin", an orphan girl who runs away from the authorities and becomes The Tramp's companion, was her first credited film appearance and garnered her mainly positive reviews, Frank Nugent of The New York Times describing her as "the fitting recipient of the great Charlot's championship".
Following the success of Modern Times, Chaplin planned other projects with Goddard in mind as a co-star, but he worked slowly, and Goddard worried that the public might forget about her if she did not continue to make regular film appearances. She signed a contract with David O Selznick and appeared with Janet Gaynor in the comedy The Young in Heart (1938).
Selznick, who was pleased with Goddard's performance in the film, strongly considered her for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind. Initial screen tests convinced Selznick and director George Cukor that Goddard would require coaching to be effective in the role, but that she showed promise, By December 1938, Selznick had narrowed the choices to Goddard and Vivien Leigh, who won the role after the two completed the only Technicolor screen tests for the role. Goddard's losing out on the role was attributable to several factors. Notably, the head of Selznick's publicity department Russell Birdwell had strong misgivings about Goddard, writing "Briefly, I think she is dynamite that will explode in our very faces if she is given the part!" Chaplin's biographer Joyce Milton wrote that Selznick also worried about legal issues by signing Goddard to a contract that might conflict with her pre-existing contracts with the Chaplin studio.
During this time, Selznick lent Goddard to MGM for two films: Dramatic School (1938) and the all-female ensemble The Women (1939). The first, with Luise Rainer, received mediocre reviews and failed to attract an audience.However, The Women – directed by Cukor following his firing from Gone with the Wind – was one of the year's most successful films. Of her role Miriam Aarons, film critic Pauline Kael later wrote of Goddard, "she is a stand-out. Fun."
In 1939, Goddard signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and was promptly teamed with comedian Bob Hope for the horror comedy film The Cat and the Canary (1939). The film became a turning point for both their careers, and they were promptly reteamed for The Ghost Breakers (1940) and Nothing but the Truth (1941), both of which also featured Willie Best.
She was also cast for the musical comedy Second Chorus opposite Fred Astaire, Artie Shaw, and future husband Burgess Meredith. Astaire later described it as "the worst film I ever made" while Shaw admitted the film made him reconsider an acting career.
In September 1939, Chaplin also began production on his next film The Great Dictator (1940) in which Goddard again co-starred alongside him as Hannah. The film was released the following year to critical and audience acclaim. However, it would also be her final film with Chaplin, as their marriage fell apart soon.
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