 Her early performances brought her immediate success in Britain , but she remained largely unknown in other parts of the world until the release of Gone with the Wind . In December 1939 , film critic Frank Nugent wrote in The New York Times , " Miss Leigh 's Scarlett has vindicated the absurd talent quest that indirectly turned her up . She is so perfectly designed for the part by art and nature that any other actress in the role would be inconceivable " , and as her fame escalated , she was featured on the cover of Time magazine as Scarlett . In 1969 critic Andrew Sarris commented that the success of the film had been largely due to " the inspired casting " of Leigh , and in 1998 , wrote that " she lives in our minds and memories as a dynamic force rather than as a static presence " . Film historian and critic Leonard Maltin described the film as one of the all @-@ time greats , writing in 1998 that Leigh " brilliantly played " her role . 
