''Gone with the Wind'' is a 1939 American
epic
Epic commonly refers to:
* Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation
* Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements
Epic or EPIC may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and medi ...
historical
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
romance film
Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...
adapted from
the 1936 novel by
Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (November 8, 1900 – August 16, 1949) was an American novelist and journalist. Mitchell wrote only one novel, published during her lifetime, the American Civil War-era novel '' Gone with the Wind'', for which she wo ...
. The film was produced by
David O. Selznick of
Selznick International Pictures
Selznick International Pictures was a Hollywood motion picture studio created by David O. Selznick in 1935, and dissolved in 1943. In its short existence the independent studio produced two films that received the Academy Award for Best Picture ...
and directed by
Victor Fleming
Victor Lonzo Fleming (February 23, 1889 – January 6, 1949) was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone with the Wind'', for which he won an Academy Award for Best ...
. Set in the
American South
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
against the backdrop of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
and the
Reconstruction era
The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...
, the film tells the story of
Scarlett O'Hara
Katie Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler is a fictional character and the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel ''Gone with the Wind'' and in the 1939 film of the same name, where she is portrayed by Vivien Leigh. She also is the m ...
(
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh ( ; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967; born Vivian Mary Hartley), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, for her definitive performances as Scarlett O'Hara in ''Gon ...
), the strong-willed daughter of a Georgia plantation owner, following her romantic pursuit of
Ashley Wilkes
George Ashley Wilkes is a fictional character in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel ''Gone with the Wind (novel), Gone with the Wind'' and the 1939 Gone with the Wind (film), film of the same name. The character also appears in the 1991 book ''Scarl ...
(
Leslie Howard
Leslie Howard Steiner (3 April 18931 June 1943) was an English actor, director and producer.Obituary ''Variety'', 9 June 1943. He wrote many stories and articles for ''The New York Times'', ''The New Yorker'', and '' Vanity Fair'' and was one ...
), who is married to his cousin,
Melanie Hamilton
Melanie Hamilton Wilkes is a fictional character first appearing in the 1936 novel ''Gone with the Wind'' by Margaret Mitchell. In the 1939 film she was portrayed by Olivia de Havilland. Melanie is Scarlett O'Hara's sister-in-law and eventually ...
(
Olivia de Havilland
Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British-American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. ...
), and her subsequent marriage to
Rhett Butler
Rhett Butler (Born in 1828) is a fictional character in the 1936 novel ''Gone with the Wind'' by Margaret Mitchell and in the 1939 film adaptation of the same name. It is one of Clark Gable's most recognizable and significant roles.
Role
Rhe ...
(
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...
).
The film had a troubled production. The start of filming was delayed for two years until January 1939 because of Selznick's determination to secure Gable for the role of Rhett. The role of Scarlett was difficult to cast, and 1,400 unknown women were interviewed for the part. The original screenplay by
Sidney Howard
Sidney Coe Howard (June 26, 1891 – August 23, 1939) was an American playwright, dramatist and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1925 and a posthumous Academy Award in 1940 for the screenplay for ''Gone with the Wind''. ...
underwent many revisions by several writers to reduce it to a suitable length. The original director,
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head of ...
, was fired shortly after filming began, and was replaced by Fleming, who in turn was briefly replaced by
Sam Wood
Samuel Grosvenor Wood (July 10, 1883 – September 22, 1949) was an American film director and producer who is best known for having directed such Hollywood hits as ''A Night at the Opera (film), A Night at the Opera'', ''A Day at the Races (fi ...
while taking some time off due to exhaustion. Post-production concluded in November 1939, just a month before its release.
It received generally positive reviews upon its release in December 1939. The casting was widely praised, but its long running time received criticism. At the
12th Academy Awards
The 12th Academy Awards ceremony, held on February 29, 1940 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best in film for 1939 at a banquet in the Coconut Grove at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. It was hosted ...
, it received ten
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
(eight competitive, two honorary) from thirteen nominations, including wins for
Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
,
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to:
Film awards
* AACTA Award for Best Direction
* Academy Award for Best Director
* BA ...
(Fleming),
Best Adapted Screenplay (posthumously awarded to Sidney Howard),
Best Actress
Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...
(Leigh), and
Best Supporting Actress (
Hattie McDaniel
Hattie McDaniel (June 10, 1893October 26, 1952) was an American actress, singer-songwriter, and comedian. For her role as Mammy in ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939), she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first African ...
, becoming the first African American to win an Academy Award). It set records for the total number of wins and nominations at the time.
''Gone with the Wind'' was immensely popular when first released. It became the
highest-earning film made up to that point, and held the record for over a quarter of a century. When
adjusted for monetary inflation, it is still
the highest-grossing film in history. It was re-released periodically throughout the 20th century and became ingrained in popular culture. Although the film has been criticized as
historical negationism
Historical negationism, also called denialism, is falsification or distortion of the historical record. It should not be conflated with ''historical revisionism'', a broader term that extends to newly evidenced, fairly reasoned academic reinterp ...
, glorifying slavery and the
Lost Cause of the Confederacy
The Lost Cause of the Confederacy (or simply Lost Cause) is an History of the United States, American pseudohistorical historical negationist, negationist mythology that claims the cause of the Confederate States during the American Civil Wa ...
myth, it has been credited with triggering changes in the way in which African Americans were depicted cinematically. The film is regarded as one of
the greatest films of all time, and in 1989 it became one of the twenty-five inaugural films selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...
.
Plot
![Gone With the Wind Poster 1939](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Gone_With_the_Wind_Poster_1939.jpg)
In 1861, on the eve of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
,
Scarlett O'Hara
Katie Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler is a fictional character and the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel ''Gone with the Wind'' and in the 1939 film of the same name, where she is portrayed by Vivien Leigh. She also is the m ...
lives at
Tara, her family's
cotton plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
in Georgia, with her parents, two sisters, and their many Black slaves. Scarlett is deeply attracted to
Ashley Wilkes
George Ashley Wilkes is a fictional character in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel ''Gone with the Wind (novel), Gone with the Wind'' and the 1939 Gone with the Wind (film), film of the same name. The character also appears in the 1991 book ''Scarl ...
and learns he is to be
married to his cousin,
Melanie Hamilton
Melanie Hamilton Wilkes is a fictional character first appearing in the 1936 novel ''Gone with the Wind'' by Margaret Mitchell. In the 1939 film she was portrayed by Olivia de Havilland. Melanie is Scarlett O'Hara's sister-in-law and eventually ...
. At an engagement party the next day at Ashley's home,
Twelve Oaks
In Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel ''Gone with the Wind'', Twelve Oaks is the plantation home of the Wilkes family in Clayton County, Georgia named for the twelve great oak trees that surround the family mansion in an almost perfect circle. Twelve ...
, a nearby plantation, Scarlett makes an advance on Ashley but is rebuffed; however, she catches the attention of another guest,
Rhett Butler
Rhett Butler (Born in 1828) is a fictional character in the 1936 novel ''Gone with the Wind'' by Margaret Mitchell and in the 1939 film adaptation of the same name. It is one of Clark Gable's most recognizable and significant roles.
Role
Rhe ...
. The party is disrupted by news of
President Lincoln's call for volunteers to fight the South, and the Southern men rush to enlist to defend the South. Scarlett marries Melanie's younger brother Charles to arouse jealousy in Ashley before he leaves to fight. Following Charles' death while serving in the
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
, Scarlett's mother sends her to the Hamilton home in Atlanta. She creates a scene by attending a charity bazaar in mourning attire and waltzing with Rhett, now a
blockade runner
A blockade runner is a merchant vessel used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait. It is usually light and fast, using stealth and speed rather than confronting the blockaders in order to break the blockade. Blockade runners usuall ...
for the
Confederacy.
The tide of war turns against the Confederacy after the
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...
. Many of the men of Scarlett's town are killed. Eight months later, as the
Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
besieges the city in the
Atlanta campaign, Melanie gives birth with Scarlett's aid, and Rhett helps them flee the city. Rhett chooses to go off to fight, leaving Scarlett to make her own way back to Tara. She finds Tara deserted, except for her father, sisters, and former slaves, Mammy and Pork. Scarlett learns that her mother has just died of
typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
, and her father has lost his mind. With Tara pillaged by Union troops and the fields untended, Scarlett vows to ensure her and her family's survival.
As the O'Haras toil in the cotton fields, Scarlett's father attempts to chase away a
carpetbagger
In the history of the United States, carpetbagger is a largely historical term used by Southerners to describe opportunistic Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War, who were perceived to be exploiting the lo ...
from his land but is thrown from his horse and killed. With the defeat of the Confederacy, Ashley also returns but finds he is of little help to Tara. When Scarlett begs him to run away with her, he confesses his desire for her and kisses her passionately but says he cannot leave Melanie. Unable to pay the
Reconstructionist taxes imposed on Tara, Scarlett dupes her younger sister Suellen's fiancé, the middle-aged and wealthy
general store owner Frank Kennedy, into marrying her by saying Suellen got tired of waiting and married another suitor. Frank, Ashley, Rhett, and several other accomplices make a night raid on a
shanty town after Scarlett is attacked while driving through it alone, resulting in Frank's death. Shortly after Frank's funeral, Rhett proposes to Scarlett, and she accepts.
Rhett and Scarlett have a daughter whom Rhett names Bonnie Blue, but Scarlett still pines for Ashley and, chagrined at the perceived ruin of her figure, refuses to have any more children or share a bed with Rhett. One day at Frank's mill, Ashley's sister, India, sees Scarlett and Ashley embracing. Harboring an intense dislike of Scarlett, India eagerly spreads rumors. Later that evening, Rhett, having heard the rumors, forces Scarlett to attend a birthday party for Ashley. Melanie, however, stands by Scarlett. After returning home, Scarlett finds Rhett downstairs drunk, and they argue about Ashley. Rhett kisses Scarlett against her will, stating his intent to have sex with her that night, and carries the struggling Scarlett to the bedroom.
The next day, Rhett apologizes for his behavior and offers Scarlett a divorce, which she rejects, saying it would be a disgrace. When Rhett returns from an extended trip to London, England, Scarlett informs him that she is pregnant, but an argument ensues, resulting in her falling down a flight of stairs and suffering a
miscarriage
Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical lo ...
. While recovering, tragedy strikes again; Bonnie dies while attempting to jump a fence with her pony. Scarlett and Rhett visit Melanie, who has suffered complications from a new pregnancy, on her deathbed. As Scarlett consoles Ashley, Rhett prepares to leave Atlanta. Having realized that it was him, and not Ashley, she truly loved all along, Scarlett pleads with Rhett to stay, but he rebuffs her and walks away into the morning fog. A distraught Scarlett resolves to return home to Tara, vowing to one day win Rhett back.
Cast
;Tara plantation
*
Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O'Hara
*
Barbara O'Neil
Barbara O'Neil (July 17, 1910 – September 3, 1980) was an American film and stage actress. She appeared in the film ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939) and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in ' ...
as Ellen O'Hara (his wife)
*
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh ( ; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967; born Vivian Mary Hartley), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, for her definitive performances as Scarlett O'Hara in ''Gon ...
as
Scarlett O'Hara
Katie Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler is a fictional character and the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel ''Gone with the Wind'' and in the 1939 film of the same name, where she is portrayed by Vivien Leigh. She also is the m ...
(daughter)
*
Evelyn Keyes
Evelyn Louise Keyes (November 20, 1916 – July 4, 2008) was an American film actress. She is best known for her role as Suellen O'Hara in the 1939 film ''Gone with the Wind''.
Early life
Evelyn Keyes was born in Port Arthur, Texas, to Omar D ...
as Suellen O'Hara (daughter)
*
Ann Rutherford
Therese Ann Rutherford (November 2, 1917 – June 11, 2012) was a Canadian-born American actress in film, radio, and television. She had a long career starring and co-starring in films, playing Polly Benedict during the 1930s and 1940s in the An ...
as Carreen O'Hara (daughter)
*
George Reeves
George Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer; January 5, 1914 – June 16, 1959) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying Superman in the television series '' Adventures of Superman'' (1952–1958).
His death at age 45 from a g ...
as Brent Tarleton (actually as Stuart)
*
Fred Crane Fred Crane may refer to:
* Fred Crane (baseball)
* Fred Crane (actor)
Herman Frederick Crane, (March 22, 1918 – August 21, 2008) was an American film and television actor and radio announcer. He is probably best known for his role as Brent Ta ...
as Stuart Tarleton (actually as Brent)
*
Hattie McDaniel
Hattie McDaniel (June 10, 1893October 26, 1952) was an American actress, singer-songwriter, and comedian. For her role as Mammy in ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939), she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first African ...
as Mammy (house servant)
*
Oscar Polk
Oscar Polk (December 25, 1899 – January 4, 1949) was an American actor. He portrayed the servant Pork in the film '' Gone with the Wind'' (1939).
Career
His most memorable scene in that film comes when Pork discloses to Scarlett O'Hara, port ...
as Pork (house servant)
*
Butterfly McQueen
Butterfly McQueen (born Thelma McQueen; January 8, 1911December 22, 1995) was an American actress. Originally a dancer, McQueen first appeared in films as "Prissy" in ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939). She was unable to attend the film's premiere be ...
as Prissy (house servant)
*
Victor Jory
Victor Jory (November 23, 1902 – February 12, 1982) was a Canadian-American actor of stage, film, and television. He initially played romantic leads, but later was mostly cast in villainous or sinister roles, such as Oberon in ''A Midsummer N ...
as Jonas Wilkerson (field overseer)
*
Everett Brown
Everett G. Brown (January 1, 1902 – October 14, 1953) was an American actor.
Biography
Born in Texas, Brown appeared in about 40 Hollywood films between 1927 and 1953. His roles were small most of the time and most of his film appearances were ...
as Big Sam (field foreman)
;At Twelve Oaks
*
Howard Hickman
Howard Charles Hickman (February 9, 1880 – December 31, 1949) was an American actor, director and writer. He was an accomplished stage leading man, who entered films through the auspices of producer Thomas H. Ince.
Career
In 1900, Hickman d ...
as John Wilkes
*
Alicia Rhett
Mary Alicia Rhett (February 1, 1915 – January 3, 2014) was an American actress and portrait painter who is best remembered for her role as India Wilkes in the 1939 epic film ''Gone with the Wind''. At the time of her death, Rhett was one of th ...
as
India Wilkes
''Gone with the Wind'' is a novel by American writer Margaret Mitchell, first published in 1936. The story is set in Clayton County and Atlanta, both in Georgia, during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era. It depicts the struggles of y ...
(his daughter)
*
Leslie Howard
Leslie Howard Steiner (3 April 18931 June 1943) was an English actor, director and producer.Obituary ''Variety'', 9 June 1943. He wrote many stories and articles for ''The New York Times'', ''The New Yorker'', and '' Vanity Fair'' and was one ...
as
Ashley Wilkes
George Ashley Wilkes is a fictional character in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel ''Gone with the Wind (novel), Gone with the Wind'' and the 1939 Gone with the Wind (film), film of the same name. The character also appears in the 1991 book ''Scarl ...
(his son)
*
Olivia de Havilland
Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British-American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. ...
as
Melanie Hamilton
Melanie Hamilton Wilkes is a fictional character first appearing in the 1936 novel ''Gone with the Wind'' by Margaret Mitchell. In the 1939 film she was portrayed by Olivia de Havilland. Melanie is Scarlett O'Hara's sister-in-law and eventually ...
(their cousin)
*
Rand Brooks
Arlington Rand Brooks Jr. (September 21, 1918 – September 1, 2003) was an American film and television actor.
Early life
Brooks was born in Wright City, Missouri. He was the son of Arlington Rand Brooks, a farmer. His mother and he moved ...
as
Charles Hamilton (Melanie's brother)
*
Carroll Nye
Robert Carroll Nye (October 4, 1901 – March 17, 1974) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1925 and 1944. His most memorable role was Frank Kennedy, Scarlett's second husband, in ''Gone with the Wind''.
...
as Frank Kennedy (a guest)
*
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...
as
Rhett Butler
Rhett Butler (Born in 1828) is a fictional character in the 1936 novel ''Gone with the Wind'' by Margaret Mitchell and in the 1939 film adaptation of the same name. It is one of Clark Gable's most recognizable and significant roles.
Role
Rhe ...
(a visitor from Charleston)
;In Atlanta
*
Laura Hope Crews
Laura Hope Crews (December 12, 1879 – November 12, 1942) was an American actress who is best remembered today for her later work as a character actress in motion pictures of the 1930s. Her best-known film role was Aunt Pittypat in ''Gone ...
as Aunt Pittypat Hamilton
*
Eddie Anderson as Uncle Peter (her coachman)
*
Harry Davenport Harry Davenport may refer to:
* Harry Davenport (actor) (1866–1949), American film and stage actor
* Harry Davenport (footballer) (1900–1984), Australian footballer
* Harry J. Davenport (1902–1977), Democratic Party member of the U.S. House ...
as Dr. Meade
*
Leona Roberts
Leona Roberts (born Leona Celinda Doty; July 26, 1879 – January 29, 1954) was an American stage and film actress.
Life and career
Roberts was born in a small village in Illinois. According to Find A Grave she was born in Monroe Twp, Ashtabu ...
as Mrs. Meade
*
Jane Darwell
Jane Darwell (born Patti Woodard; October 15, 1879 – August 13, 1967) was an American actress of stage, film, and television. With appearances in more than 100 major movies spanning half a century, Darwell is perhaps best remembered for her p ...
as Mrs. Merriwether
*
Ona Munson
Ona Munson (born Owena Elizabeth Wolcott; June 16, 1903 – February 11, 1955) was an American film and stage actress. She starred in nine Broadway productions and 20 feature films in her career, which spanned over 30 years.
Born and raised in ...
as Belle Watling
;Minor supporting roles
*
Paul Hurst
Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Grimsby Town.
As a player, he was a defender from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, ba ...
as the Yankee deserter
*
Cammie King
Eleanore Cammack "Cammie" King (August 5, 1934 – September 1, 2010) was an American former actress and public relations officer. She is best known for her portrayal of Bonnie Blue Butler in ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939). She also provided the ...
as Bonnie Blue Butler
*
J. M. Kerrigan as Johnny Gallagher
*
Jackie Moran
Jackie Moran (January 26, 1923 – September 20, 1990) was an American movie actor who, between 1936 and 1946, appeared in over thirty films, primarily in teenage roles.
Early life and Hollywood career
A native of Mattoon, Illinois, Jo ...
as Phil Meade
*
Lillian Kemble-Cooper
Lillian Kemble-Cooper (March 21, 1892 – May 4, 1977) was an English-American actress who had a successful career on Broadway and in Hollywood film.
Biography Early life
Lillian Kemble-Cooper was a member of the Kemble family, a family of ...
as Bonnie's nurse in London
*
Marcella Martin
Marcella Martin (June 5, 1916 – October 31, 1986) was an American actress, remembered for her role as Cathleen Calvert in ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939).
Born in Illinois, Marcella Martin lived with her first husband John Martin in Shreveport ...
as Cathleen Calvert
*
Mickey Kuhn
Theodore Matthew Michael Kuhn Jr. (September 21, 1932 – November 20, 2022) was an American actor. He started his career as a child actor, active on-screen during the Golden Age of Hollywood from the 1930s until the early 1950s. He is noted for ...
as Beau Wilkes
*
Irving Bacon
Irving Bacon (born Irving Von Peters; September 6, 1893 – February 5, 1965) was an American character actor who appeared in almost 500 films.
Early years
Bacon was the son of entertainers Millar Bacon and Myrtle Vane. He was born in St. Jose ...
as the Corporal
*
William Bakewell
William Bakewell (May 2, 1908 – April 15, 1993) was an American actor who achieved his greatest fame as one of the leading juvenile performers of the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Early years
Bakewell was a native of Los Angeles, where he at ...
as the mounted officer
*
Isabel Jewell
Isabel Jewell (July 19, 1907 – April 5, 1972) was an American actress who rose to prominence in the 1930s and early 1940s. Some of her more famous films were '' Ceiling Zero'', ''Marked Woman'', ''A Tale of Two Cities'', and ''Gone with t ...
as Emmy Slattery
*
Eric Linden
Eric Linden (September 15, 1909 – July 14, 1994) was an American actor, primarily active during the 1930s.
Early years
Eric Linden was born in New York City to Phillip and Elvira (née Lundborg) Linden, both of Swedish descent. His father ...
as the amputation case
*
Ward Bond
Wardell Edwin Bond (April 9, 1903 – November 5, 1960) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 200 films and starred in the NBC television series ''Wagon Train'' from 1957 to 1960. Among his best-remembered roles are Ber ...
as Tom, the Yankee captain
*
Cliff Edwards
Clifton Avon "Cliff" Edwards (June 14, 1895 – July 17, 1971), nicknamed "Ukulele Ike", was an American singer, musician and actor. He enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standar ...
as the reminiscent soldier
*
Yakima Canutt
Enos Edward "Yakima" Canutt (November 29, 1895 – May 24, 1986) was an American champion rodeo rider, actor, stuntman, and action director. He developed many stunts for films and the techniques and technology to protect stuntmen in performing t ...
as the renegade
*
Louis Jean Heydt
Louis Jean Heydt (April 17, 1903 – January 29, 1960) was an American character actor in film, television and theatre, most frequently seen in hapless, ineffectual, or fall guy roles.
Early life
Heydt was born in 1903 (not 1905, as many sour ...
as the hungry soldier holding Beau Wilkes
*
Olin Howland
Olin Ross Howland (February 10, 1886 – September 20, 1959) was an American film and theatre actor.
Life and career
Howland was born in Denver, Colorado, to Joby A. Howland, one of the youngest enlisted participants in the Civil War, an ...
as the carpetbagger businessman
*
Robert Elliott as the Yankee major
*
Mary Anderson as Maybelle Merriwether
Production
Before publication of the novel, several Hollywood executives and studios declined to create a film based on it, including
Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1882 or 1884 or 1885 – October 29, 1957) was a Canadian-American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM) in 1924. Under Mayer's management, MGM became the film industr ...
and
Irving Thalberg
Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather productio ...
at
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
(MGM),
Pandro Berman
Pandro Samuel Berman (March 28, 1905July 13, 1996), also known as Pan Berman, was an American film producer.
Early life
Berman was born to a American Jews, Jewish family in Pittsburgh in 1905. His father Henry was general manager of Universal ...
at
RKO Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...
, and
David O. Selznick of
Selznick International Pictures
Selznick International Pictures was a Hollywood motion picture studio created by David O. Selznick in 1935, and dissolved in 1943. In its short existence the independent studio produced two films that received the Academy Award for Best Picture ...
.
Jack L. Warner
Jack Leonard Warner (born Jacob Warner; August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978) was a Canadian-American film executive, who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Warner's career spanned some ...
of
Warner Bros
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...
liked the story, but his biggest star
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...
was not interested, and
Darryl Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...
of
20th Century-Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...
had not offered enough money. However, Selznick changed his mind after his story editor
Kay Brown and business partner
John Hay Whitney
John Hay Whitney (August 17, 1904 – February 8, 1982) was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the ''New York Herald Tribune'', and president of the Museum of Modern Art. He was a member of the Whitney family.
Early life
Whit ...
urged him to buy the film rights. In July 1936—a month after it was published—Selznick bought the rights for $50,000.
Casting
![Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh - Wind](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Clark_Gable_and_Vivien_Leigh_-_Wind.jpg)
The casting of the two lead roles became a complex, two-year endeavor. For the role of Rhett Butler, Selznick from the start wanted
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...
, but Gable was under contract to MGM, which never loaned him to other studios.
Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, a ...
was considered, but
Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor a ...
—to whom Cooper was under contract—refused to loan him out.
Warner offered a package of Bette Davis,
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia ...
, and
Olivia de Havilland
Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British-American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. ...
for lead roles in return for the distribution rights.
By this time, Selznick was determined to get Gable and in August 1938 he eventually struck a deal with his father-in-law, MGM chief Louis B. Mayer: MGM would provide Gable and $1,250,000 for half of the film's budget, and in return, Selznick would have to pay Gable's weekly salary; half the profits would go to MGM while
Loew's, Inc—MGM's parent company—would release the film.
The arrangement to release through MGM meant delaying the start of production until the end of 1938, when Selznick's distribution deal with
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
concluded.
Selznick used the delay to continue to revise the script and, more importantly, build publicity for the film by
searching for the role of Scarlett. Selznick began a nationwide
casting call
In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra (acting), extra for a particular role or part in a scr ...
that interviewed 1,400 unknowns. The effort cost $100,000 and proved useless for the main objective of casting the role, but created "priceless" publicity.
Early frontrunners included
Miriam Hopkins
Ellen Miriam Hopkins (October 18, 1902 – October 9, 1972) was an American actress known for her versatility. She first signed with Paramount Pictures in 1930.
Her best-known roles included a pickpocket in Ernst Lubitsch's romantic comedy '' T ...
and
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lif ...
, who were regarded as possibilities by Selznick prior to the purchase of the film rights;
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...
, who was signed to MGM, was also considered as a potential pairing with Gable. After a deal was struck with MGM, Selznick held discussions with
Norma Shearer
Edith Norma Shearer (August 11, 1902June 12, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress who was active on film from 1919 through 1942. Shearer often played spunky, sexually liberated ingénues. She appeared in adaptations of Noël Coward, Eugene O'N ...
—who was MGM's top female star at the time—but she withdrew herself from consideration.
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...
lobbied hard for the role with the support of her friend, George Cukor, who had been hired to direct, but she was vetoed by Selznick who felt she was not right for the part.
Many famous—or soon-to-be-famous—actresses were considered, but only thirty-one women were actually screen-tested for Scarlett including
Ardis Ankerson
Brenda Marshall (born Ardis Ankerson; September 29, 1915Some question exists regarding the exact date of her birth. An article in the December 31, 1939, issue of the ''Salt Lake Tribune'' says that she was born November 29, 1915. – July 30 ...
,
Jean Arthur
Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene; October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) was an American Broadway and film actress whose career began in silent films in the early 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s.
Arthur had feature roles in three F ...
,
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lif ...
,
Diana Barrymore
Diana Blanche Barrymore Blythe (March 3, 1921 – January 25, 1960), known professionally as Diana Barrymore, was an American film and stage actress.
Early life
Born Diana Blanche Barrymore Blythe in New York, New York, Diana Barrymore was t ...
,
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a show-business family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more t ...
,
Nancy Coleman
Nancy Coleman (December 30, 1912 – January 18, 2000) was an American film, stage, television and radio actress. After working on radio and appearing on the Broadway stage, Nancy Coleman moved to Hollywood to work for Warner Bros. studios.
Ear ...
,
Frances Dee
Frances Marion Dee (November 26, 1909 – March 6, 2004) was an American actress. Her first film was the musical ''Playboy of Paris'' (1930). She starred in the film ''An American Tragedy'' (1931). She is also known for starring in the 1943 Va ...
,
Ellen Drew
Ellen Drew (born Esther Loretta Ray; November 23, 1914 – December 3, 2003) was an American film actress.
Early life
Drew, born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1914, was the daughter of an Irish-born barber. She had a younger brother, Arden. Her ...
(as Terry Ray),
Paulette Goddard
Paulette Goddard (born Marion Levy; June 3, 1910 – April 23, 1990) was an American actress notable for her film career in the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Born in Manhattan and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Goddard initially began her career a ...
,
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrenner; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American film actress, best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories.
After working as a fashion model for the Walter Thornton Model A ...
(under her real name of Edythe Marrenner),
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh ( ; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967; born Vivian Mary Hartley), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, for her definitive performances as Scarlett O'Hara in ''Gon ...
,
Anita Louise
Anita Louise (born Anita Louise Fremault; January 9, 1915 – April 25, 1970) was an American film and television actress best known for her performances in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1935), ''The Story of Louis Pasteur'' (1935), ''Anthony ...
,
Haila Stoddard
Haila Stoddard (November 14, 1913 – February 21, 2011) was an American actress, producer, writer and director.Weber, Bruce (February 25, 2011)Haila Stoddard, Actress and Producer, Dies at 97.''New York Times''; accessed April 20, 2014.
During ...
,
Margaret Tallichet
Margaret "Talli" Tallichet (March 13, 1914 – May 3, 1991) was an American actress and longtime wife of movie director William Wyler. Her best-known leading role was with Peter Lorre in the film noir '' Stranger on the Third Floor'' (194 ...
,
Lana Turner
Lana Turner ( ; born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized per ...
and
Linda Watkins
Linda Mathews Watkins (May 23, 1908 – October 31, 1976) was an American stage, film, and television actress.
Early years
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Watkins was the daughter of Gardiner and Elizabeth R. (née Mathews) Watkins. Her fat ...
. Although Margaret Mitchell refused to publicly name her choice, the actress who came closest to winning her approval was Miriam Hopkins, who Mitchell felt was just the right type of actress to play Scarlett as written in the book. However, Hopkins was in her mid-thirties at the time and was considered too old for the part.
Four actresses, including Jean Arthur and Joan Bennett, were still under consideration by December 1938; however, only two finalists, Paulette Goddard and Vivien Leigh, were tested in
Technicolor
Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
, both on December 20. Goddard almost won the role, but controversy over her marriage with
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
caused Selznick to change his mind.
Selznick had been quietly considering Vivien Leigh, a young English actress who was still little known in America, for the role of Scarlett since February 1938 when Selznick saw her in ''
Fire Over England
''Fire Over England'' is a 1937 London Film Productions film drama, notable for providing the first pairing of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. It was directed by William K. Howard and written by Clemence Dane from the 1936 novel ''Fire Over ...
'' and ''
A Yank at Oxford
''A Yank at Oxford'' is a 1938 comedy-drama film directed by Jack Conway and starring Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O'Sullivan, Vivien Leigh and Edmund Gwenn. The screenplay was written by John Monk Saunders and Leon Gordon. The ...
''. Leigh's American agent was the London representative of the
Myron Selznick
Myron Selznick (October 5, 1898 – March 23, 1944) was an American film producer and talent agent.
Life and career
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Selznick was the son of film executive Lewis J. Selznick and brother of renowned producer D ...
talent agency (headed by David Selznick's brother, one of the owners of Selznick International), and she had requested in February that her name be submitted for consideration as Scarlett. By the summer of 1938 the Selznicks were negotiating with
Alexander Korda
Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)[Ed Sullivan
Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television personality, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New York ...](_blank)
: "Scarlett O'Hara's parents were French and Irish. Identically, Miss Leigh's parents are French and Irish."
A pressing issue for Selznick throughout casting was Hollywood's persistent failure to accurately portray
Southern accents
''Southern Accents'' is the sixth studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released on March 26, 1985, through MCA Records. The album's lead single, "Don't Come Around Here No More", co-written by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, peaked at n ...
. The studio believed that if the accent was not accurately depicted it could prove detrimental to the film's success. Selznick hired
Susan Myrick (an expert on Southern speech, manners and customs recommended to him by Mitchell) and Will A. Price to coach the actors on speaking with a
Southern drawl
A drawl is a perceived feature of some varieties of spoken English and generally indicates slower, longer vowel sounds and diphthongs. The drawl is often perceived as a method of speaking more slowly and may be erroneously attributed to laziness ...
. Mitchell was complimentary about the vocal work of the cast, noting the lack of criticism when the film came out.
Screenplay
Of the original screenplay writer,
Sidney Howard
Sidney Coe Howard (June 26, 1891 – August 23, 1939) was an American playwright, dramatist and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1925 and a posthumous Academy Award in 1940 for the screenplay for ''Gone with the Wind''. ...
, film historian Joanne Yeck writes, "reducing the intricacies of ''Gone with the Wind''s epic dimensions was a herculean task ... and Howard's first submission was far too long, and would have required at least six hours of film; ...
roducerSelznick wanted Howard to remain on the set to make revisions ... but Howard refused to leave New England
ndas a result, revisions were handled by a host of local writers".
Selznick dismissed director George Cukor three weeks into filming and sought out Victor Fleming, who was directing ''
The Wizard of Oz'' at the time. Fleming was dissatisfied with the script, so Selznick brought in the screenwriter
Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht (; February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A successful journalist in his youth, he went on to write 35 books and some of the most enjoyed screenplay ...
to rewrite the entire screenplay within five days. Hecht returned to Howard's original draft and by the end of the week had succeeded in revising the entire first half of the script. Selznick undertook rewriting the second half himself but fell behind schedule, so Howard returned to work on the script for one week, reworking several key scenes in part two.
![DavidOSelznick](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/DavidOSelznick.jpg)
"By the time of the film's release in 1939, there was some question as to who should receive screen credit", writes Yeck. "But despite the number of writers and changes, the final script was remarkably close to Howard's version. The fact that Howard's name alone appears on the credits may have been as much a gesture to his memory as to his writing, for in 1939 Sidney Howard died at age 48 in a farm-tractor accident, and before the movie's premiere."
Selznick, in a memo written in October 1939, discussed the film's writing credits: "
u can say frankly that of the comparatively small amount of material in the picture which is not from the book, most is my own personally, and the only original lines of dialog which are not my own are a few from Sidney Howard and a few from Ben Hecht and a couple more from
John Van Druten
John William Van Druten (1 June 190119 December 1957) was an English playwright and theatre director. He began his career in London, and later moved to America, becoming a U.S. citizen. He was known for his plays of witty and urbane observation ...
. Offhand I doubt that there are ten original words of
liver
The liver is a major Organ (anatomy), organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for ...
Garrett's in the whole script. As to construction, this is about eighty per cent my own, and the rest divided between
Jo Swerling
Jo Swerling (April 8, 1897 – October 23, 1964) was an American theatre writer, lyricist and screenwriter.
Early life and early career
Born Joseph Swerling in Berdichev, Ukraine, Swerling was one of a number of Jewish refugees from the Tsarist ...
and Sidney Howard, with Hecht having contributed materially to the construction of one sequence."
According to Hecht's biographer William MacAdams, "At dawn on Sunday, February 20, 1939, David Selznick ... and director Victor Fleming shook Hecht awake to inform him he was on loan from MGM and must come with them immediately and go to work on ''Gone with the Wind'', which Selznick had begun shooting five weeks before. It was costing Selznick $50,000 each day the film was on hold waiting for a final screenplay rewrite and time was of the essence. Hecht was in the middle of working on the film ''
At the Circus
''At the Circus'' is a 1939 comedy film starring the Marx Brothers (Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx and Chico Marx) released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in which they help save a circus from bankruptcy. The film contains Groucho Marx's classic rendition of ...
'' for the
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...
. Recalling the episode in a letter to screenwriter friend
Gene Fowler
Gene Fowler (born Eugene Devlan) (March 8, 1890 – July 2, 1960) was an American journalist, author, and dramatist.
Biography
Fowler was born in Denver, Colorado. When his mother remarried during his youth, he took his stepfather's name to be ...
, he said he hadn't read the novel but Selznick and director Fleming could not wait for him to read it. They acted scenes based on Sidney Howard's original script which needed to be rewritten in a hurry. Hecht wrote, "After each scene had been performed and discussed, I sat down at the typewriter and wrote it out. Selznick and Fleming, eager to continue with their acting, kept hurrying me. We worked in this fashion for seven days, putting in eighteen to twenty hours a day. Selznick refused to let us eat lunch, arguing that food would slow us up. He provided bananas and salted peanuts ... thus on the seventh day I had completed, unscathed, the first nine reels of the Civil War epic."
MacAdams writes, "It is impossible to determine exactly how much Hecht scripted ... In the official credits filed with the
Screen Writers Guild
The Screen Writers Guild was an organization of Hollywood screenplay authors, formed as a union in 1933. In 1954, it became two different organizations: Writers Guild of America, West and the Writers Guild of America, East.
Founding
Screenwriter ...
, Sidney Howard was of course awarded the sole screen credit, but four other writers were appended ... Jo Swerling for contributing to the treatment, Oliver H. P. Garrett and Barbara Keon to screenplay construction, and Hecht, to dialogue ..."
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
began January 26, 1939, and ended on July 1, with post-production work continuing until November 11, 1939. Director
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head of ...
, with whom Selznick had a long working relationship and who had spent almost two years in pre-production on ''Gone with the Wind'', was replaced after less than three weeks of shooting.
Selznick and Cukor had already disagreed over the pace of filming and the script,
but other explanations put Cukor's departure down to Gable's discomfort at working with him.
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy is an American film critic and professor who has taught at Columbia University, New School for Social Research, Wellesley College, Arizona State University and UCLA Film School. Levy currently teaches in the department of cinem ...
, Cukor's biographer, claimed that Gable had worked Hollywood's gay circuit as a
hustler
Hustler or hustlers may also refer to:
Professions
* Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a:
** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks
** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs
** Male prostitute
** Pimp
** Business man, more gener ...
and that Cukor knew of his past, so Gable used his influence to have him discharged. Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland learned of Cukor's firing on the day the Atlanta bazaar scene was filmed, and the pair went to Selznick's office in full costume and implored him to change his mind.
Victor Fleming
Victor Lonzo Fleming (February 23, 1889 – January 6, 1949) was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone with the Wind'', for which he won an Academy Award for Best ...
, who was directing ''The Wizard of Oz'', was called in from MGM to complete the film, although Cukor continued privately to coach Leigh and De Havilland.
Another MGM director,
Sam Wood
Samuel Grosvenor Wood (July 10, 1883 – September 22, 1949) was an American film director and producer who is best known for having directed such Hollywood hits as ''A Night at the Opera (film), A Night at the Opera'', ''A Day at the Races (fi ...
, worked for two weeks in May when Fleming temporarily left the production due to exhaustion. Although some of Cukor's scenes were later reshot, Selznick estimated that "three solid reels" of his work remained in the final cut. As of the end of principal photography, Cukor had undertaken eighteen days of filming, Fleming ninety-three, and Wood twenty-four.
Cinematographer
Lee Garmes
Lee Garmes, A.S.C. (May 27, 1898 – August 31, 1978) was an American cinematographer. During his career, he worked with directors Howard Hawks, Max Ophüls, Josef von Sternberg, Alfred Hitchcock, King Vidor, Nicholas Ray and Henry Hathaway, whom ...
began the production, but on March 11, 1939—after a month of shooting footage that Selznick and his associates regarded as "too dark"—was replaced with
Ernest Haller
Ernest Jacob Haller (May 31, 1896 – October 21, 1970), sometimes known as Ernie J. Haller, was an American cinematographer.
He was most notable for his involvement in ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939), and his close professional relationships with ...
, working with Technicolor cinematographer
Ray Rennahan
Ray Rennahan, A.S.C. (May 1, 1896 – May 19, 1980) was a motion picture cinematographer.
Biography
For his work in films, he became one of the only six cinematographers to have a "star" on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the other five being Ha ...
. Garmes completed the first third of the film—mostly everything prior to Melanie having the baby—but did not receive a credit.
Most of the filming was done on "
the back forty" of Selznick International with all the location scenes being photographed in California, mostly in
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
or neighboring
Ventura County
Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura.
Ventura County comprises the Oxnar ...
. Tara, the fictional Southern plantation house, existed only as a plywood and papier-mâché facade built on the Selznick studio lot. For the burning of Atlanta, new false facades were built in front of the Selznick backlot's many old abandoned sets, and Selznick himself operated the controls for the explosives that burned them down.
Sources at the time put the estimated production costs at $3.85 million, making it the second most expensive film made up to that point, with only ''
Ben-Hur'' (1925) having cost more.
Although legend persists that the
Hays Office
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...
fined Selznick $5,000 for using the word "damn" in
Butler's exit line, in fact the
Motion Picture Association
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...
board passed an amendment to the Production Code on November 1, 1939, that forbade use of the words "hell" or "damn" except when their use "shall be essential and required for portrayal, in proper historical context, of any scene or dialogue based upon historical fact or folklore ... or a quotation from a literary work, provided that no such use shall be permitted which is intrinsically objectionable or offends good taste". With that amendment, the
Production Code Administration
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the Major film studios#Present, five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Pic ...
had no further objection to Rhett's closing line.
Music
To compose the score, Selznick chose
Max Steiner
Maximilian Raoul Steiner (May 10, 1888 – December 28, 1971) was an Austrian composer and conductor who emigrated to America and went on to become one of Hollywood's greatest musical composers.
Steiner was a child prodigy who conducted ...
, with whom he had worked at RKO Pictures in the early 1930s. Warner Bros.—who had contracted Steiner in 1936—agreed to lend him to Selznick. Steiner spent twelve weeks working on the score, the longest period that he had ever spent writing one, and at two hours and thirty-six minutes long it was also the longest that he had ever written. Five orchestrators were hired:
Hugo Friedhofer
Hugo Wilhelm Friedhofer (May 3, 1901May 17, 1981) was an American composer and cellist best known for his motion picture scores.
Biography
Hugo Wilhelm Friedhofer was born in San Francisco, California, United States. His father, Paul, was a ...
, Maurice de Packh,
Bernhard Kaun
Bernhard Kaun (5 April 1899 – 3 January 1980) was an American composer and orchestrator. He is known for the ''Frankenstein'' (1931) theme.
Filmography
*'' Platinum Blonde'' (1931)
*''Frankenstein'' (1931)
*''What Price Hollywood?'' (1932)
*' ...
,
Adolph Deutsch
Adolph Deutsch (20 October 1897 – 1 January 1980) was a British-American composer, conductor and arranger.
Born Adolph Sender Charles Deutsch in London, England, he emigrated to the United States in 1911, and settled in Buffalo, New York ...
and Reginald Bassett.
The score is characterized by two love themes, one for Ashley's and Melanie's sweet love and another that evokes Scarlett's passion for Ashley, though notably there is no Scarlett and Rhett love theme. Steiner drew considerably on folk and patriotic music, which included
Stephen Foster
Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Minstrel show, minstrel music during the Romantic music, Romantic ...
tunes such as "Louisiana Belle", "Dolly Day", "Ringo De Banjo", "
Beautiful Dreamer
"Beautiful Dreamer" is a parlor song by American songwriter Stephen Foster. It was published posthumously in March 1864, by Wm. A. Pond & Co. of New York. The first edition states on its title page that it is "the last song ever written by Steph ...
", "
Old Folks at Home
"Old Folks at Home" (also known as " Swanee River") is a minstrel song written by Stephen Foster in 1851. Since 1935, it has been the official state song of Florida, although in 2008 the original lyrics were revised. It is Roud Folk Song Inde ...
", and "Katie Belle", which formed the basis of Scarlett's theme; other tunes that feature prominently are: "Marching through Georgia" by
Henry Clay Work
Henry Clay Work (October 1, 1832 – June 8, 1884) was an American composer and songwriter known for the songs Kingdom Coming, Marching Through Georgia, The Ship That Never Returned and My Grandfather's Clock.
Early life and education
Work was ...
, "
Dixie
Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cover ...
", "
Garryowen", and "
The Bonnie Blue Flag
"The Bonnie Blue Flag", also known as "We Are a Band of Brothers", is an 1861 marching song associated with the Confederate States of America. The words were written by the entertainer Harry McCarthy, with the melody taken from the song "The Iris ...
". The theme that is most associated with the film today is the melody that accompanies Tara, the O'Hara plantation; in the early 1940s, "Tara's Theme" formed the musical basis of the song "My Own True Love" by
Mack David
Mack David (July 5, 1912 – December 30, 1993) was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning the period between the early 1940s and the early 1970s. David was credited with writing ...
. In all, there are ninety-nine separate pieces of music featured in the score.
Due to the pressure of completing on time, Steiner received some assistance in composing from Friedhofer, Deutsch and
Heinz Roemheld
Heinz Roemheld (May 1, 1901 – February 11, 1985) was an American composer.
Early life and career
Born Heinz Eric Roemheld in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he was one of four children of German immigrant Heinrich Roemheld and his wife Fanny Rauterberg ...
, and in addition, two short cues—by
Franz Waxman
Franz Waxman (né Wachsmann; December 24, 1906February 24, 1967) was a German-born composer and conductor of Jewish descent, known primarily for his work in the film music genre. His film scores include ''Bride of Frankenstein'', '' Rebecca'', ...
and
William Axt
William Axt (April 19, 1888 – February 13, 1959) was an American composer of nearly two hundred film scores.
Life and career
Born in New York City, Axt graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in The Bronx and studied at the National Conservat ...
—were taken from scores in the MGM library.
Release
Preview, premiere and initial release
On September 9, 1939, Selznick, his wife,
Irene
Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace".
Irene, and related names, may refer to:
* Irene (given name)
Places
* Irene, Gauteng, South Africa
* Irene, South Dakota, United States
* Irene, Texas, United Stat ...
, investor
John "Jock" Whitney, and film editor Hal Kern drove out to
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...
to preview the film at the
Fox Theatre. The film was still a
rough cut
In filmmaking, the rough cut is the second of three stages of offline editing. The term originates from the early days of filmmaking when film stock was physically cut and reassembled, but is still used to describe projects that are recorded and e ...
at this stage, missing completed titles and lacking special optical effects. It ran for four hours and twenty-five minutes; it was later cut to under four hours for its proper release. A
double bill
The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown.
Opera use
Opera ho ...
of ''
Hawaiian Nights
''Hawaiian Nights'' is a 1939 American romantic comedy film directed by Albert S. Rogell. Produced by Universal Pictures, the film was written by Charles Grayson and Lee Loeb. It stars Johnny Downs, Constance Moore, and Mary Carlisle.
A sneak p ...
'' and ''
Beau Geste
''Beau Geste'' is an adventure novel by British writer P. C. Wren, which details the adventures of three English brothers who enlist separately in the French Foreign Legion following the theft of a valuable jewel from the country house of a rel ...
'' was playing, but after the first feature it was announced that instead of the second bill, the theater would be screening a preview of an unnamed upcoming film; the audience were informed they could leave but would not be readmitted once the film had begun, nor would phone calls be allowed once the theater had been sealed. When the title appeared on the screen the audience cheered, and after it had finished it received a standing ovation.
In his biography of Selznick,
David Thomson wrote that the audience's response before the film had even started "was the greatest moment of
elznick'slife, the greatest victory and redemption of all his failings", with Selznick describing the preview cards as "probably the most amazing any picture has ever had".
When Selznick was asked by the press in early September how he felt about the film, he said: "At noon I think it's divine, at midnight I think it's lousy. Sometimes I think it's the greatest picture ever made. But if it's only a great picture, I'll still be satisfied."
![Gone With the Wind Atlanta premiere 1939](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Gone_With_the_Wind_Atlanta_premiere_1939.jpg)
About 300,000 people came out in Atlanta for the film's premiere at the
Loew's Grand Theatre
Loew's Grand Theater, originally DeGive's Grand Opera House, was a movie theater at the corner of Peachtree and Forsyth Streets in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States. It was most famous as the site of the 1939 premiere of ''Gone wit ...
on December 15, 1939. It was the climax of three days of festivities hosted by Mayor
William B. Hartsfield
William Berry Hartsfield Sr. (March 1, 1890 – February 22, 1971), was an American politician who served as the 49th and 51st Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia. His tenure extended from 1937 to 1941 and again from 1942 to 1962, making him the longest-s ...
, which included a parade of limousines featuring stars from the film, receptions, thousands of Confederate flags, and a costume ball.
Eurith D. Rivers
Eurith Dickinson Rivers (December 1, 1895 – June 11, 1967), commonly known as E. D. Rivers and informally as "Ed" Rivers, was an American politician from Lanier County, Georgia. A Democrat, he was the 68th Governor of Georgia, serving from ...
, the governor of Georgia, declared December 15 a state holiday. An estimated 300,000 Atlanta residents and visitors lined the streets for seven miles to view the procession of limousines that brought stars from the airport. Only Leslie Howard and Victor Fleming chose not to attend: Howard had returned to England due to the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and Fleming had fallen out with Selznick and declined to attend any of the premieres.
Hattie McDaniel was also absent, as she and the other black cast members were prevented from attending the premiere due to Georgia's
Jim Crow
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...
laws, which kept them from sitting with their white colleagues. Upon learning that McDaniel had been barred from the premiere, Clark Gable threatened to boycott the event, but McDaniel persuaded him to attend. President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
later recalled it as "the biggest event to happen in the South in my lifetime". Premieres in New York and Los Angeles followed, the latter attended by some of the actresses who had been considered for the part of Scarlett, among them Paulette Goddard, Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford.
From December 1939 to July 1940, the film played only advance-ticket
road show engagements at a limited number of theaters at prices upwards of $1—more than double the price of a regular first-run feature—with MGM collecting an unprecedented 70 percent of the box office receipts, as opposed to the typical 30–35 percent of the period. After reaching saturation as a roadshow, MGM revised its terms to a 50 percent cut and halved the prices, before it finally entered general release in 1941 at "popular" prices.
Including its distribution and advertising costs, total expenditure on the film was as high as $7 million.
Later releases
![Gone With The Wind 1967 re-release](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Gone_With_The_Wind_1967_re-release.jpg)
In 1942, Selznick liquidated his company for tax reasons, and sold his share in ''Gone with the Wind'' to his business partner, John Whitney, for $500,000. In turn, Whitney sold it on to MGM for $2.8 million, so that the studio owned the film outright.
MGM immediately re-released the film in the spring of 1942,
and again in 1947 and 1954.
The 1954 reissue was the first time the film was shown in
widescreen
Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...
, compromising the original
Academy ratio
The Academy ratio of 1.375:1 (abbreviated as 1.37:1) is an aspect ratio of a frame of 35 mm film when used with 4-perf pulldown.Monaco, James. ''How to Read a Film: The Art, Technology, Language, History and Theory of Film and Media''. Rev. ...
and cropping the top and bottom to an aspect ratio of 1.75:1. In doing so, a number of shots were optically re-framed and cut into the three-strip camera negatives, forever altering five shots in the film.
A 1961 release of the film commemorated the
centennial
{{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation)
A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years.
Notable events
Notable centennial events at a ...
anniversary of the start of the Civil War, and it also included a gala "premiere" at the Loew's Grand Theater. It was attended by Selznick and many other stars of the film, including Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland;
Clark Gable had died the previous year. For its 1967 re-release, the film was blown up to
70mm
70 mm film (or 65 mm film) is a wide high-resolution film gauge for motion picture photography, with a negative area nearly 3.5 times as large as the standard 35 mm motion picture film format. As used in cameras, the film is wid ...
,
and issued with updated poster artwork featuring Gable—with his white shirt ripped open—holding Leigh against a backdrop of orange flames.
There were further re-releases in 1971, 1974 and 1989; for the fiftieth anniversary reissue in 1989, it was given a complete audio and video restoration. It was released theatrically one more time in the United States, in 1998 by
Time Warner
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
owned
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after acq ...
.
In 2013, a
4K digital restoration
Film preservation, or film restoration, describes a series of ongoing efforts among film historians, archivists, museums, cinematheques, and non-profit organizations to rescue decaying film stock and preserve the images they contain. In the wi ...
was released in the United Kingdom to coincide with Vivien Leigh's centenary. In 2014, special screenings were scheduled over a two-day period at theaters across the United States to coincide with the film's 75th anniversary.
Television and home media
The film received its U.S. television premiere on the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
cable network on June 11, 1976, and played on the channel for a total of fourteen times throughout the rest of the month.
Other cable channels also broadcast the film during June. It made its
network television
Network, networking and networked may refer to:
Science and technology
* Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects
* Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks
Mathematics
...
debut in November of that year;
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
paid $5 million for a one-off airing, and it was broadcast in two parts on successive evenings.
It became at that time the
highest-rated television program ever presented on a single network, watched by 47.5 percent of the households sampled in America, and 65 percent of television viewers, still the record for the highest-rated film to ever air on television.
In 1978,
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
signed a deal worth $35 million to broadcast the film twenty times over as many years.
Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...
acquired the MGM film library in 1986, but the deal did not include the television rights to ''Gone with the Wind'', which were still held by CBS. A deal was struck in which the rights were returned to Turner Entertainment and CBS's broadcast rights to ''The Wizard of Oz'' were extended.
The film was used to launch two cable channels owned by
Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...
:
Turner Network Television
TNT (originally an abbreviation for Turner Network Television) is an American basic cable television channel
A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is dist ...
(1988) and
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...
(1994).
The film debuted on
videocassette
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassette ...
in March 1985, where it placed second in the sales charts,
and has since been released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
and
Blu-ray Disc
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...
formats.
Reception
Critical response
![Gone With The Wind featuring McDaniel & de Havilland & Leigh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Gone_With_The_Wind_featuring_McDaniel_%26_de_Havilland_%26_Leigh.jpg)
Upon its release, consumer magazines and newspapers generally gave ''Gone with the Wind'' excellent reviews;
however, while its production values, technical achievements, and scale of ambition were universally recognized, some reviewers of the time found the film to be too long and dramatically unconvincing.
Frank S. Nugent for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' best summed up the general sentiment by acknowledging that while it was the most ambitious film production made up to that point, it probably was not the greatest film ever made, but he nevertheless found it to be an "interesting story beautifully told".
Franz Hoellering of ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...
'' was of the same opinion: "The result is a film which is a major event in the history of the industry but only a minor achievement in motion-picture art. There are moments when the two categories meet on good terms, but the long stretches between are filled with mere spectacular efficiency."
While the film was praised for its fidelity to the novel,
this aspect was also singled out as the main factor in contributing to the lengthy running time.
[Alt URL]
John C. Flinn wrote for ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' that Selznick had "left too much in", and that as entertainment, the film would have benefited if repetitious scenes and dialog from the latter part of the story had been trimmed.
''
The Manchester Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' felt that the film's one serious drawback was that the story lacked the epic quality to justify the outlay of time and found the second half, which focuses on Scarlett's "irrelevant marriages" and "domestic squabbles", mostly superfluous, and the sole reason for their inclusion had been "simply because Margaret Mitchell wrote it that way". ''The Guardian'' believed that if "the story had been cut short and tidied up at the point marked by the interval, and if the personal drama had been made subservient to a cinematic treatment of the central theme—the collapse and devastation of the Old South—then ''Gone With the Wind'' might have been a really great film".
Likewise, Hoellering also found the second half of the film to be weaker than the first half: identifying the Civil War to be the driving force of the first part while the characters dominate in the second part, he concluded this is where the main fault of the film lay, commenting that "the characters alone do not suffice". Despite many excellent scenes, he considered the drama to be unconvincing and that the "psychological development" had been neglected.
Much of the praise was reserved for the casting, with Vivien Leigh in particular being singled out for her performance as Scarlett. Nugent described her as the "pivot of the picture" and believed her to be "so perfectly designed for the part by art and nature that any other actress in the role would be inconceivable".
Similarly, Hoellering found her "perfect" in "appearance and movements"; he felt her acting best when she was allowed to "accentuate the split personality she portrays" and thought she was particularly effective in such moments of characterization like the morning after the marital rape scene.
Flinn also found Leigh suited to the role physically and felt she was best in the scenes where she displays courage and determination, such as the escape from Atlanta and when Scarlett kills a Yankee deserter.
Leigh won in the Best Actress category for her performance at the
1939 New York Film Critics Circle Awards. Of Clark Gable's performance as Rhett Butler, Flinn felt the characterization was "as close to Miss Mitchell's conception—and the audience's—as might be imagined",
a view which Nugent concurred with,
although Hoellering felt that Gable didn't quite convince in the closing scenes, as Rhett walks out on Scarlett in disgust.
Of the other principal cast members, both Hoellering and Flinn found Leslie Howard to be "convincing" as the weak-willed Ashley, with Flinn identifying Olivia de Havilland as a "standout" as Melanie;
Nugent was also especially taken with de Havilland's performance, describing it as a "gracious, dignified, tender gem of characterization".
Hattie McDaniel's performance as Mammy was singled out for praise by many critics: Nugent believed she gave the best performance in the film after Vivien Leigh,
with Flinn placing it third after Leigh's and Gable's performances.
Academy Awards
At the
12th Academy Awards
The 12th Academy Awards ceremony, held on February 29, 1940 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best in film for 1939 at a banquet in the Coconut Grove at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. It was hosted ...
, ''Gone with the Wind'' set a record for
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
wins and nominations, winning in eight of the competitive categories it was nominated in, from a total of thirteen nominations. It won for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Editing, and received two further honorary awards for its use of equipment and color (it also became the first color film to win Best Picture).
The film's record of eight competitive wins stood until ''
Gigi'' (1958) won nine, and its overall record of ten was broken by ''
Ben-Hur'' (1959) which won eleven.
''Gone with the Wind'' also held the record for most nominations until ''
All About Eve
''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does ...
'' (1950) secured fourteen.
It was the longest American sound film made up to that point, and may still hold the record of the longest Best Picture winner depending on how it is interpreted.
The running time for ''Gone with the Wind'' is just under 221 minutes, while ''
Lawrence of Arabia
Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...
'' (1962) runs for just over 222 minutes; however, including the
overture
Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overt ...
,
intermission
An intermission, also known as an interval in British and Indian English, is a recess between parts of a performance or production, such as for a theatrical play, opera, concert, or film screening. It should not be confused with an entr'acte (F ...
,
entr'acte
(or ', ;Since 1932–35 the French Academy recommends this spelling, with no apostrophe, so historical, ceremonial and traditional uses (such as the 1924 René Clair film title) are still spelled ''Entr'acte''. German: ' and ', Italian: ''inte ...
, and exit music, ''Gone with the Wind'' lasts for 234 minutes (although some sources put its full length at 238 minutes) while ''Lawrence of Arabia'' comes in slightly shorter at 232 minutes with its additional components.
Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to win an Academy Award—beating out her co-star Olivia de Havilland, who was also nominated in the same category—but was
racially segregated
Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...
from her co-stars at the awards ceremony at the
Coconut Grove
Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as The Grove, is the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bound by North Prospect Drive to the south, LeJeune Road to the west, S ...
; she and her escort were made to sit at a separate table at the back of the room.
Meanwhile, screenwriter Sidney Howard became the first
posthumous
Posthumous may refer to:
* Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death
* Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death
* Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987
* ...
Oscar winner and Selznick personally received the
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award is awarded periodically by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Governors Awards ceremonies to "creative producers, whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion pictur ...
for his career achievements.
Reactions from African-Americans
![Studio publicity Hattie McDaniel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Studio_publicity_Hattie_McDaniel.jpg)
The film has been criticized by black commentators since its release for its depiction of black people and "whitewashing" of the issue of slavery but, initially, newspapers controlled by white Americans did not report on these criticisms.
Carlton Moss
Carlton Moss (February 14, 1909 – August 10, 1997) was an African-American screenwriter, actor and film director. Moss directed the documentary ''Frederick Douglass: The House on Cedar Hill''.
Biography
Moss was raised in both North Carolina ...
, a black dramatist, observed in an open letter that whereas ''
The Birth of a Nation
''The Birth of a Nation'', originally called ''The Clansman'', is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play ''The Cla ...
'' was a "frontal attack on American history and the Negro people", ''Gone with the Wind'' was a "rear attack on the same". He went on to characterize it as a "nostalgic plea for sympathy for a still-living cause of Southern reaction". Moss further called out the stereotypical black characterizations, such as the "shiftless and dull-witted Pork", the "indolent and thoroughly irresponsible Prissy", Big Sam's "radiant acceptance of slavery", and Mammy with her "constant haranguing and doting on every wish of Scarlett".
Similarly,
Melvin B. Tolson
Melvin Beaunorus Tolson (February 6, 1898 – August 29, 1966) was an American poet, educator, columnist, and politician. As a poet, he was influenced both by Modernism and the language and experiences of African Americans, and he was deeply inf ...
, a poet and educator, wrote "''Birth of a Nation'' was such a barefaced lie that a moron could see through it. ''Gone with the Wind'' is such a subtle lie that it will be swallowed as truth by millions of whites and blacks alike."
Following Hattie McDaniel's Oscar win,
Walter Francis White
Walter Francis White (July 1, 1893 – March 21, 1955) was an American civil rights activist who led the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for a quarter of a century, 1929–1955, after joining the organi ...
, leader of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...
, accused her of being an
Uncle Tom
Uncle Tom is the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel, ''Uncle Tom's Cabin''. The character was seen by many readers as a ground-breaking humanistic portrayal of a slave, one who uses nonresistance and gives his life to protect ...
. McDaniel responded that she would "rather make seven hundred dollars a week playing a maid than seven dollars being one"; she further questioned White's qualification to speak on behalf of black people, since he was light-skinned and only one-eighth black.
Opinion in the black community was generally divided upon release, with the film being called by some a "weapon of terror against black America" and an insult to black audiences, and demonstrations were held in various cities.
Malcolm X
Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...
later recalled that "when Butterfly McQueen went into her act, I felt like crawling under the rug".
Even so, some sections of the black community recognized McDaniel's achievements to be representative of progression: some African-Americans crossed picket lines and praised McDaniel's warm and witty characterization, and others hoped that the industry's recognition of her work would lead to increased visibility on screen for other black actors. In its editorial congratulation to McDaniel on winning her Academy Award, ''
Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life'' used the film as a reminder of the "limit" put on black aspiration by old prejudices.
Audience response
Upon its release, ''Gone with the Wind'' broke attendance records everywhere. At the
Capitol Theatre in New York alone, it averaged eleven thousand admissions per day in late December,
and within four years of its release had sold an estimated sixty million tickets across the United States—sales equivalent to just under
half the population at the time.
It repeated its success overseas, and was a sensational hit during
the Blitz
The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'.
The Germa ...
in London, opening in April 1940 and playing for four years. By the time MGM withdrew it from circulation, at the end of 1943, its worldwide distribution had returned a
gross rental
A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is freq ...
(the studio's share of the box office gross) of $32 million, making it the
most profitable film ever made up to that point.
It eventually opened in Japan in September 1952 and became the highest-grossing foreign film there.
![Crowds line up to see](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Crowds_line_up_to_see_%22Gone_with_the_Wind%22_in_Pensacola%2C_Florida_%281947%29.jpg)
Even though it earned its investors roughly twice as much as the previous record-holder, ''The Birth of a Nation'',
the
box-office
A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is freq ...
performances of the two films were likely much closer. The bulk of the earnings from ''Gone with the Wind'' came from its roadshow and first-run engagements, where the distributor received 70 percent and 50 percent of the box-office gross respectively, rather than its general release, which at the time typically saw the distributor's share set at 30–35 percent of the gross.
In the case of ''The Birth of a Nation'', its distributor, Epoch, sold off many of its distribution territories on a "states rights" basis—which typically amounted to 10 percent of the box-office gross—and Epoch's accounts are only indicative of its own profits from the film, and not the local distributors.
Carl E. Milliken, secretary of the
Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association, estimated that ''The Birth of a Nation'' had been seen by fifty million people by 1930.
When it was re-released in 1947, it earned an impressive $5 million rental in the United States and Canada, and was one of the top ten releases of the year.
Successful re-releases in 1954 and 1961 enabled it to retain its position as the industry's top earner, despite strong challenges from more recent films such as ''Ben-Hur'',
but it was finally overtaken by ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...
'' in 1966.
The 1967 reissue was unusual in that MGM opted to roadshow it, a decision that turned it into the most successful re-release in the history of the industry. It generated a box-office gross of $68 million, making it MGM's most lucrative film after ''
Doctor Zhivago
''Doctor Zhivago'' is the title of a novel by Boris Pasternak and its various adaptations.
Description
The story, in all of its forms, describes the life of the fictional Russian physician and poet Yuri Zhivago and deals with love and loss during ...
'' from the latter half of the decade. MGM earned a rental of $41 million from the release,
with the U.S. and Canadian share amounting to over $30 million, placing it second only to ''
The Graduate
''The Graduate'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Wil ...
'' for that year.
Including its $6.7 million rental from the 1961 reissue, it was the fourth highest-earner of the decade in the North American market, with only ''The Sound of Music'', ''The Graduate'' and ''Doctor Zhivago'' making more for their distributors.
A further re-release in 1971 allowed it to briefly recapture the record from ''The Sound of Music'', bringing its total worldwide gross rental to about $116 million by the end of 1971—more than trebling its earnings from its initial release—before losing the record again the following year to ''
The Godfather
''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...
''.
Across all releases, it is estimated that ''Gone with the Wind'' has sold over
200 million tickets in the United States and Canada,
generating more theater admissions in that territory than any other film. The film was phenomenally successful in
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
too, generating approximately
35 million tickets in the United Kingdom and over
16 million in France, respectively becoming the biggest and sixth-biggest ticket-sellers in those markets. The film's appeal has endured overseas, sustaining a popularity similar to its domestic longevity; in 1975 it played to capacity audiences every night during the first three weeks of its run at London's Plaza 2 Theatre, and in Japan it generated over half a million admissions at twenty theaters during a five-week engagement. In total, ''Gone with the Wind'' has grossed over $390 million globally at the box office; in 2007 Turner Entertainment estimated the gross to be equivalent to approximately $3.3 billion when adjusted for
inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
to current prices;
''
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'' arrived at a figure of $3.44 billion in 2014 making it the
most successful film in cinema history.
The film remains immensely popular with audiences into the 21st century, having been
voted the most popular film in two nationwide polls of Americans undertaken by
Harris Interactive in 2008, and again in 2014. The market research firm surveyed over two thousand U.S. adults, with the results weighted by age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income so their proportions matched the composition of the adult population.
Critical re-evaluation
In revisiting the film in the 1970s,
Arthur Schlesinger believed that Hollywood films generally age well, revealing an unexpected depth or integrity, but in the case of ''Gone with the Wind'' time has not treated it kindly.
Richard Schickel
Richard Warren Schickel (February 10, 1933 – February 18, 2017) was an American film historian, journalist, author, documentarian, and film and literary critic. He was a film critic for ''Time'' magazine from 1965–2010, and also wro ...
argued that one measure of a film's quality is to ask what the viewer can remember of it, and the film falls down in this regard: unforgettable imagery and dialogue are simply not present.
Stanley Kauffmann
Stanley Kauffmann (April 24, 1916 – October 9, 2013) was an American writer, editor, and critic of film and theater.
Career
Kauffmann started with ''The New Republic'' in 1958 and contributed film criticism to that magazine for the next fifty ...
, likewise, also found the film to be a largely forgettable experience, claiming he could only remember two scenes vividly.
Both Schickel and Schlesinger put this down to it being "badly written", in turn describing the dialogue as "flowery" and possessing a "picture postcard" sensibility.
Schickel also believes the film fails as popular art, in that it has limited rewatch value—a sentiment that Kauffmann also concurs with, stating that having watched it twice he hopes "never to see it again: twice is twice as much as any lifetime needs".
Both Schickel and
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism.
Early life
Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Katav ...
identify the film's main failing is in possessing a producer's sensibility rather than an artistic one: having gone through so many directors and writers the film does not carry a sense of being "created" or "directed", but rather having emerged "steaming from the crowded kitchen", where the main creative force was a producer's obsession in making the film as literally faithful to the novel as possible.
Sarris concedes that despite its artistic failings, the film does hold a mandate around the world as the "single most beloved entertainment ever produced".
Judith Crist
Judith Crist (; May 22, 1922 – August 7, 2012) was an American film critic and academic.
She appeared regularly on the ''Today'' show from 1964 to 1973 Martin, Douglas (August 8, 2012)"Judith Crist, Zinging and Influential Film Critic, ...
observes that, kitsch aside, the film is "undoubtedly still the best and most durable piece of popular entertainment to have come off the Hollywood assembly lines", the product of a showman with "taste and intelligence".
Schlesinger notes that the first half of the film does have a "sweep and vigor" that aspire to its epic theme, but—finding agreement with the film's contemporary criticisms—the personal lives take over in the second half, and it ends up losing its theme in unconvincing sentimentality.
Kauffmann also finds interesting parallels with ''The Godfather'', which had just replaced ''Gone with the Wind'' as the highest-grosser at the time: both were produced from "ultra-American" best-selling novels, both live within codes of honor that are romanticized, and both in essence offer cultural fabrication or revisionism.
The critical perception of the film has shifted in the intervening years, which resulted in it being ranked 235th in ''
Sight & Sound
''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...
''s prestigious
decennial
An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints. ...
critics poll in 2012,
and in 2015 sixty-two international film critics polled by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
voted it the 97th best American film.
Industry recognition
The film has featured in several high-profile industry polls. In 1977 it was voted the most popular film by the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
(AFI), in a poll of the organization's membership;
the AFI also ranked the film fourth on its "
100 Greatest Movies
This is a list of films considered the best in national and international surveys of critics and the public.
Some surveys focus on all films, while others focus on a particular genre or country. Voting systems differ, and some surveys suffer ...
" list in 1998,
with it slipping down to sixth place in the
tenth anniversary edition in 2007.
Film directors ranked it 322nd in the 2012 edition of the decennial ''
Sight & Sound
''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...
'' poll,
and in 2016 it was selected as the ninth best "directorial achievement" in a
Directors Guild of America
The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...
members poll. In 2014, it placed fifteenth in an extensive poll undertaken by ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'', which balloted every studio, agency, publicity firm and production house in the
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
region.
''Gone with the Wind'' was one of the twenty-five inaugural films selected for preservation in the
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...
by the United States
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
in 1989 for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Analysis and controversies
Historical portrayal
''Gone with the Wind'' has been criticized as having perpetuated Civil War myths and
black stereotypes.
David Reynolds wrote that "The white women are elegant, their menfolk are noble or at least dashing. And, in the background, the black slaves are mostly dutiful and content, clearly incapable of an independent existence." Reynolds likened ''Gone with the Wind'' to ''The Birth of a Nation'' and other re-imaginings of the South during the era of segregation, in which white Southerners are portrayed as defending traditional values, and the issue of slavery is largely ignored.
The film has been described as a "regression" that promotes both the myth of the black rapist and the honorable and defensive role of the
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
during Reconstruction,
and as a "social propaganda" film offering a "
white supremacist
White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...
" view of the past.
From 1972 to 1996, the
Atlanta Historical Society
Atlanta History Center is a history museum and research center located in the Buckhead (Atlanta), Buckhead district of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The Museum was founded in 1926 and currently consists of nine permanent, and several t ...
held a number of ''Gone with the Wind'' exhibits, among them a 1994 exhibit which was titled "Disputed Territories: ''Gone with the Wind'' and Southern Myths". One of the questions which was explored by the exhibit was "How True to Life Were the Slaves in GWTW?" This section showed that slave experiences were diverse and as a result, it concluded that the "happy darky" was a myth, as was the belief that all slaves experienced violence and brutality.
W. Bryan Rommel Ruiz has argued that despite factual inaccuracies in its depiction of the Reconstruction period, ''Gone with the Wind'' reflects contemporary interpretations of it that were common in the early 20th century. One such viewpoint is reflected in a brief scene in which Mammy fends off a leering
freedman
A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom a ...
: a politician can be heard offering
forty acres and a mule
Forty acres and a mule was part of Special Field Orders No. 15, a wartime order proclaimed by Union General William Tecumseh Sherman on January 16, 1865, during the American Civil War, to allot land to some freed families, in plots of land no la ...
to the emancipated slaves in exchange for their votes. The inference is taken to mean that freedmen are ignorant about politics and unprepared for freedom, unwittingly becoming the tools of corrupt Reconstruction officials. While perpetuating some
Lost Cause
The Lost Cause of the Confederacy (or simply Lost Cause) is an American pseudohistorical negationist mythology that claims the cause of the Confederate States during the American Civil War was just, heroic, and not centered on slavery. First ...
myths, the film makes concessions with regard to others. After the attack on Scarlett in the shanty town, a group of men including Scarlett's husband Frank, Rhett Butler, and Ashley raid the town; in the novel they belong to the Ku Klux Klan, representing the common trope of protecting the white woman's virtue, but the filmmakers consciously neutralize the presence of the Klan in the film by simply referring to it as a "political meeting".
Thomas Cripps reasons that in some respects, the film undercuts racial stereotypes;
in particular, the film created greater engagement between Hollywood and black audiences,
with dozens of films making small gestures in recognition of the emerging trend.
Only a few weeks after its initial run, a story editor at Warner wrote a memorandum to
Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger (born Walter Feuchtwanger; July 11, 1894 – November 18, 1968) was an American film producer active from the 1910s, his career concluding with the turbulent production of '' Cleopatra,'' his last film, in 1963. He began at Para ...
about ''Mississippi Belle'', a script that contained the worst excesses of plantation films, suggesting that ''Gone with the Wind'' had made the film "unproducible". More than any film since ''The Birth of a Nation'', it unleashed a variety of social forces that foreshadowed an alliance of white liberals and black people who encouraged the expectation that black people would one day achieve equality. According to Cripps, the film eventually became a template for measuring social change.
21st-century reappraisal
In the 21st century, criticism of the film's depictions of race and slavery led to its availability being curtailed. In 2017, ''Gone with the Wind'' was pulled from the schedule at the
Orpheum Theatre in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, after a 34-year run of annual showings. On June 9, 2020, the film was removed from
HBO Max
HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
amid the
George Floyd protests
The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...
as well as in response to an
op-ed
An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. O ...
written by screenwriter
John Ridley
John Ridley IV (born 1965) is an American screenwriter, television director, novelist, and showrunner, known for '' 12 Years a Slave'', for which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He is also the creator and showrunner of the a ...
that was published in that day's edition of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', which called for the streaming service to temporarily remove the film from its content library. He wrote that "it continues to give cover to those who falsely claim that clinging to the iconography of the plantation era is a matter of 'heritage, not hate'." A spokesperson for HBO Max said that the film was "a product of its time" and as a result, it depicted "ethnic and racial prejudices" that "were wrong then and are wrong today". It was also announced that the film would return to the streaming service at a later date, although it would incorporate "a discussion of its historical context and a denouncement of those very depictions, but will be presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. If we are to create a more just, equitable and inclusive future, we must first acknowledge and understand our history."
The film's removal sparked a debate about
political correctness
''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
going too far, with film critics and historians criticising HBO as engaging in
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
. Following its withdrawal, the film reached the top of
Amazon's best-sellers sales chart for TV and films, and fifth place on
Apple's iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
film chart. HBO Max returned the film to its service later that month, with a new introduction by
Jacqueline Stewart
Jacqueline Najuma Stewart is a University of Chicago professor of cinema studies and director of the nonprofit arts organization, Black Cinema House. She has written about the history of African Americans in filmmaking in ''Migrating to the Movies: ...
. Stewart described the film, in an
op-ed
An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. O ...
for
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
, as "a prime text for examining expressions of white supremacy in popular culture", and said that "it is precisely because of the ongoing, painful patterns of racial injustice and disregard for Black lives that ''Gone with the Wind'' should stay in circulation and remain available for viewing, analysis and discussion." She described the controversy as "an opportunity to think about what classic films can teach us."
At a political rally in February 2020,
President Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
criticized the
92nd Academy Awards
The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 2019 and took place on February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:00 ...
ceremony, stating that ''Gone with the Wind'' and ''
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in t ...
'' (1950) were more deserving of the award for
Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
than that year's winner, the South Korean film ''
Parasite
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...
''. His comments elicited commentary from critics and a backlash from pundits across the political spectrum on
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
.
Depiction of marital rape
One of the most notorious and widely condemned scenes in ''Gone with the Wind'' depicts what is now legally defined as "
marital rape
Marital rape or spousal rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one's spouse without the spouse's consent. The lack of consent is the essential element and need not involve physical violence. Marital rape is considered a form of domestic vi ...
".
The scene begins with Scarlett and Rhett at the bottom of the staircase, where he begins to kiss her, refusing to be told 'no' by the struggling Scarlett;
Rhett ignores her resistance, scolds her and carries her up the stairs to the bedroom,
where the audience is left in no doubt that she will "get what's coming to her".
The next scene, the following morning, shows Scarlett glowing with barely suppressed sexual satisfaction;
Rhett apologizes for his behavior, blaming it on his drinking.
The scene has been accused of combining romance and rape by making them indistinguishable from each other,
and of reinforcing a notion about
forced sex
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, Abusive power and control, ...
: that women secretly enjoy it, and it is an acceptable way for a man to treat his wife.
Film critic
Molly Haskell
Molly Clark Haskell (born September 29, 1939)Aitken, Ian, ed. (2006)''Encyclopedia of Documentary Film, Volume 2'' New York: Routledge. p. 541. . is an American feminist film critic and author. She contributed to ''The Village Voice''—firs ...
has argued that, nevertheless, for women who are uncritical of the scene, it is by and large consistent with what they have in mind if they
fantasize about being raped. Their fantasies revolve around love and romance rather than forced sex; they will assume that Scarlett was not an unwilling sexual partner and wanted Rhett to take the initiative and insist on having sexual intercourse.
Legacy
In popular culture
''Gone with the Wind'' and its production have been explicitly referenced, satirized, dramatized and analyzed on numerous occasions across a range of media, from contemporaneous works such as ''
Second Fiddle''—a 1939 film spoofing the "search for Scarlett"—to current television shows, such as ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
''.
''
The Scarlett O'Hara War
''The Scarlett O'Hara War'' is a 1980 American made-for-television drama film directed by John Erman. It is based on the 1979 novel '' Moviola'' by Garson Kanin. Set in late 1930s Hollywood, it is about the search for the actress to play Scarle ...
'' (a 1980 television dramatization of the casting of Scarlett),
''Moonlight and Magnolias'' (a 2007 play by
Ron Hutchinson that dramatizes Ben Hecht's five-day re-write of the script),
and "
Went with the Wind!
"Went with the Wind!" is a comedy sketch featured on the eighth episode of the tenth season of ''The Carol Burnett Show''. It originally aired in the United States on CBS on November 13, 1976, and is a parody of the 1939 American historical drama f ...
" (a sketch on ''
The Carol Burnett Show
''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Harvey ...
'' that parodied the film in the aftermath of its television debut in 1976) are among the more noteworthy examples of its enduring presence in popular culture.
It was also the subject of a 1988 documentary, ''
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind'', detailing the film's difficult production history.
In 1990, the
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
issued a stamp depicting Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh embracing in a scene from the film.
In 2003, Leigh and Gable (as Scarlett and Rhett) were ranked number 95 on
VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...
's list of the "200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons of All Time".
Sequel
Following the publication of her novel, Margaret Mitchell was inundated with requests for a sequel but she claimed not to have a notion of what happened to Scarlett and Rhett, and as a result, she had "left them to their ultimate fate". Until her death in 1949, Mitchell continued to resist pressure to write a sequel from Selznick and MGM. In 1975, her brother, Stephens Mitchell (who assumed control of her estate), authorized a sequel that would be jointly produced by MGM and
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
on a budget of $12 million.
Anne Edwards
Anne Edwards (born August 20, 1927) is an American writer best known for her biographies of celebrities that include Princess Diana, Maria Callas, Judy Garland, Katharine Hepburn, Vivien Leigh, Margaret Mitchell, Ronald Reagan, Barbra Streisand ...
was commissioned to write the sequel as a novel which would then be adapted into a screenplay, and published in conjunction with the film's release. Edwards submitted a 775-page manuscript which was titled ''Tara, The Continuation of Gone with the Wind'', set between 1872 and 1882 and focusing on Scarlett's divorce from Rhett; MGM was not satisfied with the story and the deal collapsed.
The idea was revived in the 1990s, when a sequel was finally produced in 1994, in the form of a television
miniseries
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
. ''
Scarlett'' was based on
the novel
''The Novel'' (1991) is a novel written by American author James A. Michener. A departure from Michener's better known historical fiction, ''The Novel'' is told from the viewpoints of four different characters involved in the life and work of ...
by
Alexandra Ripley
Alexandra Ripley ( Braid; January 8, 1934 – January 10, 2004) was an American writer best known as the author of '' Scarlett'' (1991), written as a sequel to ''Gone with the Wind''. Her first novel was ''Who's the Lady in the President's Bed? ...
, itself a sequel to Mitchell's book. British actors
Joanne Whalley
Joanne Whalley (born 25 August 1961) is an English actress who began her career in 1974. She has appeared primarily on television, but also in nearly 30 feature films, including ''Dance with a Stranger'' (1985), ''Willow (film), Willow'' (1988), ...
and
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (; born 21 March 1946) is a British actor. Beginning his career on stage, he made his film debut as Philip II of France in the 1968 historical drama ''The Lion in Winter''. He gained international prominence as ...
were cast as Scarlett and Rhett, and the series follows Scarlett's relocation to Ireland after she again becomes pregnant by Rhett.
See also
*
List of films featuring slavery
Film has been the most influential medium in the presentation of the history of slavery to the general public. The American film industry has had a complex relationship with slavery, and until recent decades often avoided the topic. Films such a ...
References
Explanatory notes
Citations
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
''Gone with the Wind''at the
TCM Mediaroom
*
William Hartsfieldan
Russell Bellmanpremiere films at the
Atlanta History Center
Atlanta History Center is a history museum and research center located in the Buckhead district of Atlanta, Georgia. The Museum was founded in 1926 and currently consists of nine permanent, and several temporary, exhibitions. Atlanta History Cen ...
.
Producing ''Gone with the Wind''web exhibition at the
Harry Ransom Center
The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...
''Gone with the Wind''article series at ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gone With The Wind (Film)
1939 films
1939 war films
1930s color films
1930s historical films
1939 romance films
1939 romantic drama films
African-American-related controversies in film
African-American-related controversies
Race-related controversies in film
American Civil War films
American epic films
American films about revenge
American historical films
American historical romance films
American romantic drama films
Articles containing video clips
Best Picture Academy Award winners
Culture of Atlanta
1930s English-language films
Films about American slavery
Films about rape
Films based on American novels
Films directed by Victor Fleming
Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award-winning performance
Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award-winning performance
Films produced by David O. Selznick
Films scored by Max Steiner
Films set in Atlanta
Films set in Georgia (U.S. state)
Films set in London
Films set in the 1860s
Films set in the 1870s
Films shot in California
Films whose art director won the Best Art Direction Academy Award
Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography Academy Award
Films whose director won the Best Directing Academy Award
Films whose editor won the Best Film Editing Academy Award
Films whose writer won the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award
Irish-American mass media
Lost Cause of the Confederacy
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Romantic epic films
Selznick International Pictures films
United States National Film Registry films
Works based on Gone with the Wind
Photoplay Awards film of the year winners
1930s American films