Gone With the Wind (1939)
USA 222m, Colour
Director: Victor Fleming, George Cukor; Cast: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Hattie McDaniel, Butterfly McQueen
Following in the footsteps of the first American epic film, The Birth of a Nation (1915), Gone With the Wind is a fictional account of the period surrounding the American Civil War from a white Southern and oversimplified historical perspective. Like Griffith’s earlier film, the Civil War served as a backdrop for a family drama and love story, however, unlike Birth of a Nation, Gone with the Wind was based on Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel of the same name, and not from an explicitly racist agenda. Considered to be the first Hollywood blockbuster, and one of the most influential films of all time, Gone With the Wind is a monumental undertaking filmed in glorious Technicolor, boasting an impressive cast of stars, thousands of extras, and some of the finest costuming, sets, and music that Hollywood has ever assembled (Klaus Ming May 2010).
My most recent re-watching of this film was the 4th or 5th time i’ve seen Gone with the Wind. I probably enjoyed it less than any previous viewing. With the sole purpose to review it for my 1001 club, I suspect that I was more critical or sensitive to every aspect of the film – and not swept up by the story as i was in the past. Still, a remarkable achievement in movie making for 1939.
I think feminism ruined me for this movie. I didn’t see it until a few years ago, after hearing everyone and his brother tell me “You have to see this! It’s an American classic!” So I saw it, and I was impressed with all the things I was supposed to be impressed with: the set design, the costumes, the sweeping scope, the big themes. But in truth I really kind of hate Scarlett O’hara. She’s swoony and manipulative and completely narcissistic. I don’t see her as any kind of heroic figure.
Clark Gable, though? Woof. What a hunk.
I agree, Scarlett is a piece of work – and despite the efforts to turn her into a heroic figure in the second half of the film, I never really got over disliking her either. As for Clark Gable, he played a tremendously entertaining character in Rhett Butler – especially with lines like: “A cat’s a better mother than you”.
Having just seen this again not too long ago, I have to just say how much I love this movie and am just amazed how well this stands up. The story is timeless and without fail impresses audiences of today…even with our fickle viewing tastes.
Mer, I can agree with you on having nothing but angst for Scarlett…as well as thinking that there are so very very few stars now adays that can even come close to Gable. Gable, Grant…they just don’t make them like they used to…and that makes me sad:(