Gone with the Wind (1939)

Director:

Victor Fleming

Writers:

Margaret Mitchell (novel)
Sidney Howard (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 January 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Romance | War

Tagline:

Now in 70mm. wide screen and full stereophonic sound! [reissue]

Plot:

American classic in which a manipulative woman and a roguish man carry on a turbulent love affair in the American south during the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Plot Keywords:

Male Female Relationship | Nurse | Husband Wife Relationship | Friendship | Rival

Awards:

Won 8 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Thomas Mitchell	...	Gerald O'Hara
Barbara O'Neil	...	Ellen O'Hara - His Wife (as Barbara O'Neill)
Vivien Leigh	...	Scarlett O'Hara - Their Daughter
Evelyn Keyes	...	Suellen O'Hara - Their Daughter
Ann Rutherford	...	Carreen O'Hara - Their Daughter
George Reeves	...	Brent Tarleton - Scarlett's Beau
Fred Crane	...	Stuart Tarleton - Scarlett's Beau
Hattie McDaniel	...	Mammy - O'Hara House Servant
Oscar Polk	...	Pork - O'Hara House Servant
Butterfly McQueen	...	Prissy - O'Hara House Servant
Victor Jory	...	Jonas Wilkerson - O'Hara Field Overseer
Everett Brown	...	Big Sam - O'Hara Field Foreman
Howard C. Hickman	...	John Wilkes (as Howard Hickman)
Alicia Rhett	...	India Wilkes - His Daughter
Leslie Howard	...	Ashley Wilkes

Runtime:

226 min (copyright length) | USA:238 min (restored DVD version) | Sweden:223 min (1969 re-release) | Sweden:234 min (1985 re-release) | UK:224 min (1994 re-release) | UK:233 min (1989 re-release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (original release) | 70 mm 6-Track (re-release) (1967) | DTS (re-release) (1998) | Dolby Digital (re-release) (1998) | Matrix Surround (1989 remix by Chace) | Perspecta Stereo (re-release) (1954) | SDDS (re-release) (1998)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-11 (2004) | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G (alternate rating) | Australia:PG | Belgium:KT | Canada:G (British Columbia/Nova Scotia/Québec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Chile:TE | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:PG | Norway:16 | Peru:PT | South Korea:12 | Sweden:11 (re-release) | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #5729) (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1971)

Filming Locations:

Agoura Hills, California, USA

Company:

Selznick International Pictures

Trivia:

In the scene where Rhett pours Mammy a drink after the birth of Bonnie, for a joke during a take, Clark Gable actually poured alcohol instead of the usual tea into the decanter without Hattie McDaniel knowing it until she took a swig.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: During the barbecue at the Wilkes' where she wears a green dress we have not previously seen, Scarlett says to the Tarleton twins, "but I wore this old thing because I thought you liked it." While this could be taken as a reference to an earlier scene (which it was in the novel), she could just as well be referring to a time before the movie started. (In the original script she was seen earlier in the green dress, but the dress was changed to white without changing the line in this scene).

Quotes:

[first lines]
Brent Tarleton: What do we care if we *were* expelled from college, Scarlett? The war is gonna start any day now, so we'd have left college anyhow.
Stuart Tarleton: Oh, isn't it exciting, Scarlett? You know those fool Yanks may actually *want* a war?
Brent Tarleton: We'll show 'em!
Scarlett: Fiddle-dee-dee. War, war, war; this war talk's spoiling all the fun at every party this spring. I get so bored I could scream. Besides... there isn't going to be any war.
Brent Tarleton: Not going to be any war?
Stuart Tarleton: Why, honey, of course there's gonna be a war.
Scarlett: If either of you boys says "war" just once again, I'll go in the house and slam the door.
Brent Tarleton: But Scarlett...
Stuart Tarleton: Don't you *want* us to have a war?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ray (2004/I)

Soundtrack:

Ring, Ring de Banjo!

An immortal and towering achievement

It is always in people's nature to put down great things and to nit-pick or sometimes just be plain mean. No matter what anyone says, this is utterly fantastic: in story, in special effects, in casting (with perhaps the sad exception of Leslie Howard as "Ashley") and in captivation. Vivien Leigh is so powerful, passionate, magnificent and beautiful that you could watch it 1000 times on that ground alone. She brings something so convincing and human to the role of the selfish, spoilt Scarlett; the character is larger than life.

Leaving Vivien's astounding performance aside, this remains a sweeping unrivalled epic. Watch it. Esther's rating: 20/10