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THE PLOT:
The story begins in the spring of 1861 and centres around the very pretty but self-centred Scarlett O’ Hara - a true Southern belle who lives on her father’s plantation ‘Tara’ in Georgia. Scarlett is
spolit and precocious and lives in her own pampered little world – detached from reality;
her only concern in life is for the attentions of her army of suitors that flock around her (quite literally on Tara’s front porch) and her desire to marry Southern gentleman Ashley Wilkes. However, her plans are scuppered when she learns that Ashley has become engaged to her cousin Melanie Hamilton – a frail, plain creature from Atlanta. At a
barbeque held at the Wilkes plantation Scarlett selfishly declares her true feelings to Ashley. He tells her that although he loves her he is marrying Melanie because she and
he are very alike, whereas he and Scarlett are very different. Hell hath no fury like a
woman scorned, and Scarlett retaliates by slapping him. Ashley leaves the room, whereupon a startled Scarlett discovers that she is not alone; the whole scene has been witnessed by Rhett Butler – a scandalous but dashing adventurer. He ‘compliments’
her on being so ‘unladylike’ and a spark is ignited….
The Civil War begins and Melanie’s timid and dull brother Charles Hamilton proposes
to Scarlett. She accepts ‘on the re-bound’ – spitefully hoping to upset Ashley after his rejection of her. Over a period of two months the couple marry, Charles joins the army
and dies of the measles and Scarlett discovers that she is pregnant. She gives birth to
a son - Wade – but soon she grows bored, unhappy and resentful. She decides to go on an extended trip to Atlanta where she stays with Melanie and Melanie’s aunt, Pittypat.
Scarlett thrives in the great city, and in spite of her recent bereavement she
begins to see a lot of Rhett socially. Although he infuriates her with his bluntness and mockery, there is an undeniable chemistry between them, and when he encourages her
to ignore the severely restrictive social etiquette required of Southern widows she complies, dancing with him at a ball whilst at the same time outraging Atlanta society.
The war moves on and Atlanta is hit hard with food and clothing shortages. Both Scarlett
and Melanie fear for Ashley’s safety, who, after the bloody battle of Gettysburg is captured and sent to prison. The Yankee army presses forward bearing down on Atlanta,
and Scarlett is desperate to return home to Tara. However, she has promised Ashley to stay with the pregnant Melanie who could give birth at any time.
On the night that the Yankees capture Atlanta and set the city on fire Melanie gives
birth to a son – Beau. Rhett comes to Scarlett and Melanie’s rescue and helps them to escape the burning city but he leaves them outside of Atlanta to join the Confederate
Army. It is here that Scarlett displays outstanding guts and courage as she drives the cart
with Melanie and the baby in the back through a dangerous forest full of deserters and soldiers before reaching her beloved Tara. However, upon arrival she learns that her mother Ellen is dead, her father Gerald has lost his mind and that the Yankee Army has ravaged the plantation stripping it of food and cotton. Angry, exhausted and starving
Scarlett vows never to go hungry again.
It is at this point that Scarlett’s guts and determination come to the fore as she proceeds to rebuild ‘Tara’, along the way shooting a Yankee thief who breaks into the mansion and also extinguishing a fire started by a spiteful Yankee soldier. Eventually the war ends, word comes that Ashley is free and on his way home and a constant flow of returning soldiers begins to pour through Tara.One of them – a one-legged homeless Confederate
Named Will Benteen stays on to help Scarlett run the plantation.Problems arise once more for Scarlett when Benteen comes to her one day to inform her that Jonas Wilkerson,
A former employee at Tara and the current government official has raised the taxes on ‘Tara’ with the intention of driving the O’ Hara’s out and buying the plantation for himself. Scarlett is desperate to hang on to her family home and rushes to Atlanta to try and seduce Rhett so that he will give her the three hundred dollars she needs for taxes.
Rhett is now a fabulously wealthy man thanks to his blockade-running operation in the war and from food speculation.Unfortunatley for Scarlett, Rhett is in jail and cannot help her, so instead she meets with her sister’s beau Frank Kennedy (who now owns a general
store) to devise a plan.Scarlett will do anything to save ‘Tara’ and in a breath-taking act
of betrayal she marries Frank, pays the taxes on ‘Tara’ and then proceeds to work at making his business more profitable.
In the meantime, Rhett blackmails his way out of prison and loans Scarlett the money to
buy a sawmill, and much to the chagrin of Atlanta socity she becomes a shrewd and successful businesswoman. When her father Gerald dies she returns to ‘Tara’ for the funeral where she persuades Ashley and Melanie to move to Atlanta and accept a share
in her lumber business.Not long after, Scarlett gives birth to Frank’s child – a girl named
Ella Lorena. One day whilst returning home from the sawmill, Scarlett is attacked by
a free black man and his white male companion.As a consequence, the Ku Klux Klan
avenges the attack on Scarlett and Frank is killed.Rhett then proposes to Scarlett and she accepts.They spend a long and luxurious honeymoon in New Orleans, and upon return to Atlanta Scarlett builds an ostentatious mansion and begins to socialise with wealthy Yankees. Scarlett becomes pregnant once more and gives birth to another girl – Bonnie
Blue Butler.Rhett positively dotes on the child and begins a charm offensive on prominent Atlanta citizens to win their favour and prevent Bonnie from becoming a
social outcast like Scarlett. Although their marriage begins happily enough, Rhett grows
increasingly bitter and different towards her.In turn, Scarlett’s feelings for Ashley have
subsided to a warm and sympathetic friendship. However, Ashley’s jealous sister India
finds he and Scarlett in an embrace and spreads the rumour that they are having an affair.Surprisingly for Scarlett, Melanie takes her side and refuses to believe the gossip.
When Bonnie is killed in a horse-riding accident, Rhett nearly goes insane with grief and
His already rocky marriage with Scarlett deteriorates.shortly after Bonnie’s funeral Melanie suffers a miscarriage and falls very ill. Scarlett hurries to see her, and on her death-bed Melanie makes Scarlet swear to look after Ashley and Beau.At this moment Scarlett suddenly realises that she loves and depends on Melanie, that Ashley has
only been a fantasy figure for her and that she truly does love Rhett.Melanie dies, and Scarlett rushes to Tell Rhett about her ‘revelation’. Rhett however, tells Scarlett that he no longer loves her and he walks out. Scarlett may be alone, grief-stricken and in despair, but (as always) her indomitable spirit and optimism do not desert her and she resolves to
Go home to ‘Tara’ to recover her strength and will in the loving arms of her childhood nurse and slave ‘Mammy’. There, she WILL think of a way to win Rhett back!
CASTING:
The casting for ‘Gone With The Wind’ is as legendary as the movie itself, and proved to be a task of epic proportions for producer David Selznik. From the time that he bought the rights to the novel from Margaret Mitchell letters poured into the studio from the public, offering casting suggestions for the movie. Right from the start there was an overwhelming vote for Clark Gable as the handsome and scandalous Rhett Butler – in fact, a staggering 98% of the people who wrote saw him in the role. Director George Cukor agreed that Gable would be good, but also Gary Cooper.
He remarked to an interviewer at the time when asked about who should play Rhett:
“Cooper or Gable. To me it’s six of one, half a dozen of the other. Perfect for either.”
However, obtaining the services of Gable, MGM’s most popular star would not be an easy task – not least because Gable himself was not interested in playing the part.He later remarked: "It wasn't that I didn't appreciate the compliment the public was paying me, it was simply that Rhett was too big an order. I didn't want any part of him....Rhett was too much for any actor to tackle in his right mind."
Selznik of course tried to convince him otherwise, reminding him that no other actor had been offered a chance like this and that Rhett Butler was the most talked about part of the decade, to which Gable remarked:
"That was my exact reason for turning him down."
At first it seemed that Gable would have his way as he was contracted to MGM and they would not
release him. Selznik knew of course, that MGM would have the upper hand in any deal-making, however he had a major advantage on his side in that Louis B Mayer, the head of MGM, was also his father-in-law.
Not one to give in easily, Selznik proceeded to negotiate a deal for Gable through Al Lichtman rather than deal directly with his father-in-law. Lichtman drove a very hard deal – Metro would loan Gable and half of the production costs (estimated at 2.5 million) with the proviso that MGM released the film.After production costs and a distribution fee of 15% of the grosses, MGM and Selznik would share the profits
equally. Selznik at hat time was committed to a distribution deal with United Artists, so he would have to hold back ‘Gone with the wind’ until the end of 1939 if he wanted to secure Gable's services.Although Gable was very reluctant at first, ultimately he had no say in the matter, and a deal was finally signed in August 1938 in which MGM promised to ‘deliver’ Gable on January 5th 1939.As an added incentive for Gable, MGM supplied him with the funds he needed to divorce his wife in order to marry the woman
he was passionately in love with - fellow movie star Carole Lombard.
THE SEARCH FOR SCARLETT:
If casting Rhett Butler was problematic, then the search to find Scarlett O’ Hara was a nightmarish and Herculean task in comparison. In due course, practically every actress in Hollywood aged between 20 and 35 was tested for the role, including Paulette Goddard
(the first to be test and a lead contender right up to the end), Katharine Hepburn, Jean Arthur and Lana Turner and many many other star names. Selznik even tested unlikely
candidates such as Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck in order to cover all bases; however,
although he wanted to audition any likely actress, he also pressured Cukor to economise on the tests, declaring:
"Any money we waste is going to be money that is unavailable, if and when we need it on the picture itself, as we have a definitely limited budget. Under no circumstances will we go beyond the budget, even if it involves cuts and sacrifices during shooting."
Worse was to come when (in his obsessive search for perfection) Selznik began to interfere with the screen tests themselves, even advising the seasoned Cukor on flattering camera angles for individual actresses.Cukor was understandably offended,
seeing Selznik’s ‘involvement’ as ‘interference’.This created a source of great tension and friction between the two which would eventually make their working relationship together untenable.Cukor received so many of the legendary ‘Selznik Memos’ that on one occasion – in exasperation -
he sent Selznik a note saying: "You see, I am getting the Selznick habit (or vice) of sending memos.
Early on in the search Norma Shearer was considered for Scarlett; it helped that she owned a piece of Selznik International. Shearer was anxious to make a big picture to re-inforce her comeback but was concerned with the ‘bitchy’ and ruthless aspects of Scarlett’s character .For his part, Selznik tried to persuade Shearer that the part of scarlet was right for her and that Scarlett’s character could be made more sympathetic;
Cukor however, was adamantly against softening the role – it was Scarlett’s bitchy
Nature which intrigued him!
Cukor offered Joan Bennett a screen test in 1937 but at first she declined, later recalling:
"I could not associate myself with a part that I felt Paulette Goddard was practically set for." Bennett finally agreed to go before the cameras after Goddard had tested.
Paulette Goddard was a very serious contender for the role of Scarlet – right up to
the final stages.Although Selznik was concerned about her marriage to Charlie Chaplin and the public’s perception of it, he noted that she was not ‘stale’ and instructed Cukor to devote special attention to the dramatic sections of her screen test.
Bette Davis had to be considered for the role – she was a major Hollywood star during this period.However, gifted actress that she was, she was no beauty and her sex-appeal was limited - both essential aspects of Scarlett’s character.Moreover, Gable didn’t want her in the role.In a rather Machiavellian move director Cukor made sure that Gable’s comments got back to Davis, who understandably hit the roof.Another
contender in a similar vein to Davis was Katherine Hepburn.She had been sent a copy
of ‘Gone With The Wind’ by Margaret Mitchell and had tried to get RKO to buy the
property for her.When Selznick acquired it she begged him to cast her, declaring that she would be perfect for the role; however, she wanted the part on a plate and in a diva-like fashion saw no reason why she should have to make a test.Later she remarked:
“By the time they came around to ask me to play it, I felt they must do what Selznick had advertised: find an unknown girl. If I had been signed up to do the picture,Selznick would have found Vivien Leigh anyway. He would have paid me $25,000 or whatever, dumped me and made the picture with her." Like Davis, Hepburn was thought to be not beautiful or feminine enough to play Scarlett.
An ever bigger controversy arose when the notoriously witty and theatrical actress
Tallulah Bankhead asked Cukor for a test. Cukor was in the difficult position of being a friend of Tallulah’s but also knowing that she was wrong for the part. In spite of this, he gave her a very big chance – not one test, but three! The first test in black and white was ok, but Cukor wanted a second with softer lighting. Then a third test was made in colour which proved to be a disaster. Later Cukor commented that
"Tallulah just wasn't fresh enough" a tactful way of saying that she was too old and
too harsh for the role.Not so tactful was legendary gossip columnist Louella Parson’s
reaction upon learning that Tallulah was being tested.In her column she wrote:
“George Cukor, her friend, is going to direct, and Jack Whitney, another friend, is backing it. So I'm afraid she'll get the part. If she does, I personally will go home and weep, because she is not SCARLETT O'HARA in my language, and if David O. Selznick gives her the part, he will have to answer to every man, woman, and child in America."
Time passed quickly, and by the fall of 1938 still no ‘Scarlett O’ Hara’ had been found. Nevertheless, Selznick still declared that: "somehow, someway" they would be able to "dig up a new girl." By November however, even he was really worried:
"If we finally wind up with any of the stars that we are testing," he wrote, "we must regard ourselves as absolute failures at digging up talent; as going against the most violently expressed wish for a new personality in an important role in the history of the American stage or screen; as wasting the opportunity to create a new star; as actually hurting the drawing power of the picture by having a star instead of a new girl; and as actually hurting the quality of the picture itself by having a girl who has an audience's dislike to beat down, as in the case of Hepburn, or identification with other roles to overcome, as in the case of Jean Arthur." In the meantime, sales of the novel soared and the public became obsessed with who would play the lead role of Scarlett.Selznick astutley fed this interest by dropping rumours on his casting plans
to the press; the search for Scarlett O’ Hara had become the most celebrated talent hunt in Hollywood’s history.By December Selznick decided to start production without a Scarlett.The back lot of his studio in Culver City had to be cleared to build
‘Tara’ - the O’ Hara plantation, and in a brilliant move William Cameron Menzies (the film’s art designer) decided to torch the old standing sets and use the resulting fire as the burning of Atlanta sequence in ‘Gone With the Wind’.Selznick readily agreed and stunt actors were used in long-shots to depict Scarlett and Rhett’s escape
from the burning city.Close-ups would later be added once a Scarlett was found.
The eventual ‘discovery of Scarlett’ was as dramatic as the film itself, and a publicist’s dream.The burning of Atlanta sequence was
scheduled to be shot on the night of December 10th with many Hollywood stars and
members of the press invited to attend.Also in attendance was Myron Selznick, David’s brother.Most importantly he brought with him an English actress
Vivien Leigh the lover of Laurence Olivier who was also in Hollywood at that time filming ‘Wuthering Heights’.Vivien may have been a total unknown in America up until that point, but she was destined to be the long sought after Scarlett.As legend has it, Myron arrived with Vivian after the shooting had began.He tugged David by the sleeve and said: "I want you to meet Scarlett O'Hara.".As David Selznick turned and saw the beautiful and vibrant actress, whose dark hair, eyes and face were glowing from the light of the flames he knew that he had at long last found his Scarlett.
Vivien Leigh had in fact had her mind set on playing Scarlett O’ Hara for well over
a year.Her trip to America it seems was deliberately staged with the aid of Myron Selznick who had already made plansd for her to be tested.Myron had seen and liked her perfomances in the British movies ‘A Yank At Oxford’ and ‘Fire Over England’
and had subsequently talked to Cukor about her.As far as Cukor and David Selznick were concerned, Vivien was just what they were looking for – a beautiful and talented
new face.Cukor proceeded to cancel his interviews with Betty Compson and Eve Arden so that he could rehearse exclusively with Leigh.
Cukor was instructed to make tests of the four finalists for Scarlett O’ Hara in full
colour.The finalists were Joan Bennett, Jean Arthur, Paulette Goddard and Vivien Leigh.
Cukor was in fact pivotal in winning Vivien Leigh the role; he lived out the part for her in both the test and rehearsal.He chose three sequences for the test: Scarlett and Mammy in the corset scene to test sex-appeal, Scarlett’s attempted seduction of Ashley for romantic image
and her drunken proposal to Rhett for dramatic and comic power.For her test Vivien
didn’t employ a Southern accent, but she demonstrated authority, whilst her scene with Ashley was even better than in the finished film.Vivien learnt that she had won the part of Scarlett on Christmas Day 1938, although the decision was not announced
publicly until January 13th 1939.Although the announcement initially brought protests
from fans all over the United States Leigh won them over in the movie with her perfect rendition of a Southern accent coached by Susan Myrick a friend of Margaret
Mitchell and a consultant for the film.
THE DIRECTORS:
One of the biggest problems facing Selznick in the shooting of ‘Gone With The Wind’ was that of its director and the style in which the movie would be filmed.
Selznick had hired George Cukor very early on, and although he was decisive in his
choice, he did have some doubts in the latter’s ability to direct an epic of Gone With
The Wind’s stature. As problems beset pre-production Cukor was held on an expensive retainer which caused Selznick to remark in September 1937 that they could end up paying the director $300,000 by the time the film was finished (in the interim before ‘Gone With The Wind’ being filmed Cukor had further irritated
Selznick by turning down his offer of directing ‘A Star Is Born’ and ‘Intermezzo’)
The problem was such that there was even talk of signing a replacement director such as Victor Fleming or Frank Capra to a long-term contract with Selznick International.
Selznick was also concerned about the possibility of Cukor altering the script which he and Sidney Howard had worked so painstakingly on, to the point that he asked Cukor to pledge not to use the novel in the movie’s production or to add any lines (as he had done in the various screen tests) because anything extra would prove far too costly. Selznick aimed to have every set for the film designed at least three weeks prior to shooting
Which would take place even if the script was not finalised.He wanted everyone involved to realise that this movie would be organised and conducted as no other movie had been done before.
The question of directorial style was even more of a thorny issue; Cukor – a practicing homosexual was known as a ‘Woman’s Director’ and there is no doubt that
in the early weeks of shooting he favoured Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland's performance - much to the detriment of Clark Gable and Lesley Howard, even extending the women’s roles in the process. An outraged Gable (concerned that Cukor would turn his Rhett into a secondary character)
responded by declaring “I won’t be directed by a fairy!”.By 1939 Gable had become one of the most bankable actors alive and was also the public’s choice to play Rhett Butler, therefore Selznick had little option but to fire Cukor and draft in Victor Fleming - “A man’s director” who was at that
point directing 'The Wizard Of Oz' at MGM (indeed, it is said that during this period Fleming spent his days shooting 'Gone with The Wind' and his evenings editing 'The Wizard Of Oz').
Olivia
De Havilland later remarked that she had learnt about Cukor's firing from Vivien Leigh
on the day that the Atlanta bazaar scene was filmed. Both women went (in full costume)
to Selznick’s office to beg him to re-consider; he apologised, but refused.
Rumours began to surface on the set that a young Gable had been involved in a gay affair with Cukor’s friend William Haines, but whatever the truth behind Cukor’s dismissal, he continued to coach Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland in private for their roles.
Fleming left the movie for two weeks in May 1939 due to exhaustion and another MGM director Sam Wood took over the reins.Eventually Fleming too was fired, and a
chastened Cukor was re-instated, willing to direct both men and women on an equal basis.
As a result, the end cut of ‘Gone with The Wind’ displays some choppiness and lack of continuity direction-wise, but given the circumstances, this is totally understandable.The final cut revealed that
half of the film had been directed by Victor Fleming (45%) - who received screen credit, with four other directors contributing to various sequences; these included: Sam Wood (15%), William Cameron Menzies (15%), George Cukor (5%) - the first director, B. Reeves ("Breezy") Eason (2%), and the remaining from various second unit directors (18%). Menzies was placated with the credit: "Production designed by..."
Cinematographer Lee Garmes began shooting the movie, but after a month Selznick
Was unhappy with the resulting footage which he deemed “too dark”; subsequently
Garmes was replaced with Ernest Haller working alongside Technicolor cinematographer Ray Rennahan.Most of the filming for ‘Gone With The Wind’ was shot on “the back forty” of Selznick International studios with all the location scenes
Being photographed in Los Angeles County and Ventura County in California.The
Estimated production costs for the movie were a staggering $3.9 million; at that point in time only ‘Ben Hur’ (1925) and ‘Hell’s Angels’ (1930) had cost more. A legend has
grown that the Hays Office fined Selznick for using the word ‘damn’ in the famous
Rhett Butler exit line (“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!”); in fact, the Motion
Picture Association board passed an amendment to the ‘Production Code’ on November 1st 1939 forbidding the 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 this ammendment in place, the Production Code Administration had no further objections to Rhett’s final line in the movie.
AUDIENCE PREVIEW & PREMIERE:
On September 9th 1939 Selznick and his wife Irene Mayer Selznick along with investor Jock Whitney and film editor Hal Kern drove out to Riverside, California
to preview a very rough early cut of the film before a live audience. The audience had already enjoyed a double bill of ‘Hawaiian Nights’ and ‘Beau Geste’ before ‘Gone
With The Wind’ was screened. They were not told beforehand the name of the movie they would be previewing. Consequently, when the film rolled, an audible
excitement emanated from the audience from the moment that Selznick’s name appeared on-screen, for they had been reading about ‘Gone With The Wind’ for the past two years. In an interview given many years later Kern described the exact moment at which the audience realised that they were viewing the most talked about movie in Hollywood history:
“When Margaret Mitchell's name came on the screen, you never heard such a sound in your life. They just yelled, they stood up on the seats...I had the [manually-operated sound] box. And I had that music wide open and you couldn't hear a thing. Mrs. Selznick was crying like a baby and so was David and so was I. Oh, what a thrill! And when "Gone with the Wind" came on the screen, it was thunderous!”
In David Thomson’s biography of Selznick he wrote that the audience reaction to the film "was the greatest moment of his life, the greatest victory and redemption of all his failings." A huge ovation followed this early screening, and preview cards filled out afterwards showed that two-thirds of the audience had rated it ‘excellent’ with most of them begging that the film not be cut.It was suggested instead that the film should be shown as the sole attraction of a theatre programme without the customary
newsreels, shorts and B-movie feature.This in fact is eventually how the film was
presented in cinemas world-wide.
The finished version of 'Gone With The Wind' premiered in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 15th, 1939 after three days of festivities hosted by the mayor. These included a parade of limousines
Carrying the stars of the film, receptions and a costume ball. Thousands of Confederate flags decorated stores and homes and the Governor
Of Georgia declared December 15th 1939 a State holiday. Future president Jimmy
Carter would later recall the occasion as
"the biggest event to happen in the South in my lifetime." From December 1939
until June 1940 the movie played only advance ticket road-show engagements at a
select number of theatres before going on general release in 1941.It opened in London, England in April 1940 during the ‘London Blitz’ and was a sensation, playing continuously for four years.
ACADEMY AWARDS:
The film was very well received at the 1940 Oscars winning a total
of 10 academy awards: eight regular, one honorary and one technical.
David O Selznick won the Oscar for ‘Outstanding Production’, Vivien
Leigh won the Oscar for ‘Best Actress’.Victor Fleming won ‘Best Director’,
Sidney Howard won ‘Best writing/Screenplay’, Hattie McDaniels won ‘Best
Supporting Actress’ (over Olivia de Havilland’s nomination for Melanie),
Ernest Heller and Ray won ‘Best Cinematography – Color’, Hal C Kern and James Newcom won ‘Best Film Editing’ and Lyle Wheeler won ‘Best Interior Decorsation’.
David Selznick also won ‘The Irving G. Thalberg Award’, William Menzies won an
‘Honorary’ award and Don Musgrove and Selznick International won a ‘Technical
Achievement Award’.Clark Gable lost out in his Oscar nomination to Robert Donat
who won for ‘Goodbye Mr. Chips’.
FEATURED SONGS:
'GONE WITH THE WIND' TRAILER
VIVIEN LEIGH'S OSCAR ACCEPTANCE SPEECH FOR 'GONE WITH THE WIND'
SCARLETT O' HARA MOMENTS
CLASSIC LINES FROM 'GONE WITH THE WIND':
"Quittin Time!" - The Foreman
"Fiddle-dee-dee!" - Scarlett
"Lawd have mercy!"- 'Mammie'
"Sir, you are no gentleman."- Scarlett
"And you Miss, are no lady. Don't think that I hold that against you. Ladies have never held any charm for me." - Rhett
"He looks as if... as if he knows what I look like without my shimmey!" - Scarlett
"It ain't fittin'. It just ain't fittin'." - 'Mammie'
"No. I don't think I will kiss you-- although you need kissing badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often-- and by someone who knows how." - Rhett
"Oh! If I just wasn't a lady! What wouldn't I tell that varmint!" - Scarlett
"Lordy, we got to have a doctor! I don't know nuthin' 'bout birthin' babies!" -''Prissy'
"As God as my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's all over I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill; as God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again." - Scarlett
CAST:
Clark Gable as Rhett Butler
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara
Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes
Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Hamilton
Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O'Hara
Evelyn Keyes as Suellen O'Hara
Ann Rutherford as Carreen O'Hara
George Reeves as Stuart Tarleton
Fred Crane as Brent Tarleton
Hattie McDaniel as Mammy
Oscar Polk as Pork
Butterfly McQueen as Prissy
Victor Jory as Jonas Wilkerson (the overseer)
Everett Brown as Big Sam (the foreman)
Howard C. Hickman as John Wilkes (as Howard Hickman)
Alicia Rhett as India Wilkes
Rand Brooks as Charles Hamilton
Carroll Nye as Frank Kennedy (a guest)
Laura Hope Crews as Aunt Pittypat Hamilton
Harry Davenport as Dr. Meade
Leona Roberts as Mrs. Meade
Jane Darwell as Mrs. Dolly Merriwether
Ona Munson as Belle Watling
Paul Hurst as Yankee deserter
Isabel Jewell as Emmy Slattery
Cammie King as Bonnie Blue Butler
Eric Linden as Amputation case
J.M. Kerrigan as Johnny Gallagher
Ward Bond as Tom (Yankee captain)
Jackie Moran as Phil Meade
Cliff Edwards as Remniscent soldier
Lillian Kemble-Cooper as Bonnie's nurse in London (as L. Kemble-Cooper)
Yakima Canutt as Renegade
Marcella Martin as Cathleen Calvert
Louis Jean Heydt as Hungry soldier
Mickey Kuhn as Beau Wilkes
Olin Howlin as Yankee businessman (as Olin Howland)
Irving Bacon as Corporal
Robert Elliott as Yankee major
William Bakewell as Mounted officer
Mary Anderson as Maybelle Merriwether
Eric Alden as Rafe Calvert (uncredited)
John Arledge as Dying soldier (uncredited)
Roscoe Ates as Convalescent soldier (uncredited)
Trevor Bardette as (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks as Gentleman (uncredited)
Daisy Bufford as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Ann Bupp as (uncredited)
James Bush as Gentleman (uncredited)
Ruth Byers as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Gary Carlson as Beau Wilkes (uncredited)
Louise Carter as Bandleader's wife (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler as Sergeant at hospital (uncredited)
Wallis Clark as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Frank Coghlan Jr. as Collapsing soldier (uncredited)
Gino Corrado as (uncredited)
Martina Cortina as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Luke Cosgrave as Bandleader (uncredited)
Kernan Cripps as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Ned Davenport as One-armed soldier (uncredited)
Lester Dorr as (uncredited)
Phyllis Douglas as Bonnie Blue Butler, age 2 (uncredited)
Joan Drake as Hospital nurse (uncredited)
F. Driver as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Edythe Elliott as General's wife (uncredited)
Frank Faylen as Soldier aiding Dr. Meade (uncredited)
Kelly Griffin as Bonnie Blue Butler (newborn) (uncredited)
George Hackathorne as Wounded soldier in pain (uncredited)
C. Hamilton as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Evelyn Harding as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Inez Hatchett as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Jean Heker as Hosptial nurse (uncredited)
Shep Houghton as Southern dandy (uncredited)
Si Jenks as Yankee on street (uncredited)
Tommy Kelly as Boy in band (uncredited)
W. Kirby as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
William McClain as Old Levi (uncredited)
George Meeker as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Alberto Morin as Rene Picard (uncredited)
Adrian Morris as Carpetbagger orator (uncredited)
Lee Murray as Drummerboy (uncredited)
H. Nellman as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
David Newell as Cade Calvert (uncredited)
N. Pharr as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Lee Phelps as Bartender (uncredited)
Jolane Reynolds as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Marjorie Reynolds as Guest at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Suzanne Ridgeway as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Azarene Rogers as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Tom Seidel as Tony Fontaine (uncredited)
Terry Shero as Fanny Elsing (uncredited)
William Stack as Minister (uncredited)
William Stelling as Returning veteran (uncredited)
Harry Strang as Tom's aide (uncredited)
Emerson Treacy as (uncredited)
Phillip Trent as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on Steps of Tara (uncredited)
Julia Ann Tuck as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on steps of Tara (uncredited)
Tom Tyler as Commanding officer during evacuation (uncredited)
Fred Warren as Frank Kennedy's clerk (uncredited)
Blue Washington as Renegade's companion (uncredited)
Rita Waterhouse as Girl in blue dress (uncredited)
Sarah Whitley as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Ernest Whitman as Carpetbagger's friend (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson as Wounded card player (uncredited)
Zack Williams as Elijah (uncredited)
John Wray as (uncredited)
'GONE WITH THE WIND' IMAGES ©copyright TURNER ENTERTAINMENT.
'GONE WITH THE WIND' ARTICLE TEXT ©copyright Gary Alston 2008.
The story begins in the spring of 1861 and centres around the very pretty but self-centred Scarlett O’ Hara - a true Southern belle who lives on her father’s plantation ‘Tara’ in Georgia. Scarlett is
spolit and precocious and lives in her own pampered little world – detached from reality;
her only concern in life is for the attentions of her army of suitors that flock around her (quite literally on Tara’s front porch) and her desire to marry Southern gentleman Ashley Wilkes. However, her plans are scuppered when she learns that Ashley has become engaged to her cousin Melanie Hamilton – a frail, plain creature from Atlanta. At a
barbeque held at the Wilkes plantation Scarlett selfishly declares her true feelings to Ashley. He tells her that although he loves her he is marrying Melanie because she and
he are very alike, whereas he and Scarlett are very different. Hell hath no fury like a
woman scorned, and Scarlett retaliates by slapping him. Ashley leaves the room, whereupon a startled Scarlett discovers that she is not alone; the whole scene has been witnessed by Rhett Butler – a scandalous but dashing adventurer. He ‘compliments’
her on being so ‘unladylike’ and a spark is ignited….
The Civil War begins and Melanie’s timid and dull brother Charles Hamilton proposes
to Scarlett. She accepts ‘on the re-bound’ – spitefully hoping to upset Ashley after his rejection of her. Over a period of two months the couple marry, Charles joins the army
and dies of the measles and Scarlett discovers that she is pregnant. She gives birth to
a son - Wade – but soon she grows bored, unhappy and resentful. She decides to go on an extended trip to Atlanta where she stays with Melanie and Melanie’s aunt, Pittypat.
Scarlett thrives in the great city, and in spite of her recent bereavement she
begins to see a lot of Rhett socially. Although he infuriates her with his bluntness and mockery, there is an undeniable chemistry between them, and when he encourages her
to ignore the severely restrictive social etiquette required of Southern widows she complies, dancing with him at a ball whilst at the same time outraging Atlanta society.
The war moves on and Atlanta is hit hard with food and clothing shortages. Both Scarlett
and Melanie fear for Ashley’s safety, who, after the bloody battle of Gettysburg is captured and sent to prison. The Yankee army presses forward bearing down on Atlanta,
and Scarlett is desperate to return home to Tara. However, she has promised Ashley to stay with the pregnant Melanie who could give birth at any time.
On the night that the Yankees capture Atlanta and set the city on fire Melanie gives
birth to a son – Beau. Rhett comes to Scarlett and Melanie’s rescue and helps them to escape the burning city but he leaves them outside of Atlanta to join the Confederate
Army. It is here that Scarlett displays outstanding guts and courage as she drives the cart
with Melanie and the baby in the back through a dangerous forest full of deserters and soldiers before reaching her beloved Tara. However, upon arrival she learns that her mother Ellen is dead, her father Gerald has lost his mind and that the Yankee Army has ravaged the plantation stripping it of food and cotton. Angry, exhausted and starving
Scarlett vows never to go hungry again.
It is at this point that Scarlett’s guts and determination come to the fore as she proceeds to rebuild ‘Tara’, along the way shooting a Yankee thief who breaks into the mansion and also extinguishing a fire started by a spiteful Yankee soldier. Eventually the war ends, word comes that Ashley is free and on his way home and a constant flow of returning soldiers begins to pour through Tara.One of them – a one-legged homeless Confederate
Named Will Benteen stays on to help Scarlett run the plantation.Problems arise once more for Scarlett when Benteen comes to her one day to inform her that Jonas Wilkerson,
A former employee at Tara and the current government official has raised the taxes on ‘Tara’ with the intention of driving the O’ Hara’s out and buying the plantation for himself. Scarlett is desperate to hang on to her family home and rushes to Atlanta to try and seduce Rhett so that he will give her the three hundred dollars she needs for taxes.
Rhett is now a fabulously wealthy man thanks to his blockade-running operation in the war and from food speculation.Unfortunatley for Scarlett, Rhett is in jail and cannot help her, so instead she meets with her sister’s beau Frank Kennedy (who now owns a general
store) to devise a plan.Scarlett will do anything to save ‘Tara’ and in a breath-taking act
of betrayal she marries Frank, pays the taxes on ‘Tara’ and then proceeds to work at making his business more profitable.
In the meantime, Rhett blackmails his way out of prison and loans Scarlett the money to buy a sawmill, and much to the chagrin of Atlanta socity she becomes a shrewd and successful businesswoman. When her father Gerald dies she returns to ‘Tara’ for the funeral where she persuades Ashley and Melanie to move to Atlanta and accept a share in her lumber business.Not long after, Scarlett gives birth to Frank’s child – a girl named Ella Lorena. One day whilst returning home from the sawmill, Scarlett is attacked by a free black man and his white male companion.As a consequence, the Ku Klux Klan avenges the attack on Scarlett and Frank is killed.Rhett then proposes to Scarlett and she accepts.They spend a long and luxurious honeymoon in New Orleans, and upon return to Atlanta Scarlett builds an ostentatious mansion and begins to socialise with wealthy Yankees. Scarlett becomes pregnant once more and gives birth to another girl – Bonnie Blue Butler.Rhett positively dotes on the child and begins a charm offensive on prominent Atlanta citizens to win their favour and prevent Bonnie from becoming a social outcast like Scarlett. Although their marriage begins happily enough, Rhett grows increasingly bitter and different towards her.In turn, Scarlett’s feelings for Ashley have subsided to a warm and sympathetic friendship. However, Ashley’s jealous sister India finds he and Scarlett in an embrace and spreads the rumour that they are having an affair.Surprisingly for Scarlett, Melanie takes her side and refuses to believe the gossip.
When Bonnie is killed in a horse-riding accident, Rhett nearly goes insane with grief and His already rocky marriage with Scarlett deteriorates.shortly after Bonnie’s funeral Melanie suffers a miscarriage and falls very ill. Scarlett hurries to see her, and on her death-bed Melanie makes Scarlet swear to look after Ashley and Beau.At this moment Scarlett suddenly realises that she loves and depends on Melanie, that Ashley has only been a fantasy figure for her and that she truly does love Rhett.Melanie dies, and Scarlett rushes to Tell Rhett about her ‘revelation’. Rhett however, tells Scarlett that he no longer loves her and he walks out. Scarlett may be alone, grief-stricken and in despair, but (as always) her indomitable spirit and optimism do not desert her and she resolves to Go home to ‘Tara’ to recover her strength and will in the loving arms of her childhood nurse and slave ‘Mammy’. There, she WILL think of a way to win Rhett back!
CASTING:
The casting for ‘Gone With The Wind’ is as legendary as the movie itself, and proved to be a task of epic proportions for producer David Selznik. From the time that he bought the rights to the novel from Margaret Mitchell letters poured into the studio from the public, offering casting suggestions for the movie. Right from the start there was an overwhelming vote for Clark Gable as the handsome and scandalous Rhett Butler – in fact, a staggering 98% of the people who wrote saw him in the role. Director George Cukor agreed that Gable would be good, but also Gary Cooper.
He remarked to an interviewer at the time when asked about who should play Rhett:
“Cooper or Gable. To me it’s six of one, half a dozen of the other. Perfect for either.”
However, obtaining the services of Gable, MGM’s most popular star would not be an easy task – not least because Gable himself was not interested in playing the part.He later remarked: "It wasn't that I didn't appreciate the compliment the public was paying me, it was simply that Rhett was too big an order. I didn't want any part of him....Rhett was too much for any actor to tackle in his right mind."
Selznik of course tried to convince him otherwise, reminding him that no other actor had been offered a chance like this and that Rhett Butler was the most talked about part of the decade, to which Gable remarked:
"That was my exact reason for turning him down."
At first it seemed that Gable would have his way as he was contracted to MGM and they would not
release him. Selznik knew of course, that MGM would have the upper hand in any deal-making, however he had a major advantage on his side in that Louis B Mayer, the head of MGM, was also his father-in-law.
Not one to give in easily, Selznik proceeded to negotiate a deal for Gable through Al Lichtman rather than deal directly with his father-in-law. Lichtman drove a very hard deal – Metro would loan Gable and half of the production costs (estimated at 2.5 million) with the proviso that MGM released the film.After production costs and a distribution fee of 15% of the grosses, MGM and Selznik would share the profits
equally. Selznik at hat time was committed to a distribution deal with United Artists, so he would have to hold back ‘Gone with the wind’ until the end of 1939 if he wanted to secure Gable's services.Although Gable was very reluctant at first, ultimately he had no say in the matter, and a deal was finally signed in August 1938 in which MGM promised to ‘deliver’ Gable on January 5th 1939.As an added incentive for Gable, MGM supplied him with the funds he needed to divorce his wife in order to marry the woman
he was passionately in love with - fellow movie star Carole Lombard.
THE SEARCH FOR SCARLETT:
If casting Rhett Butler was problematic, then the search to find Scarlett O’ Hara was a nightmarish and Herculean task in comparison. In due course, practically every actress in Hollywood aged between 20 and 35 was tested for the role, including Paulette Goddard
(the first to be test and a lead contender right up to the end), Katharine Hepburn, Jean Arthur and Lana Turner and many many other star names. Selznik even tested unlikely
candidates such as Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck in order to cover all bases; however,
although he wanted to audition any likely actress, he also pressured Cukor to economise on the tests, declaring:
"Any money we waste is going to be money that is unavailable, if and when we need it on the picture itself, as we have a definitely limited budget. Under no circumstances will we go beyond the budget, even if it involves cuts and sacrifices during shooting."
Worse was to come when (in his obsessive search for perfection) Selznik began to interfere with the screen tests themselves, even advising the seasoned Cukor on flattering camera angles for individual actresses.Cukor was understandably offended,
seeing Selznik’s ‘involvement’ as ‘interference’.This created a source of great tension and friction between the two which would eventually make their working relationship together untenable.Cukor received so many of the legendary ‘Selznik Memos’ that on one occasion – in exasperation -
he sent Selznik a note saying: "You see, I am getting the Selznick habit (or vice) of sending memos.
Early on in the search Norma Shearer was considered for Scarlett; it helped that she owned a piece of Selznik International. Shearer was anxious to make a big picture to re-inforce her comeback but was concerned with the ‘bitchy’ and ruthless aspects of Scarlett’s character .For his part, Selznik tried to persuade Shearer that the part of scarlet was right for her and that Scarlett’s character could be made more sympathetic;
Cukor however, was adamantly against softening the role – it was Scarlett’s bitchy
Nature which intrigued him!
Cukor offered Joan Bennett a screen test in 1937 but at first she declined, later recalling:
"I could not associate myself with a part that I felt Paulette Goddard was practically set for." Bennett finally agreed to go before the cameras after Goddard had tested.
Paulette Goddard was a very serious contender for the role of Scarlet – right up to
the final stages.Although Selznik was concerned about her marriage to Charlie Chaplin and the public’s perception of it, he noted that she was not ‘stale’ and instructed Cukor to devote special attention to the dramatic sections of her screen test.
Bette Davis had to be considered for the role – she was a major Hollywood star during this period.However, gifted actress that she was, she was no beauty and her sex-appeal was limited - both essential aspects of Scarlett’s character.Moreover, Gable didn’t want her in the role.In a rather Machiavellian move director Cukor made sure that Gable’s comments got back to Davis, who understandably hit the roof.Another
contender in a similar vein to Davis was Katherine Hepburn.She had been sent a copy
of ‘Gone With The Wind’ by Margaret Mitchell and had tried to get RKO to buy the
property for her.When Selznick acquired it she begged him to cast her, declaring that she would be perfect for the role; however, she wanted the part on a plate and in a diva-like fashion saw no reason why she should have to make a test.Later she remarked:
“By the time they came around to ask me to play it, I felt they must do what Selznick had advertised: find an unknown girl. If I had been signed up to do the picture,Selznick would have found Vivien Leigh anyway. He would have paid me $25,000 or whatever, dumped me and made the picture with her." Like Davis, Hepburn was thought to be not beautiful or feminine enough to play Scarlett.
An ever bigger controversy arose when the notoriously witty and theatrical actress
Tallulah Bankhead asked Cukor for a test. Cukor was in the difficult position of being a friend of Tallulah’s but also knowing that she was wrong for the part. In spite of this, he gave her a very big chance – not one test, but three! The first test in black and white was ok, but Cukor wanted a second with softer lighting. Then a third test was made in colour which proved to be a disaster. Later Cukor commented that
"Tallulah just wasn't fresh enough" a tactful way of saying that she was too old and
too harsh for the role.Not so tactful was legendary gossip columnist Louella Parson’s
reaction upon learning that Tallulah was being tested.In her column she wrote:
“George Cukor, her friend, is going to direct, and Jack Whitney, another friend, is backing it. So I'm afraid she'll get the part. If she does, I personally will go home and weep, because she is not SCARLETT O'HARA in my language, and if David O. Selznick gives her the part, he will have to answer to every man, woman, and child in America."
Time passed quickly, and by the fall of 1938 still no ‘Scarlett O’ Hara’ had been found. Nevertheless, Selznick still declared that: "somehow, someway" they would be able to "dig up a new girl." By November however, even he was really worried:
"If we finally wind up with any of the stars that we are testing," he wrote, "we must regard ourselves as absolute failures at digging up talent; as going against the most violently expressed wish for a new personality in an important role in the history of the American stage or screen; as wasting the opportunity to create a new star; as actually hurting the drawing power of the picture by having a star instead of a new girl; and as actually hurting the quality of the picture itself by having a girl who has an audience's dislike to beat down, as in the case of Hepburn, or identification with other roles to overcome, as in the case of Jean Arthur." In the meantime, sales of the novel soared and the public became obsessed with who would play the lead role of Scarlett.Selznick astutley fed this interest by dropping rumours on his casting plans
to the press; the search for Scarlett O’ Hara had become the most celebrated talent hunt in Hollywood’s history.By December Selznick decided to start production without a Scarlett.The back lot of his studio in Culver City had to be cleared to build
‘Tara’ - the O’ Hara plantation, and in a brilliant move William Cameron Menzies (the film’s art designer) decided to torch the old standing sets and use the resulting fire as the burning of Atlanta sequence in ‘Gone With the Wind’.Selznick readily agreed and stunt actors were used in long-shots to depict Scarlett and Rhett’s escape
from the burning city.Close-ups would later be added once a Scarlett was found.
The eventual ‘discovery of Scarlett’ was as dramatic as the film itself, and a publicist’s dream.The burning of Atlanta sequence was
scheduled to be shot on the night of December 10th with many Hollywood stars and
members of the press invited to attend.Also in attendance was Myron Selznick, David’s brother.Most importantly he brought with him an English actress
Vivien Leigh the lover of Laurence Olivier who was also in Hollywood at that time filming ‘Wuthering Heights’.Vivien may have been a total unknown in America up until that point, but she was destined to be the long sought after Scarlett.As legend has it, Myron arrived with Vivian after the shooting had began.He tugged David by the sleeve and said: "I want you to meet Scarlett O'Hara.".As David Selznick turned and saw the beautiful and vibrant actress, whose dark hair, eyes and face were glowing from the light of the flames he knew that he had at long last found his Scarlett.
Vivien Leigh had in fact had her mind set on playing Scarlett O’ Hara for well over
a year.Her trip to America it seems was deliberately staged with the aid of Myron Selznick who had already made plansd for her to be tested.Myron had seen and liked her perfomances in the British movies ‘A Yank At Oxford’ and ‘Fire Over England’
and had subsequently talked to Cukor about her.As far as Cukor and David Selznick were concerned, Vivien was just what they were looking for – a beautiful and talented
new face.Cukor proceeded to cancel his interviews with Betty Compson and Eve Arden so that he could rehearse exclusively with Leigh.
Cukor was instructed to make tests of the four finalists for Scarlett O’ Hara in full
colour.The finalists were Joan Bennett, Jean Arthur, Paulette Goddard and Vivien Leigh.
Cukor was in fact pivotal in winning Vivien Leigh the role; he lived out the part for her in both the test and rehearsal.He chose three sequences for the test: Scarlett and Mammy in the corset scene to test sex-appeal, Scarlett’s attempted seduction of Ashley for romantic image
and her drunken proposal to Rhett for dramatic and comic power.For her test Vivien
didn’t employ a Southern accent, but she demonstrated authority, whilst her scene with Ashley was even better than in the finished film.Vivien learnt that she had won the part of Scarlett on Christmas Day 1938, although the decision was not announced
publicly until January 13th 1939.Although the announcement initially brought protests
from fans all over the United States Leigh won them over in the movie with her perfect rendition of a Southern accent coached by Susan Myrick a friend of Margaret
Mitchell and a consultant for the film.
THE DIRECTORS:
One of the biggest problems facing Selznick in the shooting of ‘Gone With The Wind’ was that of its director and the style in which the movie would be filmed.
Selznick had hired George Cukor very early on, and although he was decisive in his
choice, he did have some doubts in the latter’s ability to direct an epic of Gone With
The Wind’s stature. As problems beset pre-production Cukor was held on an expensive retainer which caused Selznick to remark in September 1937 that they could end up paying the director $300,000 by the time the film was finished (in the interim before ‘Gone With The Wind’ being filmed Cukor had further irritated
Selznick by turning down his offer of directing ‘A Star Is Born’ and ‘Intermezzo’)
The problem was such that there was even talk of signing a replacement director such as Victor Fleming or Frank Capra to a long-term contract with Selznick International.
Selznick was also concerned about the possibility of Cukor altering the script which he and Sidney Howard had worked so painstakingly on, to the point that he asked Cukor to pledge not to use the novel in the movie’s production or to add any lines (as he had done in the various screen tests) because anything extra would prove far too costly. Selznick aimed to have every set for the film designed at least three weeks prior to shooting
Which would take place even if the script was not finalised.He wanted everyone involved to realise that this movie would be organised and conducted as no other movie had been done before.
The question of directorial style was even more of a thorny issue; Cukor – a practicing homosexual was known as a ‘Woman’s Director’ and there is no doubt that
in the early weeks of shooting he favoured Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland's performance - much to the detriment of Clark Gable and Lesley Howard, even extending the women’s roles in the process. An outraged Gable (concerned that Cukor would turn his Rhett into a secondary character)
responded by declaring “I won’t be directed by a fairy!”.By 1939 Gable had become one of the most bankable actors alive and was also the public’s choice to play Rhett Butler, therefore Selznick had little option but to fire Cukor and draft in Victor Fleming - “A man’s director” who was at that
point directing 'The Wizard Of Oz' at MGM (indeed, it is said that during this period Fleming spent his days shooting 'Gone with The Wind' and his evenings editing 'The Wizard Of Oz').
Olivia
De Havilland later remarked that she had learnt about Cukor's firing from Vivien Leigh
on the day that the Atlanta bazaar scene was filmed. Both women went (in full costume)
to Selznick’s office to beg him to re-consider; he apologised, but refused.
Rumours began to surface on the set that a young Gable had been involved in a gay affair with Cukor’s friend William Haines, but whatever the truth behind Cukor’s dismissal, he continued to coach Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland in private for their roles.
Fleming left the movie for two weeks in May 1939 due to exhaustion and another MGM director Sam Wood took over the reins.Eventually Fleming too was fired, and a
chastened Cukor was re-instated, willing to direct both men and women on an equal basis.
As a result, the end cut of ‘Gone with The Wind’ displays some choppiness and lack of continuity direction-wise, but given the circumstances, this is totally understandable.The final cut revealed that
half of the film had been directed by Victor Fleming (45%) - who received screen credit, with four other directors contributing to various sequences; these included: Sam Wood (15%), William Cameron Menzies (15%), George Cukor (5%) - the first director, B. Reeves ("Breezy") Eason (2%), and the remaining from various second unit directors (18%). Menzies was placated with the credit: "Production designed by..."
Cinematographer Lee Garmes began shooting the movie, but after a month Selznick
Was unhappy with the resulting footage which he deemed “too dark”; subsequently
Garmes was replaced with Ernest Haller working alongside Technicolor cinematographer Ray Rennahan.Most of the filming for ‘Gone With The Wind’ was shot on “the back forty” of Selznick International studios with all the location scenes
Being photographed in Los Angeles County and Ventura County in California.The
Estimated production costs for the movie were a staggering $3.9 million; at that point in time only ‘Ben Hur’ (1925) and ‘Hell’s Angels’ (1930) had cost more. A legend has
grown that the Hays Office fined Selznick for using the word ‘damn’ in the famous
Rhett Butler exit line (“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!”); in fact, the Motion
Picture Association board passed an amendment to the ‘Production Code’ on November 1st 1939 forbidding the 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 this ammendment in place, the Production Code Administration had no further objections to Rhett’s final line in the movie.
AUDIENCE PREVIEW & PREMIERE:
On September 9th 1939 Selznick and his wife Irene Mayer Selznick along with investor Jock Whitney and film editor Hal Kern drove out to Riverside, California
to preview a very rough early cut of the film before a live audience. The audience had already enjoyed a double bill of ‘Hawaiian Nights’ and ‘Beau Geste’ before ‘Gone
With The Wind’ was screened. They were not told beforehand the name of the movie they would be previewing. Consequently, when the film rolled, an audible
excitement emanated from the audience from the moment that Selznick’s name appeared on-screen, for they had been reading about ‘Gone With The Wind’ for the past two years. In an interview given many years later Kern described the exact moment at which the audience realised that they were viewing the most talked about movie in Hollywood history:
“When Margaret Mitchell's name came on the screen, you never heard such a sound in your life. They just yelled, they stood up on the seats...I had the [manually-operated sound] box. And I had that music wide open and you couldn't hear a thing. Mrs. Selznick was crying like a baby and so was David and so was I. Oh, what a thrill! And when "Gone with the Wind" came on the screen, it was thunderous!”
In David Thomson’s biography of Selznick he wrote that the audience reaction to the film "was the greatest moment of his life, the greatest victory and redemption of all his failings." A huge ovation followed this early screening, and preview cards filled out afterwards showed that two-thirds of the audience had rated it ‘excellent’ with most of them begging that the film not be cut.It was suggested instead that the film should be shown as the sole attraction of a theatre programme without the customary
newsreels, shorts and B-movie feature.This in fact is eventually how the film was
presented in cinemas world-wide.
The finished version of 'Gone With The Wind' premiered in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 15th, 1939 after three days of festivities hosted by the mayor. These included a parade of limousines
Carrying the stars of the film, receptions and a costume ball. Thousands of Confederate flags decorated stores and homes and the Governor
Of Georgia declared December 15th 1939 a State holiday. Future president Jimmy
Carter would later recall the occasion as
"the biggest event to happen in the South in my lifetime." From December 1939
until June 1940 the movie played only advance ticket road-show engagements at a
select number of theatres before going on general release in 1941.It opened in London, England in April 1940 during the ‘London Blitz’ and was a sensation, playing continuously for four years.
ACADEMY AWARDS:
The film was very well received at the 1940 Oscars winning a total
of 10 academy awards: eight regular, one honorary and one technical.
David O Selznick won the Oscar for ‘Outstanding Production’, Vivien
Leigh won the Oscar for ‘Best Actress’.Victor Fleming won ‘Best Director’,
Sidney Howard won ‘Best writing/Screenplay’, Hattie McDaniels won ‘Best
Supporting Actress’ (over Olivia de Havilland’s nomination for Melanie),
Ernest Heller and Ray won ‘Best Cinematography – Color’, Hal C Kern and James Newcom won ‘Best Film Editing’ and Lyle Wheeler won ‘Best Interior Decorsation’.
David Selznick also won ‘The Irving G. Thalberg Award’, William Menzies won an
‘Honorary’ award and Don Musgrove and Selznick International won a ‘Technical
Achievement Award’.Clark Gable lost out in his Oscar nomination to Robert Donat
who won for ‘Goodbye Mr. Chips’.
FEATURED SONGS:
'GONE WITH THE WIND' TRAILER
VIVIEN LEIGH'S OSCAR ACCEPTANCE SPEECH FOR 'GONE WITH THE WIND'
SCARLETT O' HARA MOMENTS
CLASSIC LINES FROM 'GONE WITH THE WIND':
"Quittin Time!" - The Foreman
"Fiddle-dee-dee!" - Scarlett
"Lawd have mercy!"- 'Mammie'
"Sir, you are no gentleman."- Scarlett
"And you Miss, are no lady. Don't think that I hold that against you. Ladies have never held any charm for me." - Rhett
"He looks as if... as if he knows what I look like without my shimmey!" - Scarlett
"It ain't fittin'. It just ain't fittin'." - 'Mammie'
"No. I don't think I will kiss you-- although you need kissing badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often-- and by someone who knows how." - Rhett
"Oh! If I just wasn't a lady! What wouldn't I tell that varmint!" - Scarlett
"Lordy, we got to have a doctor! I don't know nuthin' 'bout birthin' babies!" -''Prissy'
"As God as my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's all over I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill; as God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again." - Scarlett
CAST:
Clark Gable as Rhett Butler
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara
Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes
Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Hamilton
Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O'Hara
Evelyn Keyes as Suellen O'Hara
Ann Rutherford as Carreen O'Hara
George Reeves as Stuart Tarleton
Fred Crane as Brent Tarleton
Hattie McDaniel as Mammy
Oscar Polk as Pork
Butterfly McQueen as Prissy
Victor Jory as Jonas Wilkerson (the overseer)
Everett Brown as Big Sam (the foreman)
Howard C. Hickman as John Wilkes (as Howard Hickman)
Alicia Rhett as India Wilkes
Rand Brooks as Charles Hamilton
Carroll Nye as Frank Kennedy (a guest)
Laura Hope Crews as Aunt Pittypat Hamilton
Harry Davenport as Dr. Meade
Leona Roberts as Mrs. Meade
Jane Darwell as Mrs. Dolly Merriwether
Ona Munson as Belle Watling
Paul Hurst as Yankee deserter
Isabel Jewell as Emmy Slattery
Cammie King as Bonnie Blue Butler
Eric Linden as Amputation case
J.M. Kerrigan as Johnny Gallagher
Ward Bond as Tom (Yankee captain)
Jackie Moran as Phil Meade
Cliff Edwards as Remniscent soldier
Lillian Kemble-Cooper as Bonnie's nurse in London (as L. Kemble-Cooper)
Yakima Canutt as Renegade
Marcella Martin as Cathleen Calvert
Louis Jean Heydt as Hungry soldier
Mickey Kuhn as Beau Wilkes
Olin Howlin as Yankee businessman (as Olin Howland)
Irving Bacon as Corporal
Robert Elliott as Yankee major
William Bakewell as Mounted officer
Mary Anderson as Maybelle Merriwether
Eric Alden as Rafe Calvert (uncredited)
John Arledge as Dying soldier (uncredited)
Roscoe Ates as Convalescent soldier (uncredited)
Trevor Bardette as (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks as Gentleman (uncredited)
Daisy Bufford as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Ann Bupp as (uncredited)
James Bush as Gentleman (uncredited)
Ruth Byers as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Gary Carlson as Beau Wilkes (uncredited)
Louise Carter as Bandleader's wife (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler as Sergeant at hospital (uncredited)
Wallis Clark as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Frank Coghlan Jr. as Collapsing soldier (uncredited)
Gino Corrado as (uncredited)
Martina Cortina as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Luke Cosgrave as Bandleader (uncredited)
Kernan Cripps as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Ned Davenport as One-armed soldier (uncredited)
Lester Dorr as (uncredited)
Phyllis Douglas as Bonnie Blue Butler, age 2 (uncredited)
Joan Drake as Hospital nurse (uncredited)
F. Driver as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Edythe Elliott as General's wife (uncredited)
Frank Faylen as Soldier aiding Dr. Meade (uncredited)
Kelly Griffin as Bonnie Blue Butler (newborn) (uncredited)
George Hackathorne as Wounded soldier in pain (uncredited)
C. Hamilton as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Evelyn Harding as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Inez Hatchett as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Jean Heker as Hosptial nurse (uncredited)
Shep Houghton as Southern dandy (uncredited)
Si Jenks as Yankee on street (uncredited)
Tommy Kelly as Boy in band (uncredited)
W. Kirby as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
William McClain as Old Levi (uncredited)
George Meeker as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Alberto Morin as Rene Picard (uncredited)
Adrian Morris as Carpetbagger orator (uncredited)
Lee Murray as Drummerboy (uncredited)
H. Nellman as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
David Newell as Cade Calvert (uncredited)
N. Pharr as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Lee Phelps as Bartender (uncredited)
Jolane Reynolds as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Marjorie Reynolds as Guest at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Suzanne Ridgeway as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Azarene Rogers as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Tom Seidel as Tony Fontaine (uncredited)
Terry Shero as Fanny Elsing (uncredited)
William Stack as Minister (uncredited)
William Stelling as Returning veteran (uncredited)
Harry Strang as Tom's aide (uncredited)
Emerson Treacy as (uncredited)
Phillip Trent as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on Steps of Tara (uncredited)
Julia Ann Tuck as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on steps of Tara (uncredited)
Tom Tyler as Commanding officer during evacuation (uncredited)
Fred Warren as Frank Kennedy's clerk (uncredited)
Blue Washington as Renegade's companion (uncredited)
Rita Waterhouse as Girl in blue dress (uncredited)
Sarah Whitley as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Ernest Whitman as Carpetbagger's friend (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson as Wounded card player (uncredited)
Zack Williams as Elijah (uncredited)
John Wray as (uncredited)
'GONE WITH THE WIND' IMAGES ©copyright TURNER ENTERTAINMENT.
'GONE WITH THE WIND' ARTICLE TEXT ©copyright Gary Alston 2008.
THE SEARCH FOR SCARLETT:
If casting Rhett Butler was problematic, then the search to find Scarlett O’ Hara was a nightmarish and Herculean task in comparison. In due course, practically every actress in Hollywood aged between 20 and 35 was tested for the role, including Paulette Goddard
(the first to be test and a lead contender right up to the end), Katharine Hepburn, Jean Arthur and Lana Turner and many many other star names. Selznik even tested unlikely
candidates such as Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck in order to cover all bases; however,
although he wanted to audition any likely actress, he also pressured Cukor to economise on the tests, declaring:
"Any money we waste is going to be money that is unavailable, if and when we need it on the picture itself, as we have a definitely limited budget. Under no circumstances will we go beyond the budget, even if it involves cuts and sacrifices during shooting."
Worse was to come when (in his obsessive search for perfection) Selznik began to interfere with the screen tests themselves, even advising the seasoned Cukor on flattering camera angles for individual actresses.Cukor was understandably offended,
seeing Selznik’s ‘involvement’ as ‘interference’.This created a source of great tension and friction between the two which would eventually make their working relationship together untenable.Cukor received so many of the legendary ‘Selznik Memos’ that on one occasion – in exasperation -
he sent Selznik a note saying: "You see, I am getting the Selznick habit (or vice) of sending memos.
Early on in the search Norma Shearer was considered for Scarlett; it helped that she owned a piece of Selznik International. Shearer was anxious to make a big picture to re-inforce her comeback but was concerned with the ‘bitchy’ and ruthless aspects of Scarlett’s character .For his part, Selznik tried to persuade Shearer that the part of scarlet was right for her and that Scarlett’s character could be made more sympathetic;
Cukor however, was adamantly against softening the role – it was Scarlett’s bitchy
Nature which intrigued him!
Cukor offered Joan Bennett a screen test in 1937 but at first she declined, later recalling:
"I could not associate myself with a part that I felt Paulette Goddard was practically set for." Bennett finally agreed to go before the cameras after Goddard had tested.
Paulette Goddard was a very serious contender for the role of Scarlet – right up to
the final stages.Although Selznik was concerned about her marriage to Charlie Chaplin and the public’s perception of it, he noted that she was not ‘stale’ and instructed Cukor to devote special attention to the dramatic sections of her screen test.
Bette Davis had to be considered for the role – she was a major Hollywood star during this period.However, gifted actress that she was, she was no beauty and her sex-appeal was limited - both essential aspects of Scarlett’s character.Moreover, Gable didn’t want her in the role.In a rather Machiavellian move director Cukor made sure that Gable’s comments got back to Davis, who understandably hit the roof.Another
contender in a similar vein to Davis was Katherine Hepburn.She had been sent a copy
of ‘Gone With The Wind’ by Margaret Mitchell and had tried to get RKO to buy the
property for her.When Selznick acquired it she begged him to cast her, declaring that she would be perfect for the role; however, she wanted the part on a plate and in a diva-like fashion saw no reason why she should have to make a test.Later she remarked:
“By the time they came around to ask me to play it, I felt they must do what Selznick had advertised: find an unknown girl. If I had been signed up to do the picture,Selznick would have found Vivien Leigh anyway. He would have paid me $25,000 or whatever, dumped me and made the picture with her." Like Davis, Hepburn was thought to be not beautiful or feminine enough to play Scarlett.
An ever bigger controversy arose when the notoriously witty and theatrical actress
Tallulah Bankhead asked Cukor for a test. Cukor was in the difficult position of being a friend of Tallulah’s but also knowing that she was wrong for the part. In spite of this, he gave her a very big chance – not one test, but three! The first test in black and white was ok, but Cukor wanted a second with softer lighting. Then a third test was made in colour which proved to be a disaster. Later Cukor commented that
"Tallulah just wasn't fresh enough" a tactful way of saying that she was too old and
too harsh for the role.Not so tactful was legendary gossip columnist Louella Parson’s
reaction upon learning that Tallulah was being tested.In her column she wrote:
“George Cukor, her friend, is going to direct, and Jack Whitney, another friend, is backing it. So I'm afraid she'll get the part. If she does, I personally will go home and weep, because she is not SCARLETT O'HARA in my language, and if David O. Selznick gives her the part, he will have to answer to every man, woman, and child in America."
Time passed quickly, and by the fall of 1938 still no ‘Scarlett O’ Hara’ had been found. Nevertheless, Selznick still declared that: "somehow, someway" they would be able to "dig up a new girl." By November however, even he was really worried:
"If we finally wind up with any of the stars that we are testing," he wrote, "we must regard ourselves as absolute failures at digging up talent; as going against the most violently expressed wish for a new personality in an important role in the history of the American stage or screen; as wasting the opportunity to create a new star; as actually hurting the drawing power of the picture by having a star instead of a new girl; and as actually hurting the quality of the picture itself by having a girl who has an audience's dislike to beat down, as in the case of Hepburn, or identification with other roles to overcome, as in the case of Jean Arthur." In the meantime, sales of the novel soared and the public became obsessed with who would play the lead role of Scarlett.Selznick astutley fed this interest by dropping rumours on his casting plans
to the press; the search for Scarlett O’ Hara had become the most celebrated talent hunt in Hollywood’s history.By December Selznick decided to start production without a Scarlett.The back lot of his studio in Culver City had to be cleared to build
‘Tara’ - the O’ Hara plantation, and in a brilliant move William Cameron Menzies (the film’s art designer) decided to torch the old standing sets and use the resulting fire as the burning of Atlanta sequence in ‘Gone With the Wind’.Selznick readily agreed and stunt actors were used in long-shots to depict Scarlett and Rhett’s escape
from the burning city.Close-ups would later be added once a Scarlett was found.
The eventual ‘discovery of Scarlett’ was as dramatic as the film itself, and a publicist’s dream.The burning of Atlanta sequence was
scheduled to be shot on the night of December 10th with many Hollywood stars and
members of the press invited to attend.Also in attendance was Myron Selznick, David’s brother.Most importantly he brought with him an English actress
Vivien Leigh the lover of Laurence Olivier who was also in Hollywood at that time filming ‘Wuthering Heights’.Vivien may have been a total unknown in America up until that point, but she was destined to be the long sought after Scarlett.As legend has it, Myron arrived with Vivian after the shooting had began.He tugged David by the sleeve and said: "I want you to meet Scarlett O'Hara.".As David Selznick turned and saw the beautiful and vibrant actress, whose dark hair, eyes and face were glowing from the light of the flames he knew that he had at long last found his Scarlett.
Vivien Leigh had in fact had her mind set on playing Scarlett O’ Hara for well over
a year.Her trip to America it seems was deliberately staged with the aid of Myron Selznick who had already made plansd for her to be tested.Myron had seen and liked her perfomances in the British movies ‘A Yank At Oxford’ and ‘Fire Over England’
and had subsequently talked to Cukor about her.As far as Cukor and David Selznick were concerned, Vivien was just what they were looking for – a beautiful and talented
new face.Cukor proceeded to cancel his interviews with Betty Compson and Eve Arden so that he could rehearse exclusively with Leigh.
Cukor was instructed to make tests of the four finalists for Scarlett O’ Hara in full
colour.The finalists were Joan Bennett, Jean Arthur, Paulette Goddard and Vivien Leigh.
Cukor was in fact pivotal in winning Vivien Leigh the role; he lived out the part for her in both the test and rehearsal.He chose three sequences for the test: Scarlett and Mammy in the corset scene to test sex-appeal, Scarlett’s attempted seduction of Ashley for romantic image
and her drunken proposal to Rhett for dramatic and comic power.For her test Vivien
didn’t employ a Southern accent, but she demonstrated authority, whilst her scene with Ashley was even better than in the finished film.Vivien learnt that she had won the part of Scarlett on Christmas Day 1938, although the decision was not announced
publicly until January 13th 1939.Although the announcement initially brought protests
from fans all over the United States Leigh won them over in the movie with her perfect rendition of a Southern accent coached by Susan Myrick a friend of Margaret
Mitchell and a consultant for the film.
THE DIRECTORS:
One of the biggest problems facing Selznick in the shooting of ‘Gone With The Wind’ was that of its director and the style in which the movie would be filmed.
Selznick had hired George Cukor very early on, and although he was decisive in his
choice, he did have some doubts in the latter’s ability to direct an epic of Gone With
The Wind’s stature. As problems beset pre-production Cukor was held on an expensive retainer which caused Selznick to remark in September 1937 that they could end up paying the director $300,000 by the time the film was finished (in the interim before ‘Gone With The Wind’ being filmed Cukor had further irritated
Selznick by turning down his offer of directing ‘A Star Is Born’ and ‘Intermezzo’)
The problem was such that there was even talk of signing a replacement director such as Victor Fleming or Frank Capra to a long-term contract with Selznick International.
Selznick was also concerned about the possibility of Cukor altering the script which he and Sidney Howard had worked so painstakingly on, to the point that he asked Cukor to pledge not to use the novel in the movie’s production or to add any lines (as he had done in the various screen tests) because anything extra would prove far too costly. Selznick aimed to have every set for the film designed at least three weeks prior to shooting
Which would take place even if the script was not finalised.He wanted everyone involved to realise that this movie would be organised and conducted as no other movie had been done before.
The question of directorial style was even more of a thorny issue; Cukor – a practicing homosexual was known as a ‘Woman’s Director’ and there is no doubt that
in the early weeks of shooting he favoured Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland's performance - much to the detriment of Clark Gable and Lesley Howard, even extending the women’s roles in the process. An outraged Gable (concerned that Cukor would turn his Rhett into a secondary character)
responded by declaring “I won’t be directed by a fairy!”.By 1939 Gable had become one of the most bankable actors alive and was also the public’s choice to play Rhett Butler, therefore Selznick had little option but to fire Cukor and draft in Victor Fleming - “A man’s director” who was at that
point directing 'The Wizard Of Oz' at MGM (indeed, it is said that during this period Fleming spent his days shooting 'Gone with The Wind' and his evenings editing 'The Wizard Of Oz').
Olivia
De Havilland later remarked that she had learnt about Cukor's firing from Vivien Leigh
on the day that the Atlanta bazaar scene was filmed. Both women went (in full costume)
to Selznick’s office to beg him to re-consider; he apologised, but refused.
Rumours began to surface on the set that a young Gable had been involved in a gay affair with Cukor’s friend William Haines, but whatever the truth behind Cukor’s dismissal, he continued to coach Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland in private for their roles.
Fleming left the movie for two weeks in May 1939 due to exhaustion and another MGM director Sam Wood took over the reins.Eventually Fleming too was fired, and a
chastened Cukor was re-instated, willing to direct both men and women on an equal basis.
As a result, the end cut of ‘Gone with The Wind’ displays some choppiness and lack of continuity direction-wise, but given the circumstances, this is totally understandable.The final cut revealed that
half of the film had been directed by Victor Fleming (45%) - who received screen credit, with four other directors contributing to various sequences; these included: Sam Wood (15%), William Cameron Menzies (15%), George Cukor (5%) - the first director, B. Reeves ("Breezy") Eason (2%), and the remaining from various second unit directors (18%). Menzies was placated with the credit: "Production designed by..."
Cinematographer Lee Garmes began shooting the movie, but after a month Selznick
Was unhappy with the resulting footage which he deemed “too dark”; subsequently
Garmes was replaced with Ernest Haller working alongside Technicolor cinematographer Ray Rennahan.Most of the filming for ‘Gone With The Wind’ was shot on “the back forty” of Selznick International studios with all the location scenes
Being photographed in Los Angeles County and Ventura County in California.The
Estimated production costs for the movie were a staggering $3.9 million; at that point in time only ‘Ben Hur’ (1925) and ‘Hell’s Angels’ (1930) had cost more. A legend has
grown that the Hays Office fined Selznick for using the word ‘damn’ in the famous
Rhett Butler exit line (“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!”); in fact, the Motion
Picture Association board passed an amendment to the ‘Production Code’ on November 1st 1939 forbidding the 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 this ammendment in place, the Production Code Administration had no further objections to Rhett’s final line in the movie.
AUDIENCE PREVIEW & PREMIERE:
On September 9th 1939 Selznick and his wife Irene Mayer Selznick along with investor Jock Whitney and film editor Hal Kern drove out to Riverside, California
to preview a very rough early cut of the film before a live audience. The audience had already enjoyed a double bill of ‘Hawaiian Nights’ and ‘Beau Geste’ before ‘Gone
With The Wind’ was screened. They were not told beforehand the name of the movie they would be previewing. Consequently, when the film rolled, an audible
excitement emanated from the audience from the moment that Selznick’s name appeared on-screen, for they had been reading about ‘Gone With The Wind’ for the past two years. In an interview given many years later Kern described the exact moment at which the audience realised that they were viewing the most talked about movie in Hollywood history:
“When Margaret Mitchell's name came on the screen, you never heard such a sound in your life. They just yelled, they stood up on the seats...I had the [manually-operated sound] box. And I had that music wide open and you couldn't hear a thing. Mrs. Selznick was crying like a baby and so was David and so was I. Oh, what a thrill! And when "Gone with the Wind" came on the screen, it was thunderous!”
In David Thomson’s biography of Selznick he wrote that the audience reaction to the film "was the greatest moment of his life, the greatest victory and redemption of all his failings." A huge ovation followed this early screening, and preview cards filled out afterwards showed that two-thirds of the audience had rated it ‘excellent’ with most of them begging that the film not be cut.It was suggested instead that the film should be shown as the sole attraction of a theatre programme without the customary
newsreels, shorts and B-movie feature.This in fact is eventually how the film was
presented in cinemas world-wide.
The finished version of 'Gone With The Wind' premiered in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 15th, 1939 after three days of festivities hosted by the mayor. These included a parade of limousines
Carrying the stars of the film, receptions and a costume ball. Thousands of Confederate flags decorated stores and homes and the Governor
Of Georgia declared December 15th 1939 a State holiday. Future president Jimmy
Carter would later recall the occasion as
"the biggest event to happen in the South in my lifetime." From December 1939
until June 1940 the movie played only advance ticket road-show engagements at a
select number of theatres before going on general release in 1941.It opened in London, England in April 1940 during the ‘London Blitz’ and was a sensation, playing continuously for four years.
ACADEMY AWARDS:
The film was very well received at the 1940 Oscars winning a total
of 10 academy awards: eight regular, one honorary and one technical.
David O Selznick won the Oscar for ‘Outstanding Production’, Vivien
Leigh won the Oscar for ‘Best Actress’.Victor Fleming won ‘Best Director’,
Sidney Howard won ‘Best writing/Screenplay’, Hattie McDaniels won ‘Best
Supporting Actress’ (over Olivia de Havilland’s nomination for Melanie),
Ernest Heller and Ray won ‘Best Cinematography – Color’, Hal C Kern and James Newcom won ‘Best Film Editing’ and Lyle Wheeler won ‘Best Interior Decorsation’.
David Selznick also won ‘The Irving G. Thalberg Award’, William Menzies won an
‘Honorary’ award and Don Musgrove and Selznick International won a ‘Technical
Achievement Award’.Clark Gable lost out in his Oscar nomination to Robert Donat
who won for ‘Goodbye Mr. Chips’.
FEATURED SONGS:
'GONE WITH THE WIND' TRAILER
VIVIEN LEIGH'S OSCAR ACCEPTANCE SPEECH FOR 'GONE WITH THE WIND'
SCARLETT O' HARA MOMENTS
CLASSIC LINES FROM 'GONE WITH THE WIND':
"Quittin Time!" - The Foreman
"Fiddle-dee-dee!" - Scarlett
"Lawd have mercy!"- 'Mammie'
"Sir, you are no gentleman."- Scarlett
"And you Miss, are no lady. Don't think that I hold that against you. Ladies have never held any charm for me." - Rhett
"He looks as if... as if he knows what I look like without my shimmey!" - Scarlett
"It ain't fittin'. It just ain't fittin'." - 'Mammie'
"No. I don't think I will kiss you-- although you need kissing badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often-- and by someone who knows how." - Rhett
"Oh! If I just wasn't a lady! What wouldn't I tell that varmint!" - Scarlett
"Lordy, we got to have a doctor! I don't know nuthin' 'bout birthin' babies!" -''Prissy'
"As God as my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's all over I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill; as God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again." - Scarlett
CAST:
Clark Gable as Rhett Butler
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara
Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes
Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Hamilton
Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O'Hara
Evelyn Keyes as Suellen O'Hara
Ann Rutherford as Carreen O'Hara
George Reeves as Stuart Tarleton
Fred Crane as Brent Tarleton
Hattie McDaniel as Mammy
Oscar Polk as Pork
Butterfly McQueen as Prissy
Victor Jory as Jonas Wilkerson (the overseer)
Everett Brown as Big Sam (the foreman)
Howard C. Hickman as John Wilkes (as Howard Hickman)
Alicia Rhett as India Wilkes
Rand Brooks as Charles Hamilton
Carroll Nye as Frank Kennedy (a guest)
Laura Hope Crews as Aunt Pittypat Hamilton
Harry Davenport as Dr. Meade
Leona Roberts as Mrs. Meade
Jane Darwell as Mrs. Dolly Merriwether
Ona Munson as Belle Watling
Paul Hurst as Yankee deserter
Isabel Jewell as Emmy Slattery
Cammie King as Bonnie Blue Butler
Eric Linden as Amputation case
J.M. Kerrigan as Johnny Gallagher
Ward Bond as Tom (Yankee captain)
Jackie Moran as Phil Meade
Cliff Edwards as Remniscent soldier
Lillian Kemble-Cooper as Bonnie's nurse in London (as L. Kemble-Cooper)
Yakima Canutt as Renegade
Marcella Martin as Cathleen Calvert
Louis Jean Heydt as Hungry soldier
Mickey Kuhn as Beau Wilkes
Olin Howlin as Yankee businessman (as Olin Howland)
Irving Bacon as Corporal
Robert Elliott as Yankee major
William Bakewell as Mounted officer
Mary Anderson as Maybelle Merriwether
Eric Alden as Rafe Calvert (uncredited)
John Arledge as Dying soldier (uncredited)
Roscoe Ates as Convalescent soldier (uncredited)
Trevor Bardette as (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks as Gentleman (uncredited)
Daisy Bufford as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Ann Bupp as (uncredited)
James Bush as Gentleman (uncredited)
Ruth Byers as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Gary Carlson as Beau Wilkes (uncredited)
Louise Carter as Bandleader's wife (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler as Sergeant at hospital (uncredited)
Wallis Clark as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Frank Coghlan Jr. as Collapsing soldier (uncredited)
Gino Corrado as (uncredited)
Martina Cortina as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Luke Cosgrave as Bandleader (uncredited)
Kernan Cripps as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Ned Davenport as One-armed soldier (uncredited)
Lester Dorr as (uncredited)
Phyllis Douglas as Bonnie Blue Butler, age 2 (uncredited)
Joan Drake as Hospital nurse (uncredited)
F. Driver as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Edythe Elliott as General's wife (uncredited)
Frank Faylen as Soldier aiding Dr. Meade (uncredited)
Kelly Griffin as Bonnie Blue Butler (newborn) (uncredited)
George Hackathorne as Wounded soldier in pain (uncredited)
C. Hamilton as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Evelyn Harding as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Inez Hatchett as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Jean Heker as Hosptial nurse (uncredited)
Shep Houghton as Southern dandy (uncredited)
Si Jenks as Yankee on street (uncredited)
Tommy Kelly as Boy in band (uncredited)
W. Kirby as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
William McClain as Old Levi (uncredited)
George Meeker as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Alberto Morin as Rene Picard (uncredited)
Adrian Morris as Carpetbagger orator (uncredited)
Lee Murray as Drummerboy (uncredited)
H. Nellman as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
David Newell as Cade Calvert (uncredited)
N. Pharr as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Lee Phelps as Bartender (uncredited)
Jolane Reynolds as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Marjorie Reynolds as Guest at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Suzanne Ridgeway as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Azarene Rogers as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Tom Seidel as Tony Fontaine (uncredited)
Terry Shero as Fanny Elsing (uncredited)
William Stack as Minister (uncredited)
William Stelling as Returning veteran (uncredited)
Harry Strang as Tom's aide (uncredited)
Emerson Treacy as (uncredited)
Phillip Trent as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on Steps of Tara (uncredited)
Julia Ann Tuck as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on steps of Tara (uncredited)
Tom Tyler as Commanding officer during evacuation (uncredited)
Fred Warren as Frank Kennedy's clerk (uncredited)
Blue Washington as Renegade's companion (uncredited)
Rita Waterhouse as Girl in blue dress (uncredited)
Sarah Whitley as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Ernest Whitman as Carpetbagger's friend (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson as Wounded card player (uncredited)
Zack Williams as Elijah (uncredited)
John Wray as (uncredited)
'GONE WITH THE WIND' IMAGES ©copyright TURNER ENTERTAINMENT.
'GONE WITH THE WIND' ARTICLE TEXT ©copyright Gary Alston 2008.
Early on in the search Norma Shearer was considered for Scarlett; it helped that she owned a piece of Selznik International. Shearer was anxious to make a big picture to re-inforce her comeback but was concerned with the ‘bitchy’ and ruthless aspects of Scarlett’s character .For his part, Selznik tried to persuade Shearer that the part of scarlet was right for her and that Scarlett’s character could be made more sympathetic; Cukor however, was adamantly against softening the role – it was Scarlett’s bitchy Nature which intrigued him! Cukor offered Joan Bennett a screen test in 1937 but at first she declined, later recalling: "I could not associate myself with a part that I felt Paulette Goddard was practically set for." Bennett finally agreed to go before the cameras after Goddard had tested. Paulette Goddard was a very serious contender for the role of Scarlet – right up to the final stages.Although Selznik was concerned about her marriage to Charlie Chaplin and the public’s perception of it, he noted that she was not ‘stale’ and instructed Cukor to devote special attention to the dramatic sections of her screen test.
Bette Davis had to be considered for the role – she was a major Hollywood star during this period.However, gifted actress that she was, she was no beauty and her sex-appeal was limited - both essential aspects of Scarlett’s character.Moreover, Gable didn’t want her in the role.In a rather Machiavellian move director Cukor made sure that Gable’s comments got back to Davis, who understandably hit the roof.Another
contender in a similar vein to Davis was Katherine Hepburn.She had been sent a copy
of ‘Gone With The Wind’ by Margaret Mitchell and had tried to get RKO to buy the
property for her.When Selznick acquired it she begged him to cast her, declaring that she would be perfect for the role; however, she wanted the part on a plate and in a diva-like fashion saw no reason why she should have to make a test.Later she remarked:
“By the time they came around to ask me to play it, I felt they must do what Selznick had advertised: find an unknown girl. If I had been signed up to do the picture,Selznick would have found Vivien Leigh anyway. He would have paid me $25,000 or whatever, dumped me and made the picture with her." Like Davis, Hepburn was thought to be not beautiful or feminine enough to play Scarlett.
An ever bigger controversy arose when the notoriously witty and theatrical actress
Tallulah Bankhead asked Cukor for a test. Cukor was in the difficult position of being a friend of Tallulah’s but also knowing that she was wrong for the part. In spite of this, he gave her a very big chance – not one test, but three! The first test in black and white was ok, but Cukor wanted a second with softer lighting. Then a third test was made in colour which proved to be a disaster. Later Cukor commented that
"Tallulah just wasn't fresh enough" a tactful way of saying that she was too old and
too harsh for the role.Not so tactful was legendary gossip columnist Louella Parson’s
reaction upon learning that Tallulah was being tested.In her column she wrote:
“George Cukor, her friend, is going to direct, and Jack Whitney, another friend, is backing it. So I'm afraid she'll get the part. If she does, I personally will go home and weep, because she is not SCARLETT O'HARA in my language, and if David O. Selznick gives her the part, he will have to answer to every man, woman, and child in America."
Time passed quickly, and by the fall of 1938 still no ‘Scarlett O’ Hara’ had been found. Nevertheless, Selznick still declared that: "somehow, someway" they would be able to "dig up a new girl." By November however, even he was really worried:
"If we finally wind up with any of the stars that we are testing," he wrote, "we must regard ourselves as absolute failures at digging up talent; as going against the most violently expressed wish for a new personality in an important role in the history of the American stage or screen; as wasting the opportunity to create a new star; as actually hurting the drawing power of the picture by having a star instead of a new girl; and as actually hurting the quality of the picture itself by having a girl who has an audience's dislike to beat down, as in the case of Hepburn, or identification with other roles to overcome, as in the case of Jean Arthur." In the meantime, sales of the novel soared and the public became obsessed with who would play the lead role of Scarlett.Selznick astutley fed this interest by dropping rumours on his casting plans
to the press; the search for Scarlett O’ Hara had become the most celebrated talent hunt in Hollywood’s history.By December Selznick decided to start production without a Scarlett.The back lot of his studio in Culver City had to be cleared to build
‘Tara’ - the O’ Hara plantation, and in a brilliant move William Cameron Menzies (the film’s art designer) decided to torch the old standing sets and use the resulting fire as the burning of Atlanta sequence in ‘Gone With the Wind’.Selznick readily agreed and stunt actors were used in long-shots to depict Scarlett and Rhett’s escape
from the burning city.Close-ups would later be added once a Scarlett was found.
The eventual ‘discovery of Scarlett’ was as dramatic as the film itself, and a publicist’s dream.The burning of Atlanta sequence was
scheduled to be shot on the night of December 10th with many Hollywood stars and
members of the press invited to attend.Also in attendance was Myron Selznick, David’s brother.Most importantly he brought with him an English actress
Vivien Leigh the lover of Laurence Olivier who was also in Hollywood at that time filming ‘Wuthering Heights’.Vivien may have been a total unknown in America up until that point, but she was destined to be the long sought after Scarlett.As legend has it, Myron arrived with Vivian after the shooting had began.He tugged David by the sleeve and said: "I want you to meet Scarlett O'Hara.".As David Selznick turned and saw the beautiful and vibrant actress, whose dark hair, eyes and face were glowing from the light of the flames he knew that he had at long last found his Scarlett.
Vivien Leigh had in fact had her mind set on playing Scarlett O’ Hara for well over
a year.Her trip to America it seems was deliberately staged with the aid of Myron Selznick who had already made plansd for her to be tested.Myron had seen and liked her perfomances in the British movies ‘A Yank At Oxford’ and ‘Fire Over England’
and had subsequently talked to Cukor about her.As far as Cukor and David Selznick were concerned, Vivien was just what they were looking for – a beautiful and talented
new face.Cukor proceeded to cancel his interviews with Betty Compson and Eve Arden so that he could rehearse exclusively with Leigh.
Cukor was instructed to make tests of the four finalists for Scarlett O’ Hara in full
colour.The finalists were Joan Bennett, Jean Arthur, Paulette Goddard and Vivien Leigh.
Cukor was in fact pivotal in winning Vivien Leigh the role; he lived out the part for her in both the test and rehearsal.He chose three sequences for the test: Scarlett and Mammy in the corset scene to test sex-appeal, Scarlett’s attempted seduction of Ashley for romantic image
and her drunken proposal to Rhett for dramatic and comic power.For her test Vivien
didn’t employ a Southern accent, but she demonstrated authority, whilst her scene with Ashley was even better than in the finished film.Vivien learnt that she had won the part of Scarlett on Christmas Day 1938, although the decision was not announced
publicly until January 13th 1939.Although the announcement initially brought protests
from fans all over the United States Leigh won them over in the movie with her perfect rendition of a Southern accent coached by Susan Myrick a friend of Margaret
Mitchell and a consultant for the film.
THE DIRECTORS:
One of the biggest problems facing Selznick in the shooting of ‘Gone With The Wind’ was that of its director and the style in which the movie would be filmed.
Selznick had hired George Cukor very early on, and although he was decisive in his
choice, he did have some doubts in the latter’s ability to direct an epic of Gone With
The Wind’s stature. As problems beset pre-production Cukor was held on an expensive retainer which caused Selznick to remark in September 1937 that they could end up paying the director $300,000 by the time the film was finished (in the interim before ‘Gone With The Wind’ being filmed Cukor had further irritated
Selznick by turning down his offer of directing ‘A Star Is Born’ and ‘Intermezzo’)
The problem was such that there was even talk of signing a replacement director such as Victor Fleming or Frank Capra to a long-term contract with Selznick International.
Selznick was also concerned about the possibility of Cukor altering the script which he and Sidney Howard had worked so painstakingly on, to the point that he asked Cukor to pledge not to use the novel in the movie’s production or to add any lines (as he had done in the various screen tests) because anything extra would prove far too costly. Selznick aimed to have every set for the film designed at least three weeks prior to shooting
Which would take place even if the script was not finalised.He wanted everyone involved to realise that this movie would be organised and conducted as no other movie had been done before.
The question of directorial style was even more of a thorny issue; Cukor – a practicing homosexual was known as a ‘Woman’s Director’ and there is no doubt that
in the early weeks of shooting he favoured Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland's performance - much to the detriment of Clark Gable and Lesley Howard, even extending the women’s roles in the process. An outraged Gable (concerned that Cukor would turn his Rhett into a secondary character)
responded by declaring “I won’t be directed by a fairy!”.By 1939 Gable had become one of the most bankable actors alive and was also the public’s choice to play Rhett Butler, therefore Selznick had little option but to fire Cukor and draft in Victor Fleming - “A man’s director” who was at that
point directing 'The Wizard Of Oz' at MGM (indeed, it is said that during this period Fleming spent his days shooting 'Gone with The Wind' and his evenings editing 'The Wizard Of Oz').
Olivia
De Havilland later remarked that she had learnt about Cukor's firing from Vivien Leigh
on the day that the Atlanta bazaar scene was filmed. Both women went (in full costume)
to Selznick’s office to beg him to re-consider; he apologised, but refused.
Rumours began to surface on the set that a young Gable had been involved in a gay affair with Cukor’s friend William Haines, but whatever the truth behind Cukor’s dismissal, he continued to coach Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland in private for their roles.
Fleming left the movie for two weeks in May 1939 due to exhaustion and another MGM director Sam Wood took over the reins.Eventually Fleming too was fired, and a
chastened Cukor was re-instated, willing to direct both men and women on an equal basis.
As a result, the end cut of ‘Gone with The Wind’ displays some choppiness and lack of continuity direction-wise, but given the circumstances, this is totally understandable.The final cut revealed that
half of the film had been directed by Victor Fleming (45%) - who received screen credit, with four other directors contributing to various sequences; these included: Sam Wood (15%), William Cameron Menzies (15%), George Cukor (5%) - the first director, B. Reeves ("Breezy") Eason (2%), and the remaining from various second unit directors (18%). Menzies was placated with the credit: "Production designed by..."
Cinematographer Lee Garmes began shooting the movie, but after a month Selznick
Was unhappy with the resulting footage which he deemed “too dark”; subsequently
Garmes was replaced with Ernest Haller working alongside Technicolor cinematographer Ray Rennahan.Most of the filming for ‘Gone With The Wind’ was shot on “the back forty” of Selznick International studios with all the location scenes
Being photographed in Los Angeles County and Ventura County in California.The
Estimated production costs for the movie were a staggering $3.9 million; at that point in time only ‘Ben Hur’ (1925) and ‘Hell’s Angels’ (1930) had cost more. A legend has
grown that the Hays Office fined Selznick for using the word ‘damn’ in the famous
Rhett Butler exit line (“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!”); in fact, the Motion
Picture Association board passed an amendment to the ‘Production Code’ on November 1st 1939 forbidding the 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 this ammendment in place, the Production Code Administration had no further objections to Rhett’s final line in the movie.
AUDIENCE PREVIEW & PREMIERE:
On September 9th 1939 Selznick and his wife Irene Mayer Selznick along with investor Jock Whitney and film editor Hal Kern drove out to Riverside, California
to preview a very rough early cut of the film before a live audience. The audience had already enjoyed a double bill of ‘Hawaiian Nights’ and ‘Beau Geste’ before ‘Gone
With The Wind’ was screened. They were not told beforehand the name of the movie they would be previewing. Consequently, when the film rolled, an audible
excitement emanated from the audience from the moment that Selznick’s name appeared on-screen, for they had been reading about ‘Gone With The Wind’ for the past two years. In an interview given many years later Kern described the exact moment at which the audience realised that they were viewing the most talked about movie in Hollywood history:
“When Margaret Mitchell's name came on the screen, you never heard such a sound in your life. They just yelled, they stood up on the seats...I had the [manually-operated sound] box. And I had that music wide open and you couldn't hear a thing. Mrs. Selznick was crying like a baby and so was David and so was I. Oh, what a thrill! And when "Gone with the Wind" came on the screen, it was thunderous!”
In David Thomson’s biography of Selznick he wrote that the audience reaction to the film "was the greatest moment of his life, the greatest victory and redemption of all his failings." A huge ovation followed this early screening, and preview cards filled out afterwards showed that two-thirds of the audience had rated it ‘excellent’ with most of them begging that the film not be cut.It was suggested instead that the film should be shown as the sole attraction of a theatre programme without the customary
newsreels, shorts and B-movie feature.This in fact is eventually how the film was
presented in cinemas world-wide.
The finished version of 'Gone With The Wind' premiered in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 15th, 1939 after three days of festivities hosted by the mayor. These included a parade of limousines
Carrying the stars of the film, receptions and a costume ball. Thousands of Confederate flags decorated stores and homes and the Governor
Of Georgia declared December 15th 1939 a State holiday. Future president Jimmy
Carter would later recall the occasion as
"the biggest event to happen in the South in my lifetime." From December 1939
until June 1940 the movie played only advance ticket road-show engagements at a
select number of theatres before going on general release in 1941.It opened in London, England in April 1940 during the ‘London Blitz’ and was a sensation, playing continuously for four years.
ACADEMY AWARDS:
The film was very well received at the 1940 Oscars winning a total
of 10 academy awards: eight regular, one honorary and one technical.
David O Selznick won the Oscar for ‘Outstanding Production’, Vivien
Leigh won the Oscar for ‘Best Actress’.Victor Fleming won ‘Best Director’,
Sidney Howard won ‘Best writing/Screenplay’, Hattie McDaniels won ‘Best
Supporting Actress’ (over Olivia de Havilland’s nomination for Melanie),
Ernest Heller and Ray won ‘Best Cinematography – Color’, Hal C Kern and James Newcom won ‘Best Film Editing’ and Lyle Wheeler won ‘Best Interior Decorsation’.
David Selznick also won ‘The Irving G. Thalberg Award’, William Menzies won an
‘Honorary’ award and Don Musgrove and Selznick International won a ‘Technical
Achievement Award’.Clark Gable lost out in his Oscar nomination to Robert Donat
who won for ‘Goodbye Mr. Chips’.
FEATURED SONGS:
'GONE WITH THE WIND' TRAILER
VIVIEN LEIGH'S OSCAR ACCEPTANCE SPEECH FOR 'GONE WITH THE WIND'
SCARLETT O' HARA MOMENTS
CLASSIC LINES FROM 'GONE WITH THE WIND':
"Quittin Time!" - The Foreman
"Fiddle-dee-dee!" - Scarlett
"Lawd have mercy!"- 'Mammie'
"Sir, you are no gentleman."- Scarlett
"And you Miss, are no lady. Don't think that I hold that against you. Ladies have never held any charm for me." - Rhett
"He looks as if... as if he knows what I look like without my shimmey!" - Scarlett
"It ain't fittin'. It just ain't fittin'." - 'Mammie'
"No. I don't think I will kiss you-- although you need kissing badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often-- and by someone who knows how." - Rhett
"Oh! If I just wasn't a lady! What wouldn't I tell that varmint!" - Scarlett
"Lordy, we got to have a doctor! I don't know nuthin' 'bout birthin' babies!" -''Prissy'
"As God as my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's all over I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill; as God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again." - Scarlett
CAST:
Clark Gable as Rhett Butler
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara
Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes
Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Hamilton
Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O'Hara
Evelyn Keyes as Suellen O'Hara
Ann Rutherford as Carreen O'Hara
George Reeves as Stuart Tarleton
Fred Crane as Brent Tarleton
Hattie McDaniel as Mammy
Oscar Polk as Pork
Butterfly McQueen as Prissy
Victor Jory as Jonas Wilkerson (the overseer)
Everett Brown as Big Sam (the foreman)
Howard C. Hickman as John Wilkes (as Howard Hickman)
Alicia Rhett as India Wilkes
Rand Brooks as Charles Hamilton
Carroll Nye as Frank Kennedy (a guest)
Laura Hope Crews as Aunt Pittypat Hamilton
Harry Davenport as Dr. Meade
Leona Roberts as Mrs. Meade
Jane Darwell as Mrs. Dolly Merriwether
Ona Munson as Belle Watling
Paul Hurst as Yankee deserter
Isabel Jewell as Emmy Slattery
Cammie King as Bonnie Blue Butler
Eric Linden as Amputation case
J.M. Kerrigan as Johnny Gallagher
Ward Bond as Tom (Yankee captain)
Jackie Moran as Phil Meade
Cliff Edwards as Remniscent soldier
Lillian Kemble-Cooper as Bonnie's nurse in London (as L. Kemble-Cooper)
Yakima Canutt as Renegade
Marcella Martin as Cathleen Calvert
Louis Jean Heydt as Hungry soldier
Mickey Kuhn as Beau Wilkes
Olin Howlin as Yankee businessman (as Olin Howland)
Irving Bacon as Corporal
Robert Elliott as Yankee major
William Bakewell as Mounted officer
Mary Anderson as Maybelle Merriwether
Eric Alden as Rafe Calvert (uncredited)
John Arledge as Dying soldier (uncredited)
Roscoe Ates as Convalescent soldier (uncredited)
Trevor Bardette as (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks as Gentleman (uncredited)
Daisy Bufford as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Ann Bupp as (uncredited)
James Bush as Gentleman (uncredited)
Ruth Byers as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Gary Carlson as Beau Wilkes (uncredited)
Louise Carter as Bandleader's wife (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler as Sergeant at hospital (uncredited)
Wallis Clark as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Frank Coghlan Jr. as Collapsing soldier (uncredited)
Gino Corrado as (uncredited)
Martina Cortina as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Luke Cosgrave as Bandleader (uncredited)
Kernan Cripps as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Ned Davenport as One-armed soldier (uncredited)
Lester Dorr as (uncredited)
Phyllis Douglas as Bonnie Blue Butler, age 2 (uncredited)
Joan Drake as Hospital nurse (uncredited)
F. Driver as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Edythe Elliott as General's wife (uncredited)
Frank Faylen as Soldier aiding Dr. Meade (uncredited)
Kelly Griffin as Bonnie Blue Butler (newborn) (uncredited)
George Hackathorne as Wounded soldier in pain (uncredited)
C. Hamilton as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Evelyn Harding as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Inez Hatchett as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Jean Heker as Hosptial nurse (uncredited)
Shep Houghton as Southern dandy (uncredited)
Si Jenks as Yankee on street (uncredited)
Tommy Kelly as Boy in band (uncredited)
W. Kirby as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
William McClain as Old Levi (uncredited)
George Meeker as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Alberto Morin as Rene Picard (uncredited)
Adrian Morris as Carpetbagger orator (uncredited)
Lee Murray as Drummerboy (uncredited)
H. Nellman as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
David Newell as Cade Calvert (uncredited)
N. Pharr as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Lee Phelps as Bartender (uncredited)
Jolane Reynolds as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Marjorie Reynolds as Guest at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Suzanne Ridgeway as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Azarene Rogers as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Tom Seidel as Tony Fontaine (uncredited)
Terry Shero as Fanny Elsing (uncredited)
William Stack as Minister (uncredited)
William Stelling as Returning veteran (uncredited)
Harry Strang as Tom's aide (uncredited)
Emerson Treacy as (uncredited)
Phillip Trent as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on Steps of Tara (uncredited)
Julia Ann Tuck as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on steps of Tara (uncredited)
Tom Tyler as Commanding officer during evacuation (uncredited)
Fred Warren as Frank Kennedy's clerk (uncredited)
Blue Washington as Renegade's companion (uncredited)
Rita Waterhouse as Girl in blue dress (uncredited)
Sarah Whitley as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Ernest Whitman as Carpetbagger's friend (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson as Wounded card player (uncredited)
Zack Williams as Elijah (uncredited)
John Wray as (uncredited)
'GONE WITH THE WIND' IMAGES ©copyright TURNER ENTERTAINMENT.
'GONE WITH THE WIND' ARTICLE TEXT ©copyright Gary Alston 2008.
THE DIRECTORS:
One of the biggest problems facing Selznick in the shooting of ‘Gone With The Wind’ was that of its director and the style in which the movie would be filmed.
Selznick had hired George Cukor very early on, and although he was decisive in his
choice, he did have some doubts in the latter’s ability to direct an epic of Gone With
The Wind’s stature. As problems beset pre-production Cukor was held on an expensive retainer which caused Selznick to remark in September 1937 that they could end up paying the director $300,000 by the time the film was finished (in the interim before ‘Gone With The Wind’ being filmed Cukor had further irritated
Selznick by turning down his offer of directing ‘A Star Is Born’ and ‘Intermezzo’)
The problem was such that there was even talk of signing a replacement director such as Victor Fleming or Frank Capra to a long-term contract with Selznick International.
Selznick was also concerned about the possibility of Cukor altering the script which he and Sidney Howard had worked so painstakingly on, to the point that he asked Cukor to pledge not to use the novel in the movie’s production or to add any lines (as he had done in the various screen tests) because anything extra would prove far too costly. Selznick aimed to have every set for the film designed at least three weeks prior to shooting
Which would take place even if the script was not finalised.He wanted everyone involved to realise that this movie would be organised and conducted as no other movie had been done before.
The question of directorial style was even more of a thorny issue; Cukor – a practicing homosexual was known as a ‘Woman’s Director’ and there is no doubt that
in the early weeks of shooting he favoured Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland's performance - much to the detriment of Clark Gable and Lesley Howard, even extending the women’s roles in the process. An outraged Gable (concerned that Cukor would turn his Rhett into a secondary character)
responded by declaring “I won’t be directed by a fairy!”.By 1939 Gable had become one of the most bankable actors alive and was also the public’s choice to play Rhett Butler, therefore Selznick had little option but to fire Cukor and draft in Victor Fleming - “A man’s director” who was at that
point directing 'The Wizard Of Oz' at MGM (indeed, it is said that during this period Fleming spent his days shooting 'Gone with The Wind' and his evenings editing 'The Wizard Of Oz').
Olivia
De Havilland later remarked that she had learnt about Cukor's firing from Vivien Leigh
on the day that the Atlanta bazaar scene was filmed. Both women went (in full costume)
to Selznick’s office to beg him to re-consider; he apologised, but refused.
Rumours began to surface on the set that a young Gable had been involved in a gay affair with Cukor’s friend William Haines, but whatever the truth behind Cukor’s dismissal, he continued to coach Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland in private for their roles.
Fleming left the movie for two weeks in May 1939 due to exhaustion and another MGM director Sam Wood took over the reins.Eventually Fleming too was fired, and a
chastened Cukor was re-instated, willing to direct both men and women on an equal basis.
As a result, the end cut of ‘Gone with The Wind’ displays some choppiness and lack of continuity direction-wise, but given the circumstances, this is totally understandable.The final cut revealed that
half of the film had been directed by Victor Fleming (45%) - who received screen credit, with four other directors contributing to various sequences; these included: Sam Wood (15%), William Cameron Menzies (15%), George Cukor (5%) - the first director, B. Reeves ("Breezy") Eason (2%), and the remaining from various second unit directors (18%). Menzies was placated with the credit: "Production designed by..."
Cinematographer Lee Garmes began shooting the movie, but after a month Selznick
Was unhappy with the resulting footage which he deemed “too dark”; subsequently
Garmes was replaced with Ernest Haller working alongside Technicolor cinematographer Ray Rennahan.Most of the filming for ‘Gone With The Wind’ was shot on “the back forty” of Selznick International studios with all the location scenes
Being photographed in Los Angeles County and Ventura County in California.The
Estimated production costs for the movie were a staggering $3.9 million; at that point in time only ‘Ben Hur’ (1925) and ‘Hell’s Angels’ (1930) had cost more. A legend has
grown that the Hays Office fined Selznick for using the word ‘damn’ in the famous
Rhett Butler exit line (“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!”); in fact, the Motion
Picture Association board passed an amendment to the ‘Production Code’ on November 1st 1939 forbidding the 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 this ammendment in place, the Production Code Administration had no further objections to Rhett’s final line in the movie.
AUDIENCE PREVIEW & PREMIERE:
On September 9th 1939 Selznick and his wife Irene Mayer Selznick along with investor Jock Whitney and film editor Hal Kern drove out to Riverside, California
to preview a very rough early cut of the film before a live audience. The audience had already enjoyed a double bill of ‘Hawaiian Nights’ and ‘Beau Geste’ before ‘Gone
With The Wind’ was screened. They were not told beforehand the name of the movie they would be previewing. Consequently, when the film rolled, an audible
excitement emanated from the audience from the moment that Selznick’s name appeared on-screen, for they had been reading about ‘Gone With The Wind’ for the past two years. In an interview given many years later Kern described the exact moment at which the audience realised that they were viewing the most talked about movie in Hollywood history:
“When Margaret Mitchell's name came on the screen, you never heard such a sound in your life. They just yelled, they stood up on the seats...I had the [manually-operated sound] box. And I had that music wide open and you couldn't hear a thing. Mrs. Selznick was crying like a baby and so was David and so was I. Oh, what a thrill! And when "Gone with the Wind" came on the screen, it was thunderous!”
In David Thomson’s biography of Selznick he wrote that the audience reaction to the film "was the greatest moment of his life, the greatest victory and redemption of all his failings." A huge ovation followed this early screening, and preview cards filled out afterwards showed that two-thirds of the audience had rated it ‘excellent’ with most of them begging that the film not be cut.It was suggested instead that the film should be shown as the sole attraction of a theatre programme without the customary
newsreels, shorts and B-movie feature.This in fact is eventually how the film was
presented in cinemas world-wide.
The finished version of 'Gone With The Wind' premiered in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 15th, 1939 after three days of festivities hosted by the mayor. These included a parade of limousines
Carrying the stars of the film, receptions and a costume ball. Thousands of Confederate flags decorated stores and homes and the Governor
Of Georgia declared December 15th 1939 a State holiday. Future president Jimmy
Carter would later recall the occasion as
"the biggest event to happen in the South in my lifetime." From December 1939
until June 1940 the movie played only advance ticket road-show engagements at a
select number of theatres before going on general release in 1941.It opened in London, England in April 1940 during the ‘London Blitz’ and was a sensation, playing continuously for four years.
ACADEMY AWARDS:
The film was very well received at the 1940 Oscars winning a total
of 10 academy awards: eight regular, one honorary and one technical.
David O Selznick won the Oscar for ‘Outstanding Production’, Vivien
Leigh won the Oscar for ‘Best Actress’.Victor Fleming won ‘Best Director’,
Sidney Howard won ‘Best writing/Screenplay’, Hattie McDaniels won ‘Best
Supporting Actress’ (over Olivia de Havilland’s nomination for Melanie),
Ernest Heller and Ray won ‘Best Cinematography – Color’, Hal C Kern and James Newcom won ‘Best Film Editing’ and Lyle Wheeler won ‘Best Interior Decorsation’.
David Selznick also won ‘The Irving G. Thalberg Award’, William Menzies won an
‘Honorary’ award and Don Musgrove and Selznick International won a ‘Technical
Achievement Award’.Clark Gable lost out in his Oscar nomination to Robert Donat
who won for ‘Goodbye Mr. Chips’.
FEATURED SONGS:
'GONE WITH THE WIND' TRAILER
VIVIEN LEIGH'S OSCAR ACCEPTANCE SPEECH FOR 'GONE WITH THE WIND'
SCARLETT O' HARA MOMENTS
CLASSIC LINES FROM 'GONE WITH THE WIND':
"Quittin Time!" - The Foreman
"Fiddle-dee-dee!" - Scarlett
"Lawd have mercy!"- 'Mammie'
"Sir, you are no gentleman."- Scarlett
"And you Miss, are no lady. Don't think that I hold that against you. Ladies have never held any charm for me." - Rhett
"He looks as if... as if he knows what I look like without my shimmey!" - Scarlett
"It ain't fittin'. It just ain't fittin'." - 'Mammie'
"No. I don't think I will kiss you-- although you need kissing badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often-- and by someone who knows how." - Rhett
"Oh! If I just wasn't a lady! What wouldn't I tell that varmint!" - Scarlett
"Lordy, we got to have a doctor! I don't know nuthin' 'bout birthin' babies!" -''Prissy'
"As God as my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's all over I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill; as God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again." - Scarlett
CAST:
Clark Gable as Rhett Butler
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara
Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes
Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Hamilton
Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O'Hara
Evelyn Keyes as Suellen O'Hara
Ann Rutherford as Carreen O'Hara
George Reeves as Stuart Tarleton
Fred Crane as Brent Tarleton
Hattie McDaniel as Mammy
Oscar Polk as Pork
Butterfly McQueen as Prissy
Victor Jory as Jonas Wilkerson (the overseer)
Everett Brown as Big Sam (the foreman)
Howard C. Hickman as John Wilkes (as Howard Hickman)
Alicia Rhett as India Wilkes
Rand Brooks as Charles Hamilton
Carroll Nye as Frank Kennedy (a guest)
Laura Hope Crews as Aunt Pittypat Hamilton
Harry Davenport as Dr. Meade
Leona Roberts as Mrs. Meade
Jane Darwell as Mrs. Dolly Merriwether
Ona Munson as Belle Watling
Paul Hurst as Yankee deserter
Isabel Jewell as Emmy Slattery
Cammie King as Bonnie Blue Butler
Eric Linden as Amputation case
J.M. Kerrigan as Johnny Gallagher
Ward Bond as Tom (Yankee captain)
Jackie Moran as Phil Meade
Cliff Edwards as Remniscent soldier
Lillian Kemble-Cooper as Bonnie's nurse in London (as L. Kemble-Cooper)
Yakima Canutt as Renegade
Marcella Martin as Cathleen Calvert
Louis Jean Heydt as Hungry soldier
Mickey Kuhn as Beau Wilkes
Olin Howlin as Yankee businessman (as Olin Howland)
Irving Bacon as Corporal
Robert Elliott as Yankee major
William Bakewell as Mounted officer
Mary Anderson as Maybelle Merriwether
Eric Alden as Rafe Calvert (uncredited)
John Arledge as Dying soldier (uncredited)
Roscoe Ates as Convalescent soldier (uncredited)
Trevor Bardette as (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks as Gentleman (uncredited)
Daisy Bufford as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Ann Bupp as (uncredited)
James Bush as Gentleman (uncredited)
Ruth Byers as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Gary Carlson as Beau Wilkes (uncredited)
Louise Carter as Bandleader's wife (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler as Sergeant at hospital (uncredited)
Wallis Clark as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Frank Coghlan Jr. as Collapsing soldier (uncredited)
Gino Corrado as (uncredited)
Martina Cortina as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Luke Cosgrave as Bandleader (uncredited)
Kernan Cripps as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Ned Davenport as One-armed soldier (uncredited)
Lester Dorr as (uncredited)
Phyllis Douglas as Bonnie Blue Butler, age 2 (uncredited)
Joan Drake as Hospital nurse (uncredited)
F. Driver as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Edythe Elliott as General's wife (uncredited)
Frank Faylen as Soldier aiding Dr. Meade (uncredited)
Kelly Griffin as Bonnie Blue Butler (newborn) (uncredited)
George Hackathorne as Wounded soldier in pain (uncredited)
C. Hamilton as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Evelyn Harding as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Inez Hatchett as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Jean Heker as Hosptial nurse (uncredited)
Shep Houghton as Southern dandy (uncredited)
Si Jenks as Yankee on street (uncredited)
Tommy Kelly as Boy in band (uncredited)
W. Kirby as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
William McClain as Old Levi (uncredited)
George Meeker as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Alberto Morin as Rene Picard (uncredited)
Adrian Morris as Carpetbagger orator (uncredited)
Lee Murray as Drummerboy (uncredited)
H. Nellman as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
David Newell as Cade Calvert (uncredited)
N. Pharr as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Lee Phelps as Bartender (uncredited)
Jolane Reynolds as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Marjorie Reynolds as Guest at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Suzanne Ridgeway as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Azarene Rogers as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Tom Seidel as Tony Fontaine (uncredited)
Terry Shero as Fanny Elsing (uncredited)
William Stack as Minister (uncredited)
William Stelling as Returning veteran (uncredited)
Harry Strang as Tom's aide (uncredited)
Emerson Treacy as (uncredited)
Phillip Trent as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on Steps of Tara (uncredited)
Julia Ann Tuck as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on steps of Tara (uncredited)
Tom Tyler as Commanding officer during evacuation (uncredited)
Fred Warren as Frank Kennedy's clerk (uncredited)
Blue Washington as Renegade's companion (uncredited)
Rita Waterhouse as Girl in blue dress (uncredited)
Sarah Whitley as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Ernest Whitman as Carpetbagger's friend (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson as Wounded card player (uncredited)
Zack Williams as Elijah (uncredited)
John Wray as (uncredited)
'GONE WITH THE WIND' IMAGES ©copyright TURNER ENTERTAINMENT.
'GONE WITH THE WIND' ARTICLE TEXT ©copyright Gary Alston 2008.
Cinematographer Lee Garmes began shooting the movie, but after a month Selznick
Was unhappy with the resulting footage which he deemed “too dark”; subsequently
Garmes was replaced with Ernest Haller working alongside Technicolor cinematographer Ray Rennahan.Most of the filming for ‘Gone With The Wind’ was shot on “the back forty” of Selznick International studios with all the location scenes
Being photographed in Los Angeles County and Ventura County in California.The
Estimated production costs for the movie were a staggering $3.9 million; at that point in time only ‘Ben Hur’ (1925) and ‘Hell’s Angels’ (1930) had cost more. A legend has
grown that the Hays Office fined Selznick for using the word ‘damn’ in the famous
Rhett Butler exit line (“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!”); in fact, the Motion
Picture Association board passed an amendment to the ‘Production Code’ on November 1st 1939 forbidding the 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 this ammendment in place, the Production Code Administration had no further objections to Rhett’s final line in the movie.
AUDIENCE PREVIEW & PREMIERE:
On September 9th 1939 Selznick and his wife Irene Mayer Selznick along with investor Jock Whitney and film editor Hal Kern drove out to Riverside, California
to preview a very rough early cut of the film before a live audience. The audience had already enjoyed a double bill of ‘Hawaiian Nights’ and ‘Beau Geste’ before ‘Gone
With The Wind’ was screened. They were not told beforehand the name of the movie they would be previewing. Consequently, when the film rolled, an audible
excitement emanated from the audience from the moment that Selznick’s name appeared on-screen, for they had been reading about ‘Gone With The Wind’ for the past two years. In an interview given many years later Kern described the exact moment at which the audience realised that they were viewing the most talked about movie in Hollywood history:
“When Margaret Mitchell's name came on the screen, you never heard such a sound in your life. They just yelled, they stood up on the seats...I had the [manually-operated sound] box. And I had that music wide open and you couldn't hear a thing. Mrs. Selznick was crying like a baby and so was David and so was I. Oh, what a thrill! And when "Gone with the Wind" came on the screen, it was thunderous!”
In David Thomson’s biography of Selznick he wrote that the audience reaction to the film "was the greatest moment of his life, the greatest victory and redemption of all his failings." A huge ovation followed this early screening, and preview cards filled out afterwards showed that two-thirds of the audience had rated it ‘excellent’ with most of them begging that the film not be cut.It was suggested instead that the film should be shown as the sole attraction of a theatre programme without the customary
newsreels, shorts and B-movie feature.This in fact is eventually how the film was
presented in cinemas world-wide.
The finished version of 'Gone With The Wind' premiered in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 15th, 1939 after three days of festivities hosted by the mayor. These included a parade of limousines
Carrying the stars of the film, receptions and a costume ball. Thousands of Confederate flags decorated stores and homes and the Governor
Of Georgia declared December 15th 1939 a State holiday. Future president Jimmy
Carter would later recall the occasion as
"the biggest event to happen in the South in my lifetime." From December 1939
until June 1940 the movie played only advance ticket road-show engagements at a
select number of theatres before going on general release in 1941.It opened in London, England in April 1940 during the ‘London Blitz’ and was a sensation, playing continuously for four years.
ACADEMY AWARDS:
The film was very well received at the 1940 Oscars winning a total
of 10 academy awards: eight regular, one honorary and one technical.
David O Selznick won the Oscar for ‘Outstanding Production’, Vivien
Leigh won the Oscar for ‘Best Actress’.Victor Fleming won ‘Best Director’,
Sidney Howard won ‘Best writing/Screenplay’, Hattie McDaniels won ‘Best
Supporting Actress’ (over Olivia de Havilland’s nomination for Melanie),
Ernest Heller and Ray won ‘Best Cinematography – Color’, Hal C Kern and James Newcom won ‘Best Film Editing’ and Lyle Wheeler won ‘Best Interior Decorsation’.
David Selznick also won ‘The Irving G. Thalberg Award’, William Menzies won an
‘Honorary’ award and Don Musgrove and Selznick International won a ‘Technical
Achievement Award’.Clark Gable lost out in his Oscar nomination to Robert Donat
who won for ‘Goodbye Mr. Chips’.
FEATURED SONGS:
'GONE WITH THE WIND' TRAILER
VIVIEN LEIGH'S OSCAR ACCEPTANCE SPEECH FOR 'GONE WITH THE WIND'
SCARLETT O' HARA MOMENTS
CLASSIC LINES FROM 'GONE WITH THE WIND':
"Quittin Time!" - The Foreman
"Fiddle-dee-dee!" - Scarlett
"Lawd have mercy!"- 'Mammie'
"Sir, you are no gentleman."- Scarlett
"And you Miss, are no lady. Don't think that I hold that against you. Ladies have never held any charm for me." - Rhett
"He looks as if... as if he knows what I look like without my shimmey!" - Scarlett
"It ain't fittin'. It just ain't fittin'." - 'Mammie'
"No. I don't think I will kiss you-- although you need kissing badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often-- and by someone who knows how." - Rhett
"Oh! If I just wasn't a lady! What wouldn't I tell that varmint!" - Scarlett
"Lordy, we got to have a doctor! I don't know nuthin' 'bout birthin' babies!" -''Prissy'
"As God as my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's all over I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill; as God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again." - Scarlett
CAST:
Clark Gable as Rhett Butler
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara
Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes
Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Hamilton
Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O'Hara
Evelyn Keyes as Suellen O'Hara
Ann Rutherford as Carreen O'Hara
George Reeves as Stuart Tarleton
Fred Crane as Brent Tarleton
Hattie McDaniel as Mammy
Oscar Polk as Pork
Butterfly McQueen as Prissy
Victor Jory as Jonas Wilkerson (the overseer)
Everett Brown as Big Sam (the foreman)
Howard C. Hickman as John Wilkes (as Howard Hickman)
Alicia Rhett as India Wilkes
Rand Brooks as Charles Hamilton
Carroll Nye as Frank Kennedy (a guest)
Laura Hope Crews as Aunt Pittypat Hamilton
Harry Davenport as Dr. Meade
Leona Roberts as Mrs. Meade
Jane Darwell as Mrs. Dolly Merriwether
Ona Munson as Belle Watling
Paul Hurst as Yankee deserter
Isabel Jewell as Emmy Slattery
Cammie King as Bonnie Blue Butler
Eric Linden as Amputation case
J.M. Kerrigan as Johnny Gallagher
Ward Bond as Tom (Yankee captain)
Jackie Moran as Phil Meade
Cliff Edwards as Remniscent soldier
Lillian Kemble-Cooper as Bonnie's nurse in London (as L. Kemble-Cooper)
Yakima Canutt as Renegade
Marcella Martin as Cathleen Calvert
Louis Jean Heydt as Hungry soldier
Mickey Kuhn as Beau Wilkes
Olin Howlin as Yankee businessman (as Olin Howland)
Irving Bacon as Corporal
Robert Elliott as Yankee major
William Bakewell as Mounted officer
Mary Anderson as Maybelle Merriwether
Eric Alden as Rafe Calvert (uncredited)
John Arledge as Dying soldier (uncredited)
Roscoe Ates as Convalescent soldier (uncredited)
Trevor Bardette as (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks as Gentleman (uncredited)
Daisy Bufford as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Ann Bupp as (uncredited)
James Bush as Gentleman (uncredited)
Ruth Byers as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Gary Carlson as Beau Wilkes (uncredited)
Louise Carter as Bandleader's wife (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler as Sergeant at hospital (uncredited)
Wallis Clark as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Frank Coghlan Jr. as Collapsing soldier (uncredited)
Gino Corrado as (uncredited)
Martina Cortina as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Luke Cosgrave as Bandleader (uncredited)
Kernan Cripps as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Ned Davenport as One-armed soldier (uncredited)
Lester Dorr as (uncredited)
Phyllis Douglas as Bonnie Blue Butler, age 2 (uncredited)
Joan Drake as Hospital nurse (uncredited)
F. Driver as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Edythe Elliott as General's wife (uncredited)
Frank Faylen as Soldier aiding Dr. Meade (uncredited)
Kelly Griffin as Bonnie Blue Butler (newborn) (uncredited)
George Hackathorne as Wounded soldier in pain (uncredited)
C. Hamilton as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Evelyn Harding as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Inez Hatchett as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Jean Heker as Hosptial nurse (uncredited)
Shep Houghton as Southern dandy (uncredited)
Si Jenks as Yankee on street (uncredited)
Tommy Kelly as Boy in band (uncredited)
W. Kirby as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
William McClain as Old Levi (uncredited)
George Meeker as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Alberto Morin as Rene Picard (uncredited)
Adrian Morris as Carpetbagger orator (uncredited)
Lee Murray as Drummerboy (uncredited)
H. Nellman as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
David Newell as Cade Calvert (uncredited)
N. Pharr as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Lee Phelps as Bartender (uncredited)
Jolane Reynolds as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Marjorie Reynolds as Guest at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Suzanne Ridgeway as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Azarene Rogers as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Tom Seidel as Tony Fontaine (uncredited)
Terry Shero as Fanny Elsing (uncredited)
William Stack as Minister (uncredited)
William Stelling as Returning veteran (uncredited)
Harry Strang as Tom's aide (uncredited)
Emerson Treacy as (uncredited)
Phillip Trent as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on Steps of Tara (uncredited)
Julia Ann Tuck as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on steps of Tara (uncredited)
Tom Tyler as Commanding officer during evacuation (uncredited)
Fred Warren as Frank Kennedy's clerk (uncredited)
Blue Washington as Renegade's companion (uncredited)
Rita Waterhouse as Girl in blue dress (uncredited)
Sarah Whitley as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Ernest Whitman as Carpetbagger's friend (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson as Wounded card player (uncredited)
Zack Williams as Elijah (uncredited)
John Wray as (uncredited)
'GONE WITH THE WIND' IMAGES ©copyright TURNER ENTERTAINMENT.
'GONE WITH THE WIND' ARTICLE TEXT ©copyright Gary Alston 2008.
AUDIENCE PREVIEW & PREMIERE:
On September 9th 1939 Selznick and his wife Irene Mayer Selznick along with investor Jock Whitney and film editor Hal Kern drove out to Riverside, California
to preview a very rough early cut of the film before a live audience. The audience had already enjoyed a double bill of ‘Hawaiian Nights’ and ‘Beau Geste’ before ‘Gone
With The Wind’ was screened. They were not told beforehand the name of the movie they would be previewing. Consequently, when the film rolled, an audible
excitement emanated from the audience from the moment that Selznick’s name appeared on-screen, for they had been reading about ‘Gone With The Wind’ for the past two years. In an interview given many years later Kern described the exact moment at which the audience realised that they were viewing the most talked about movie in Hollywood history:
“When Margaret Mitchell's name came on the screen, you never heard such a sound in your life. They just yelled, they stood up on the seats...I had the [manually-operated sound] box. And I had that music wide open and you couldn't hear a thing. Mrs. Selznick was crying like a baby and so was David and so was I. Oh, what a thrill! And when "Gone with the Wind" came on the screen, it was thunderous!”
In David Thomson’s biography of Selznick he wrote that the audience reaction to the film "was the greatest moment of his life, the greatest victory and redemption of all his failings." A huge ovation followed this early screening, and preview cards filled out afterwards showed that two-thirds of the audience had rated it ‘excellent’ with most of them begging that the film not be cut.It was suggested instead that the film should be shown as the sole attraction of a theatre programme without the customary
newsreels, shorts and B-movie feature.This in fact is eventually how the film was
presented in cinemas world-wide.
The finished version of 'Gone With The Wind' premiered in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 15th, 1939 after three days of festivities hosted by the mayor. These included a parade of limousines
Carrying the stars of the film, receptions and a costume ball. Thousands of Confederate flags decorated stores and homes and the Governor
Of Georgia declared December 15th 1939 a State holiday. Future president Jimmy
Carter would later recall the occasion as
"the biggest event to happen in the South in my lifetime." From December 1939
until June 1940 the movie played only advance ticket road-show engagements at a
select number of theatres before going on general release in 1941.It opened in London, England in April 1940 during the ‘London Blitz’ and was a sensation, playing continuously for four years.
ACADEMY AWARDS:
The film was very well received at the 1940 Oscars winning a total
of 10 academy awards: eight regular, one honorary and one technical.
David O Selznick won the Oscar for ‘Outstanding Production’, Vivien
Leigh won the Oscar for ‘Best Actress’.Victor Fleming won ‘Best Director’,
Sidney Howard won ‘Best writing/Screenplay’, Hattie McDaniels won ‘Best
Supporting Actress’ (over Olivia de Havilland’s nomination for Melanie),
Ernest Heller and Ray won ‘Best Cinematography – Color’, Hal C Kern and James Newcom won ‘Best Film Editing’ and Lyle Wheeler won ‘Best Interior Decorsation’.
David Selznick also won ‘The Irving G. Thalberg Award’, William Menzies won an
‘Honorary’ award and Don Musgrove and Selznick International won a ‘Technical
Achievement Award’.Clark Gable lost out in his Oscar nomination to Robert Donat
who won for ‘Goodbye Mr. Chips’.
FEATURED SONGS:
'GONE WITH THE WIND' TRAILER
VIVIEN LEIGH'S OSCAR ACCEPTANCE SPEECH FOR 'GONE WITH THE WIND'
SCARLETT O' HARA MOMENTS
CLASSIC LINES FROM 'GONE WITH THE WIND':
"Quittin Time!" - The Foreman
"Fiddle-dee-dee!" - Scarlett
"Lawd have mercy!"- 'Mammie'
"Sir, you are no gentleman."- Scarlett
"And you Miss, are no lady. Don't think that I hold that against you. Ladies have never held any charm for me." - Rhett
"He looks as if... as if he knows what I look like without my shimmey!" - Scarlett
"It ain't fittin'. It just ain't fittin'." - 'Mammie'
"No. I don't think I will kiss you-- although you need kissing badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often-- and by someone who knows how." - Rhett
"Oh! If I just wasn't a lady! What wouldn't I tell that varmint!" - Scarlett
"Lordy, we got to have a doctor! I don't know nuthin' 'bout birthin' babies!" -''Prissy'
"As God as my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's all over I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill; as God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again." - Scarlett
CAST:
Clark Gable as Rhett Butler
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara
Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes
Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Hamilton
Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O'Hara
Evelyn Keyes as Suellen O'Hara
Ann Rutherford as Carreen O'Hara
George Reeves as Stuart Tarleton
Fred Crane as Brent Tarleton
Hattie McDaniel as Mammy
Oscar Polk as Pork
Butterfly McQueen as Prissy
Victor Jory as Jonas Wilkerson (the overseer)
Everett Brown as Big Sam (the foreman)
Howard C. Hickman as John Wilkes (as Howard Hickman)
Alicia Rhett as India Wilkes
Rand Brooks as Charles Hamilton
Carroll Nye as Frank Kennedy (a guest)
Laura Hope Crews as Aunt Pittypat Hamilton
Harry Davenport as Dr. Meade
Leona Roberts as Mrs. Meade
Jane Darwell as Mrs. Dolly Merriwether
Ona Munson as Belle Watling
Paul Hurst as Yankee deserter
Isabel Jewell as Emmy Slattery
Cammie King as Bonnie Blue Butler
Eric Linden as Amputation case
J.M. Kerrigan as Johnny Gallagher
Ward Bond as Tom (Yankee captain)
Jackie Moran as Phil Meade
Cliff Edwards as Remniscent soldier
Lillian Kemble-Cooper as Bonnie's nurse in London (as L. Kemble-Cooper)
Yakima Canutt as Renegade
Marcella Martin as Cathleen Calvert
Louis Jean Heydt as Hungry soldier
Mickey Kuhn as Beau Wilkes
Olin Howlin as Yankee businessman (as Olin Howland)
Irving Bacon as Corporal
Robert Elliott as Yankee major
William Bakewell as Mounted officer
Mary Anderson as Maybelle Merriwether
Eric Alden as Rafe Calvert (uncredited)
John Arledge as Dying soldier (uncredited)
Roscoe Ates as Convalescent soldier (uncredited)
Trevor Bardette as (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks as Gentleman (uncredited)
Daisy Bufford as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Ann Bupp as (uncredited)
James Bush as Gentleman (uncredited)
Ruth Byers as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Gary Carlson as Beau Wilkes (uncredited)
Louise Carter as Bandleader's wife (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler as Sergeant at hospital (uncredited)
Wallis Clark as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Frank Coghlan Jr. as Collapsing soldier (uncredited)
Gino Corrado as (uncredited)
Martina Cortina as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Luke Cosgrave as Bandleader (uncredited)
Kernan Cripps as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Ned Davenport as One-armed soldier (uncredited)
Lester Dorr as (uncredited)
Phyllis Douglas as Bonnie Blue Butler, age 2 (uncredited)
Joan Drake as Hospital nurse (uncredited)
F. Driver as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Edythe Elliott as General's wife (uncredited)
Frank Faylen as Soldier aiding Dr. Meade (uncredited)
Kelly Griffin as Bonnie Blue Butler (newborn) (uncredited)
George Hackathorne as Wounded soldier in pain (uncredited)
C. Hamilton as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Evelyn Harding as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Inez Hatchett as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Jean Heker as Hosptial nurse (uncredited)
Shep Houghton as Southern dandy (uncredited)
Si Jenks as Yankee on street (uncredited)
Tommy Kelly as Boy in band (uncredited)
W. Kirby as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
William McClain as Old Levi (uncredited)
George Meeker as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Alberto Morin as Rene Picard (uncredited)
Adrian Morris as Carpetbagger orator (uncredited)
Lee Murray as Drummerboy (uncredited)
H. Nellman as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
David Newell as Cade Calvert (uncredited)
N. Pharr as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Lee Phelps as Bartender (uncredited)
Jolane Reynolds as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Marjorie Reynolds as Guest at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Suzanne Ridgeway as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Azarene Rogers as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Tom Seidel as Tony Fontaine (uncredited)
Terry Shero as Fanny Elsing (uncredited)
William Stack as Minister (uncredited)
William Stelling as Returning veteran (uncredited)
Harry Strang as Tom's aide (uncredited)
Emerson Treacy as (uncredited)
Phillip Trent as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on Steps of Tara (uncredited)
Julia Ann Tuck as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on steps of Tara (uncredited)
Tom Tyler as Commanding officer during evacuation (uncredited)
Fred Warren as Frank Kennedy's clerk (uncredited)
Blue Washington as Renegade's companion (uncredited)
Rita Waterhouse as Girl in blue dress (uncredited)
Sarah Whitley as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Ernest Whitman as Carpetbagger's friend (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson as Wounded card player (uncredited)
Zack Williams as Elijah (uncredited)
John Wray as (uncredited)
'GONE WITH THE WIND' IMAGES ©copyright TURNER ENTERTAINMENT.
'GONE WITH THE WIND' ARTICLE TEXT ©copyright Gary Alston 2008.
The finished version of 'Gone With The Wind' premiered in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 15th, 1939 after three days of festivities hosted by the mayor. These included a parade of limousines Carrying the stars of the film, receptions and a costume ball. Thousands of Confederate flags decorated stores and homes and the Governor Of Georgia declared December 15th 1939 a State holiday. Future president Jimmy Carter would later recall the occasion as "the biggest event to happen in the South in my lifetime." From December 1939 until June 1940 the movie played only advance ticket road-show engagements at a select number of theatres before going on general release in 1941.It opened in London, England in April 1940 during the ‘London Blitz’ and was a sensation, playing continuously for four years.
ACADEMY AWARDS:
The film was very well received at the 1940 Oscars winning a total
of 10 academy awards: eight regular, one honorary and one technical.
David O Selznick won the Oscar for ‘Outstanding Production’, Vivien
Leigh won the Oscar for ‘Best Actress’.Victor Fleming won ‘Best Director’,
Sidney Howard won ‘Best writing/Screenplay’, Hattie McDaniels won ‘Best
Supporting Actress’ (over Olivia de Havilland’s nomination for Melanie),
Ernest Heller and Ray won ‘Best Cinematography – Color’, Hal C Kern and James Newcom won ‘Best Film Editing’ and Lyle Wheeler won ‘Best Interior Decorsation’.
David Selznick also won ‘The Irving G. Thalberg Award’, William Menzies won an
‘Honorary’ award and Don Musgrove and Selznick International won a ‘Technical
Achievement Award’.Clark Gable lost out in his Oscar nomination to Robert Donat
who won for ‘Goodbye Mr. Chips’.
FEATURED SONGS:
'GONE WITH THE WIND' TRAILER
VIVIEN LEIGH'S OSCAR ACCEPTANCE SPEECH FOR 'GONE WITH THE WIND'
SCARLETT O' HARA MOMENTS
CLASSIC LINES FROM 'GONE WITH THE WIND':
"Quittin Time!" - The Foreman
"Fiddle-dee-dee!" - Scarlett
"Lawd have mercy!"- 'Mammie'
"Sir, you are no gentleman."- Scarlett
"And you Miss, are no lady. Don't think that I hold that against you. Ladies have never held any charm for me." - Rhett
"He looks as if... as if he knows what I look like without my shimmey!" - Scarlett
"It ain't fittin'. It just ain't fittin'." - 'Mammie'
"No. I don't think I will kiss you-- although you need kissing badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often-- and by someone who knows how." - Rhett
"Oh! If I just wasn't a lady! What wouldn't I tell that varmint!" - Scarlett
"Lordy, we got to have a doctor! I don't know nuthin' 'bout birthin' babies!" -''Prissy'
"As God as my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's all over I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill; as God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again." - Scarlett
CAST:
Clark Gable as Rhett Butler
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara
Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes
Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Hamilton
Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O'Hara
Evelyn Keyes as Suellen O'Hara
Ann Rutherford as Carreen O'Hara
George Reeves as Stuart Tarleton
Fred Crane as Brent Tarleton
Hattie McDaniel as Mammy
Oscar Polk as Pork
Butterfly McQueen as Prissy
Victor Jory as Jonas Wilkerson (the overseer)
Everett Brown as Big Sam (the foreman)
Howard C. Hickman as John Wilkes (as Howard Hickman)
Alicia Rhett as India Wilkes
Rand Brooks as Charles Hamilton
Carroll Nye as Frank Kennedy (a guest)
Laura Hope Crews as Aunt Pittypat Hamilton
Harry Davenport as Dr. Meade
Leona Roberts as Mrs. Meade
Jane Darwell as Mrs. Dolly Merriwether
Ona Munson as Belle Watling
Paul Hurst as Yankee deserter
Isabel Jewell as Emmy Slattery
Cammie King as Bonnie Blue Butler
Eric Linden as Amputation case
J.M. Kerrigan as Johnny Gallagher
Ward Bond as Tom (Yankee captain)
Jackie Moran as Phil Meade
Cliff Edwards as Remniscent soldier
Lillian Kemble-Cooper as Bonnie's nurse in London (as L. Kemble-Cooper)
Yakima Canutt as Renegade
Marcella Martin as Cathleen Calvert
Louis Jean Heydt as Hungry soldier
Mickey Kuhn as Beau Wilkes
Olin Howlin as Yankee businessman (as Olin Howland)
Irving Bacon as Corporal
Robert Elliott as Yankee major
William Bakewell as Mounted officer
Mary Anderson as Maybelle Merriwether
Eric Alden as Rafe Calvert (uncredited)
John Arledge as Dying soldier (uncredited)
Roscoe Ates as Convalescent soldier (uncredited)
Trevor Bardette as (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks as Gentleman (uncredited)
Daisy Bufford as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Ann Bupp as (uncredited)
James Bush as Gentleman (uncredited)
Ruth Byers as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Gary Carlson as Beau Wilkes (uncredited)
Louise Carter as Bandleader's wife (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler as Sergeant at hospital (uncredited)
Wallis Clark as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Frank Coghlan Jr. as Collapsing soldier (uncredited)
Gino Corrado as (uncredited)
Martina Cortina as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Luke Cosgrave as Bandleader (uncredited)
Kernan Cripps as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Ned Davenport as One-armed soldier (uncredited)
Lester Dorr as (uncredited)
Phyllis Douglas as Bonnie Blue Butler, age 2 (uncredited)
Joan Drake as Hospital nurse (uncredited)
F. Driver as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Edythe Elliott as General's wife (uncredited)
Frank Faylen as Soldier aiding Dr. Meade (uncredited)
Kelly Griffin as Bonnie Blue Butler (newborn) (uncredited)
George Hackathorne as Wounded soldier in pain (uncredited)
C. Hamilton as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Evelyn Harding as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Inez Hatchett as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Jean Heker as Hosptial nurse (uncredited)
Shep Houghton as Southern dandy (uncredited)
Si Jenks as Yankee on street (uncredited)
Tommy Kelly as Boy in band (uncredited)
W. Kirby as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
William McClain as Old Levi (uncredited)
George Meeker as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Alberto Morin as Rene Picard (uncredited)
Adrian Morris as Carpetbagger orator (uncredited)
Lee Murray as Drummerboy (uncredited)
H. Nellman as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
David Newell as Cade Calvert (uncredited)
N. Pharr as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Lee Phelps as Bartender (uncredited)
Jolane Reynolds as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Marjorie Reynolds as Guest at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Suzanne Ridgeway as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Azarene Rogers as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Tom Seidel as Tony Fontaine (uncredited)
Terry Shero as Fanny Elsing (uncredited)
William Stack as Minister (uncredited)
William Stelling as Returning veteran (uncredited)
Harry Strang as Tom's aide (uncredited)
Emerson Treacy as (uncredited)
Phillip Trent as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on Steps of Tara (uncredited)
Julia Ann Tuck as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on steps of Tara (uncredited)
Tom Tyler as Commanding officer during evacuation (uncredited)
Fred Warren as Frank Kennedy's clerk (uncredited)
Blue Washington as Renegade's companion (uncredited)
Rita Waterhouse as Girl in blue dress (uncredited)
Sarah Whitley as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Ernest Whitman as Carpetbagger's friend (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson as Wounded card player (uncredited)
Zack Williams as Elijah (uncredited)
John Wray as (uncredited)
'GONE WITH THE WIND' IMAGES ©copyright TURNER ENTERTAINMENT.
'GONE WITH THE WIND' ARTICLE TEXT ©copyright Gary Alston 2008.
FEATURED SONGS:
'GONE WITH THE WIND' TRAILER
VIVIEN LEIGH'S OSCAR ACCEPTANCE SPEECH FOR 'GONE WITH THE WIND'
SCARLETT O' HARA MOMENTS
CLASSIC LINES FROM 'GONE WITH THE WIND':
"Quittin Time!" - The Foreman
"Fiddle-dee-dee!" - Scarlett
"Lawd have mercy!"- 'Mammie'
"Sir, you are no gentleman."- Scarlett
"And you Miss, are no lady. Don't think that I hold that against you. Ladies have never held any charm for me." - Rhett
"He looks as if... as if he knows what I look like without my shimmey!" - Scarlett
"It ain't fittin'. It just ain't fittin'." - 'Mammie'
"No. I don't think I will kiss you-- although you need kissing badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often-- and by someone who knows how." - Rhett
"Oh! If I just wasn't a lady! What wouldn't I tell that varmint!" - Scarlett
"Lordy, we got to have a doctor! I don't know nuthin' 'bout birthin' babies!" -''Prissy'
"As God as my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's all over I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill; as God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again." - Scarlett
CAST:
Clark Gable as Rhett Butler
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara
Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes
Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Hamilton
Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O'Hara
Evelyn Keyes as Suellen O'Hara
Ann Rutherford as Carreen O'Hara
George Reeves as Stuart Tarleton
Fred Crane as Brent Tarleton
Hattie McDaniel as Mammy
Oscar Polk as Pork
Butterfly McQueen as Prissy
Victor Jory as Jonas Wilkerson (the overseer)
Everett Brown as Big Sam (the foreman)
Howard C. Hickman as John Wilkes (as Howard Hickman)
Alicia Rhett as India Wilkes
Rand Brooks as Charles Hamilton
Carroll Nye as Frank Kennedy (a guest)
Laura Hope Crews as Aunt Pittypat Hamilton
Harry Davenport as Dr. Meade
Leona Roberts as Mrs. Meade
Jane Darwell as Mrs. Dolly Merriwether
Ona Munson as Belle Watling
Paul Hurst as Yankee deserter
Isabel Jewell as Emmy Slattery
Cammie King as Bonnie Blue Butler
Eric Linden as Amputation case
J.M. Kerrigan as Johnny Gallagher
Ward Bond as Tom (Yankee captain)
Jackie Moran as Phil Meade
Cliff Edwards as Remniscent soldier
Lillian Kemble-Cooper as Bonnie's nurse in London (as L. Kemble-Cooper)
Yakima Canutt as Renegade
Marcella Martin as Cathleen Calvert
Louis Jean Heydt as Hungry soldier
Mickey Kuhn as Beau Wilkes
Olin Howlin as Yankee businessman (as Olin Howland)
Irving Bacon as Corporal
Robert Elliott as Yankee major
William Bakewell as Mounted officer
Mary Anderson as Maybelle Merriwether
Eric Alden as Rafe Calvert (uncredited)
John Arledge as Dying soldier (uncredited)
Roscoe Ates as Convalescent soldier (uncredited)
Trevor Bardette as (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks as Gentleman (uncredited)
Daisy Bufford as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Ann Bupp as (uncredited)
James Bush as Gentleman (uncredited)
Ruth Byers as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Gary Carlson as Beau Wilkes (uncredited)
Louise Carter as Bandleader's wife (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler as Sergeant at hospital (uncredited)
Wallis Clark as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Frank Coghlan Jr. as Collapsing soldier (uncredited)
Gino Corrado as (uncredited)
Martina Cortina as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Luke Cosgrave as Bandleader (uncredited)
Kernan Cripps as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Ned Davenport as One-armed soldier (uncredited)
Lester Dorr as (uncredited)
Phyllis Douglas as Bonnie Blue Butler, age 2 (uncredited)
Joan Drake as Hospital nurse (uncredited)
F. Driver as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Edythe Elliott as General's wife (uncredited)
Frank Faylen as Soldier aiding Dr. Meade (uncredited)
Kelly Griffin as Bonnie Blue Butler (newborn) (uncredited)
George Hackathorne as Wounded soldier in pain (uncredited)
C. Hamilton as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Evelyn Harding as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Inez Hatchett as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Jean Heker as Hosptial nurse (uncredited)
Shep Houghton as Southern dandy (uncredited)
Si Jenks as Yankee on street (uncredited)
Tommy Kelly as Boy in band (uncredited)
W. Kirby as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
William McClain as Old Levi (uncredited)
George Meeker as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Alberto Morin as Rene Picard (uncredited)
Adrian Morris as Carpetbagger orator (uncredited)
Lee Murray as Drummerboy (uncredited)
H. Nellman as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
David Newell as Cade Calvert (uncredited)
N. Pharr as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Lee Phelps as Bartender (uncredited)
Jolane Reynolds as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Marjorie Reynolds as Guest at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Suzanne Ridgeway as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Azarene Rogers as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Tom Seidel as Tony Fontaine (uncredited)
Terry Shero as Fanny Elsing (uncredited)
William Stack as Minister (uncredited)
William Stelling as Returning veteran (uncredited)
Harry Strang as Tom's aide (uncredited)
Emerson Treacy as (uncredited)
Phillip Trent as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on Steps of Tara (uncredited)
Julia Ann Tuck as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on steps of Tara (uncredited)
Tom Tyler as Commanding officer during evacuation (uncredited)
Fred Warren as Frank Kennedy's clerk (uncredited)
Blue Washington as Renegade's companion (uncredited)
Rita Waterhouse as Girl in blue dress (uncredited)
Sarah Whitley as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Ernest Whitman as Carpetbagger's friend (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson as Wounded card player (uncredited)
Zack Williams as Elijah (uncredited)
John Wray as (uncredited)
'GONE WITH THE WIND' IMAGES ©copyright TURNER ENTERTAINMENT.
'GONE WITH THE WIND' ARTICLE TEXT ©copyright Gary Alston 2008.
"Quittin Time!" - The Foreman
"Fiddle-dee-dee!" - Scarlett
"Lawd have mercy!"- 'Mammie'
"Sir, you are no gentleman."- Scarlett
"And you Miss, are no lady. Don't think that I hold that against you. Ladies have never held any charm for me." - Rhett
"He looks as if... as if he knows what I look like without my shimmey!" - Scarlett
"It ain't fittin'. It just ain't fittin'." - 'Mammie'
"No. I don't think I will kiss you-- although you need kissing badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often-- and by someone who knows how." - Rhett
"Oh! If I just wasn't a lady! What wouldn't I tell that varmint!" - Scarlett
"Lordy, we got to have a doctor! I don't know nuthin' 'bout birthin' babies!" -''Prissy'
"As God as my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's all over I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill; as God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again." - Scarlett
CAST:
Clark Gable as Rhett Butler
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara
Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes
Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Hamilton
Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O'Hara
Evelyn Keyes as Suellen O'Hara
Ann Rutherford as Carreen O'Hara
George Reeves as Stuart Tarleton
Fred Crane as Brent Tarleton
Hattie McDaniel as Mammy
Oscar Polk as Pork
Butterfly McQueen as Prissy
Victor Jory as Jonas Wilkerson (the overseer)
Everett Brown as Big Sam (the foreman)
Howard C. Hickman as John Wilkes (as Howard Hickman)
Alicia Rhett as India Wilkes
Rand Brooks as Charles Hamilton
Carroll Nye as Frank Kennedy (a guest)
Laura Hope Crews as Aunt Pittypat Hamilton
Harry Davenport as Dr. Meade
Leona Roberts as Mrs. Meade
Jane Darwell as Mrs. Dolly Merriwether
Ona Munson as Belle Watling
Paul Hurst as Yankee deserter
Isabel Jewell as Emmy Slattery
Cammie King as Bonnie Blue Butler
Eric Linden as Amputation case
J.M. Kerrigan as Johnny Gallagher
Ward Bond as Tom (Yankee captain)
Jackie Moran as Phil Meade
Cliff Edwards as Remniscent soldier
Lillian Kemble-Cooper as Bonnie's nurse in London (as L. Kemble-Cooper)
Yakima Canutt as Renegade
Marcella Martin as Cathleen Calvert
Louis Jean Heydt as Hungry soldier
Mickey Kuhn as Beau Wilkes
Olin Howlin as Yankee businessman (as Olin Howland)
Irving Bacon as Corporal
Robert Elliott as Yankee major
William Bakewell as Mounted officer
Mary Anderson as Maybelle Merriwether
Eric Alden as Rafe Calvert (uncredited)
John Arledge as Dying soldier (uncredited)
Roscoe Ates as Convalescent soldier (uncredited)
Trevor Bardette as (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks as Gentleman (uncredited)
Daisy Bufford as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Ann Bupp as (uncredited)
James Bush as Gentleman (uncredited)
Ruth Byers as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Gary Carlson as Beau Wilkes (uncredited)
Louise Carter as Bandleader's wife (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler as Sergeant at hospital (uncredited)
Wallis Clark as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Frank Coghlan Jr. as Collapsing soldier (uncredited)
Gino Corrado as (uncredited)
Martina Cortina as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Luke Cosgrave as Bandleader (uncredited)
Kernan Cripps as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Ned Davenport as One-armed soldier (uncredited)
Lester Dorr as (uncredited)
Phyllis Douglas as Bonnie Blue Butler, age 2 (uncredited)
Joan Drake as Hospital nurse (uncredited)
F. Driver as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Edythe Elliott as General's wife (uncredited)
Frank Faylen as Soldier aiding Dr. Meade (uncredited)
Kelly Griffin as Bonnie Blue Butler (newborn) (uncredited)
George Hackathorne as Wounded soldier in pain (uncredited)
C. Hamilton as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Evelyn Harding as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Inez Hatchett as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Jean Heker as Hosptial nurse (uncredited)
Shep Houghton as Southern dandy (uncredited)
Si Jenks as Yankee on street (uncredited)
Tommy Kelly as Boy in band (uncredited)
W. Kirby as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
William McClain as Old Levi (uncredited)
George Meeker as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Alberto Morin as Rene Picard (uncredited)
Adrian Morris as Carpetbagger orator (uncredited)
Lee Murray as Drummerboy (uncredited)
H. Nellman as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
David Newell as Cade Calvert (uncredited)
N. Pharr as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Lee Phelps as Bartender (uncredited)
Jolane Reynolds as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Marjorie Reynolds as Guest at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Suzanne Ridgeway as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Azarene Rogers as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Tom Seidel as Tony Fontaine (uncredited)
Terry Shero as Fanny Elsing (uncredited)
William Stack as Minister (uncredited)
William Stelling as Returning veteran (uncredited)
Harry Strang as Tom's aide (uncredited)
Emerson Treacy as (uncredited)
Phillip Trent as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on Steps of Tara (uncredited)
Julia Ann Tuck as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on steps of Tara (uncredited)
Tom Tyler as Commanding officer during evacuation (uncredited)
Fred Warren as Frank Kennedy's clerk (uncredited)
Blue Washington as Renegade's companion (uncredited)
Rita Waterhouse as Girl in blue dress (uncredited)
Sarah Whitley as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Ernest Whitman as Carpetbagger's friend (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson as Wounded card player (uncredited)
Zack Williams as Elijah (uncredited)
John Wray as (uncredited)
'GONE WITH THE WIND' IMAGES ©copyright TURNER ENTERTAINMENT.
'GONE WITH THE WIND' ARTICLE TEXT ©copyright Gary Alston 2008.
Clark Gable as Rhett Butler
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara
Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes
Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Hamilton
Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O'Hara
Evelyn Keyes as Suellen O'Hara
Ann Rutherford as Carreen O'Hara
George Reeves as Stuart Tarleton
Fred Crane as Brent Tarleton
Hattie McDaniel as Mammy
Oscar Polk as Pork
Butterfly McQueen as Prissy
Victor Jory as Jonas Wilkerson (the overseer)
Everett Brown as Big Sam (the foreman)
Howard C. Hickman as John Wilkes (as Howard Hickman)
Alicia Rhett as India Wilkes
Rand Brooks as Charles Hamilton
Carroll Nye as Frank Kennedy (a guest)
Laura Hope Crews as Aunt Pittypat Hamilton
Harry Davenport as Dr. Meade
Leona Roberts as Mrs. Meade
Jane Darwell as Mrs. Dolly Merriwether
Ona Munson as Belle Watling
Paul Hurst as Yankee deserter
Isabel Jewell as Emmy Slattery
Cammie King as Bonnie Blue Butler
Eric Linden as Amputation case
J.M. Kerrigan as Johnny Gallagher
Ward Bond as Tom (Yankee captain)
Jackie Moran as Phil Meade
Cliff Edwards as Remniscent soldier
Lillian Kemble-Cooper as Bonnie's nurse in London (as L. Kemble-Cooper)
Yakima Canutt as Renegade
Marcella Martin as Cathleen Calvert
Louis Jean Heydt as Hungry soldier
Mickey Kuhn as Beau Wilkes
Olin Howlin as Yankee businessman (as Olin Howland)
Irving Bacon as Corporal
Robert Elliott as Yankee major
William Bakewell as Mounted officer
Mary Anderson as Maybelle Merriwether
Eric Alden as Rafe Calvert (uncredited)
John Arledge as Dying soldier (uncredited)
Roscoe Ates as Convalescent soldier (uncredited)
Trevor Bardette as (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks as Gentleman (uncredited)
Daisy Bufford as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Ann Bupp as (uncredited)
James Bush as Gentleman (uncredited)
Ruth Byers as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Gary Carlson as Beau Wilkes (uncredited)
Louise Carter as Bandleader's wife (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler as Sergeant at hospital (uncredited)
Wallis Clark as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Frank Coghlan Jr. as Collapsing soldier (uncredited)
Gino Corrado as (uncredited)
Martina Cortina as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Luke Cosgrave as Bandleader (uncredited)
Kernan Cripps as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Ned Davenport as One-armed soldier (uncredited)
Lester Dorr as (uncredited)
Phyllis Douglas as Bonnie Blue Butler, age 2 (uncredited)
Joan Drake as Hospital nurse (uncredited)
F. Driver as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Edythe Elliott as General's wife (uncredited)
Frank Faylen as Soldier aiding Dr. Meade (uncredited)
Kelly Griffin as Bonnie Blue Butler (newborn) (uncredited)
George Hackathorne as Wounded soldier in pain (uncredited)
C. Hamilton as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
Evelyn Harding as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Inez Hatchett as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Jean Heker as Hosptial nurse (uncredited)
Shep Houghton as Southern dandy (uncredited)
Si Jenks as Yankee on street (uncredited)
Tommy Kelly as Boy in band (uncredited)
W. Kirby as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
William McClain as Old Levi (uncredited)
George Meeker as Poker-playing captain (uncredited)
Alberto Morin as Rene Picard (uncredited)
Adrian Morris as Carpetbagger orator (uncredited)
Lee Murray as Drummerboy (uncredited)
H. Nellman as Yankee soldier in Shantytown (uncredited)
David Newell as Cade Calvert (uncredited)
N. Pharr as Housemaid (evening prayers) (uncredited)
Lee Phelps as Bartender (uncredited)
Jolane Reynolds as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Marjorie Reynolds as Guest at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Suzanne Ridgeway as Cancan girl (uncredited)
Azarene Rogers as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Tom Seidel as Tony Fontaine (uncredited)
Terry Shero as Fanny Elsing (uncredited)
William Stack as Minister (uncredited)
William Stelling as Returning veteran (uncredited)
Harry Strang as Tom's aide (uncredited)
Emerson Treacy as (uncredited)
Phillip Trent as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on Steps of Tara (uncredited)
Julia Ann Tuck as Gentleman/Bearded Confederate on steps of Tara (uncredited)
Tom Tyler as Commanding officer during evacuation (uncredited)
Fred Warren as Frank Kennedy's clerk (uncredited)
Blue Washington as Renegade's companion (uncredited)
Rita Waterhouse as Girl in blue dress (uncredited)
Sarah Whitley as Housemaid at Twelve Oaks (uncredited)
Ernest Whitman as Carpetbagger's friend (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson as Wounded card player (uncredited)
Zack Williams as Elijah (uncredited)
John Wray as (uncredited)
'GONE WITH THE WIND' IMAGES ©copyright TURNER ENTERTAINMENT.
'GONE WITH THE WIND' ARTICLE TEXT ©copyright Gary Alston 2008.
'GONE WITH THE WIND' ARTICLE TEXT ©copyright Gary Alston 2008.