Gone with the Wind (1939)

Director:

Victor Fleming

Writers:

Margaret Mitchell (novel)
Sidney Howard (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 January 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Romance | War

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Male Female Relationship | Rival | Husband Wife Relationship | Sentimental | Giving Birth

Awards:

Won 8 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

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

Runtime:

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

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

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

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Agoura Hills, California, USA

Company:

Selznick International Pictures

Trivia:

Nothing in the internal memos of David O. Selznick indicates or suggests that Clark Gable played any role in the dismissal of director George Cukor. Rather, they show Selznick's mounting dissatisfaction with Cukor's slow pace and quality of work. Almost half of Cukor's scenes were scrapped or later re-shot by others. From a private letter from journalist Susan Myrick to Margaret Mitchell in February 1939: "George [Cukor] finally told me all about it. He hated [leaving the production] very much he said but he could not do otherwise. In effect he said he is an honest craftsman and he cannot do a job unless he knows it is a good job and he feels the present job is not right. For days, he told me he has looked at the rushes and felt he was failing... the things did not click as it should. Gradually he became convinced that the script was the trouble... So George just told David he would not work any longer if the script was not better and he wanted the [Sidney] Howard script back... he would not let his name go out over a lousy picture... And bull-headed David said 'OK get out!'" Selznick had already been unhappy with Cukor ("a very expensive luxury") for not being more receptive to directing other Selznick assignments, even though Cukor had remained on salary since early 1937; and in a confidential memo written in September 1938, four months before principal photography began, Selznick flirted with the idea of replacing him with Victor Fleming. "I think the biggest black mark against our management to date is the Cukor situation and we can no longer be sentimental about it.... We are a business concern and not patrons of the arts... ."

Goofs:

Continuity: After he rides, Mr. O'Hara walks toward Scarlett holding the stick in the right hand. In the next shot the stick appears in his left hand.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Baadasssss Cinema (2002) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair

65th Anniversary DVD is a must

If you have ever considered GWTW to be less than a masterpiece, you'll be swayed by the 65th Anniversary Edition DVD. The 4-disc set features the remastered film and more extras than you could possibly watch in one day (after watching the film, of course). The two-hour making-of documentary is fascinating and shows how the producer (David O. Selznick) of the film affected the cast, director(s) and writer(s) -- and shows the publicity frenzy that was the hunt for Scarlett. The feature of Olivia De Havilland (in 2004) discussing her role as Melanie is a real treat. The picture and sound are great on the 65th Anniversary DVD, and the special features are a true treasure. Accept no substitutes, seek out the 65th Anniversary DVD and bring it home.