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===Part 2===
===Part 2===
Scarlett sets her family and servants to picking the cotton fields, facing many hardships along the way, including the killing of a Union deserter who threatens her during a burglary. With the defeat of the Confederacy and war's end, Ashley returns, but finds he is of little help at Tara. When Scarlett begs him to run away with her, he confesses his desire for her and kisses her passionately, but says he cannot leave Melanie. Meanwhile, Scarlett's father dies after he is thrown from his horse in an attempt to chase away a [[Scalawag]] from his property.
Scarlett farts sets her family and servants to picking the cotton fields, facing many hardships along the way, including the killing of a Union deserter who threatens her during a burglary. With the defeat of the Confederacy and war's end, Ashley returns, but finds he is of little help at Tara. When Scarlett begs him to run away with her, he confesses his desire for her and kisses her passionately, but says he cannot leave Melanie. Meanwhile, Scarlett's father dies after he is thrown from his horse in an attempt to chase away a [[Scalawag]] from his property.


Scarlett realizes she cannot pay the rising taxes on Tara implemented by [[Reconstruction Era|Reconstructionists]], so pays a visit to Rhett in Atlanta. However, upon her visit, Rhett, now in jail, tells her his foreign bank accounts have been blocked, and that her attempt to get his money has been in vain. As Scarlett departs, she encounters her sister's fiancé, the middle-aged Frank Kennedy, who now owns a successful general store and lumber mill. Scarlett lies to Kennedy by saying Suellen got tired of waiting and married another beau, and after becoming Mrs. Frank Kennedy, Scarlett takes over his business and becomes wealthy. When Ashley is offered a job with a bank in the north, Scarlett uses emotional blackmail to persuade him to take over managing the mill.
Scarlett realizes she cannot pay the rising taxes on Tara implemented by [[Reconstruction Era|Reconstructionists]], so pays a visit to Rhett in Atlanta. However, upon her visit, Rhett, now in jail, tells her his foreign bank accounts have been blocked, and that her attempt to get his money has been in vain. As Scarlett departs, she encounters her sister's fiancé, the middle-aged Frank Kennedy, who now owns a successful general store and lumber mill. Scarlett lies to Kennedy by saying Suellen got tired of waiting and married another beau, and after becoming Mrs. Frank Kennedy, Scarlett takes over his business and becomes wealthy. When Ashley is offered a job with a bank in the north, Scarlett uses emotional blackmail to persuade him to take over managing the mill.

Revision as of 02:54, 30 January 2013

Gone with the Wind
A film poster showing a man and a woman in a passionate embrace.
Theatrical pre-release poster
Directed by
Screenplay bySidney Howard
Produced byDavid O. Selznick
Starring
Cinematography
Edited by
  • Hal C. Kern
  • James E. Newcom
Music byMax Steiner
Production
company
Distributed byLoews Inc.
Release date
  • December 15, 1939 (1939-12-15) (Atlanta premiere)
Running time
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3.85 million
Box office$400 million

Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American period romance film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel. The picture was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard. Set in the 19th-century American South, the film stars Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland and Hattie McDaniel, and tells a story of the American Civil War and Reconstruction era from a white Southern point of view.

The film received ten Academy Awards (eight competitive, two honorary), a record that stood for 20 years[1] until Ben-Hur surpassed it in 1960.[2] In the American Film Institute's inaugural Top 100 Best American Films of All Time list of 1998, it was ranked fourth, and in 1989 was selected to be preserved by the National Film Registry.[3] The film was the longest American sound film made up to that time – 3 hours 44 minutes, plus a 15-minute intermission – and was among the first of the major films shot in color (Technicolor), winning the first Academy Award for Best Cinematography in the category for color films. It became the highest-grossing film of all-time shortly after its release, holding the position until 1966. After adjusting for inflation, it has still earned more than any other film in box office history.

Plot

Part 1

On the eve of the American Civil War in 1861, Scarlett O'Hara lives at Tara, her family's cotton plantation in Georgia, with her parents and two sisters. Scarlett learns that Ashley Wilkes—whom she secretly loves—is to be married to his cousin, Melanie Hamilton, and the engagement is to be announced the next day at a barbecue at Ashley's home, the nearby plantation Twelve Oaks.

At the Twelve Oaks party, Scarlett notices that she is being admired by Rhett Butler, who has been disowned by his family. Rhett finds himself in further disfavor among the male guests when, during a discussion of the probability of war, he states that the South has no chance against the superior numbers and industrial might of the North. Scarlett secretly confesses to Ashley that she loves him, but he rebuffs her by responding that he and the sweet Melanie are more compatible. Afterwards, Rhett reveals to Scarlett he has overheard their conversation, but promises to keep her secret. The barbecue is disrupted by the declaration of war and the men rush to enlist. As Scarlett watches Ashley kiss Melanie goodbye from the upstairs window, Melanie's shy younger brother Charles asks for her hand in marriage before he goes. Though she does not love him, Scarlett consents, and are married before he leaves to fight.

Scarlett is quickly widowed when Charles dies from a bout of pneumonia and measles while serving in the Confederate Army. Scarlett's mother sends her to the Hamilton home in Atlanta to cheer her up, although the O'Haras' outspoken housemaid Mammy tells Scarlett she knows she is going there only to wait for Ashley's return. Scarlett, who should not attend a party while in deep mourning, attends a charity bazaar in Atlanta with Melanie. There, Scarlett is the object of shocked comments on the part of the elderly women who represent proper Atlanta society. Rhett, now a blockade runner for the Confederacy, makes a surprise appearance. To raise money for the Confederate war effort, gentlemen are invited to offer bids for ladies to dance with them. Rhett makes an inordinately large bid for Scarlett and, to the disapprovement of the guests, Scarlett agrees to dance with him. As they dance, Rhett tells her he intends to win her, which she says will never happen.

The tide of war turns against the Confederacy after the Battle of Gettysburg in which many of the men of Scarlett's town are killed. Scarlett makes another unsuccessful appeal to Ashley while he is visiting on Christmas furlough, although they do share a private and passionate kiss in the parlor on Christmas Day, just before he returns to war.

Eight months later, as the city is besieged by the Union Army in the Atlanta Campaign, Melanie goes into premature and difficult labor. Keeping her promise to Ashley to take care of Melanie, Scarlett and her young house servant Prissy must deliver the child without medical assistance. Scarlett calls upon Rhett to bring her home to Tara immediately with Melanie, Prissy, and the baby. He appears with a horse and wagon and takes them out of the city through the burning depot and warehouse district. Instead of accompanying her all the way to Tara, he sends her on her way with a nearly dead horse, helplessly frail Melanie, her baby, and tearful Prissy, and with a passionate kiss as he goes off to fight. On her journey home, Scarlett finds Twelve Oaks burned, ruined and deserted. She is relieved to find Tara still standing but deserted by all except her parents, her sisters, and two servants: Mammy and Pork. Scarlett learns that her mother has just died of typhoid fever and her father's mind has begun to fail under the strain. With Tara pillaged by Union troops and the fields untended, Scarlett vows she will do anything for the survival of her family and herself.

Part 2

Scarlett farts sets her family and servants to picking the cotton fields, facing many hardships along the way, including the killing of a Union deserter who threatens her during a burglary. With the defeat of the Confederacy and war's end, Ashley returns, but finds he is of little help at Tara. When Scarlett begs him to run away with her, he confesses his desire for her and kisses her passionately, but says he cannot leave Melanie. Meanwhile, Scarlett's father dies after he is thrown from his horse in an attempt to chase away a Scalawag from his property.

Scarlett realizes she cannot pay the rising taxes on Tara implemented by Reconstructionists, so pays a visit to Rhett in Atlanta. However, upon her visit, Rhett, now in jail, tells her his foreign bank accounts have been blocked, and that her attempt to get his money has been in vain. As Scarlett departs, she encounters her sister's fiancé, the middle-aged Frank Kennedy, who now owns a successful general store and lumber mill. Scarlett lies to Kennedy by saying Suellen got tired of waiting and married another beau, and after becoming Mrs. Frank Kennedy, Scarlett takes over his business and becomes wealthy. When Ashley is offered a job with a bank in the north, Scarlett uses emotional blackmail to persuade him to take over managing the mill.

Frank, Ashley, and others make a night raid on a shanty town after Scarlett is attacked while driving through it alone, resulting in Frank's death. With Frank's funeral barely over, Rhett visits Scarlett and proposes marriage, and she accepts. They have a daughter who Rhett names Bonnie Blue, but Scarlett, still pining for Ashley and chagrined at the perceived ruin of her figure, lets Rhett know that she wants no more children and that they will no longer share a bed.

When visiting the mill one day, Scarlett and Ashley are spied in an embrace by two gossips, including Ashley's sister India, who dislikes Scarlett. They eagerly spread the rumor and Scarlett's reputation is again sullied. Later that evening, Rhett, having heard the rumors, forces Scarlett to attend a birthday party for Ashley. Incapable of believing anything bad of her beloved sister-in-law, Melanie stands by Scarlett's side so that all know that she believes the gossip to be false. After returning home from the party, Scarlett finds Rhett downstairs drunk and they argue. Even though the argument leads to a night of passion, Rhett returns the following day to apologize for his behavior and offers a divorce, which Scarlett rejects saying it would be a disgrace.

Rhett takes Bonnie on an extended trip to London, but cuts the trip short after Bonnie suffers a terrible nightmare. On their return Scarlett is delighted to see him, but he rebuffs her attempts at reconciliation. She informs him that she is pregnant, but an argument ensues, and an enraged Scarlett lunges at Rhett resulting in her falling down the stairs and suffering a miscarriage. As Scarlett is recovering, Bonnie dies while attempting to jump a fence with her pony. Melanie visits their home to comfort them, but then collapses during a second pregnancy she was warned could kill her.

On her deathbed, Melanie asks Scarlett to look after Ashley for her, as Scarlett had looked after her for Ashley. With her dying breath, Melanie tells Scarlett to be kind to Rhett because he loves her. Outside, Ashley collapses in tears, forcing Scarlett to realize that Ashley only ever truly loved Melanie. Scarlett dashes home to find Rhett preparing to leave. She pleads with him, telling him she realizes now that she had loved him all along, and that she never really loved Ashley. However, he refuses, saying that with Bonnie's death went any chance of reconciliation. As Rhett is about to walk out the door, Scarlett begs him to stay but to no avail, and he walks away into the early morning fog leaving Scarlett weeping on the staircase, who vows to one day win back his love.

Cast

This is the credit list from the film.[4] Since June, 2012, there are four surviving credited cast members from the film: Alicia Rhett, who played India Wilkes; Olivia de Havilland who played Melanie Wilkes; Mary Anderson, who played Maybelle Meriweather and Mickey Kuhn, who played Beau Wilkes.[5]

Clark Gable
Vivien Leigh
Leslie Howard
Olivia de Havilland

nbIt contains an error: George Reeves is listed as Brent Tarleton, but plays Stuart, while Fred Crane is listed as Stuart Tarleton, but plays Brent.

Production

Before publication several Hollywood executives and studios declined to create a film based on the novel, including Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Pandro Berman at RKO Pictures, and David O. Selznick of Selznick International Pictures. Jack Warner liked the story, but Warner Bros.'s biggest star Bette Davis was uninterested, and Darryl Zanuck of 20th Century Fox did not offer enough money. Selznick changed his mind after his story editor Kay Brown and business partner John Hay Whitney urged him to buy the film rights. In July 1936—a month after it was published—Selznick bought the rights for $50,000.[6][7][8]

Casting

Clark Gable as Rhett Butler

The casting of the two lead roles became a complex, two-year endeavor. For the role of Rhett Butler, Selznick wanted Clark Gable from the start, but Gable was under contract to MGM, and not available for two years.[6] Gary Cooper was Selznick's first choice because Cooper's contract with Samuel Goldwyn involved a common distribution company, United Artists, with which Selznick had an eight-picture deal; however, Goldwyn remained non-committal in negotiations.[9] Warner offered a package of Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, and Olivia de Havilland for lead roles in return for the distribution rights.[10] By this time, Selznick was determined to get Gable and eventually found a way to borrow him from MGM, which normally never lent its actors. Selznick's father-in-law, MGM chief Louis B. Mayer, offered in August 1938 to provide Gable and $1,250,000 for half of the film's budget but for a high price: Selznick would have to pay Gable's $7,000 weekly salary and fifty percent of the profits would go to MGM.[6][10]

The arrangement to release through MGM meant delaying the start of production until Gable became available. Selznick used the delay to continue to revise the script and, more importantly, build publicity for the film by searching for the role of Scarlett. Selznick began a nationwide casting call that interviewed 1,400 unknowns. The effort cost $100,000 and was useless for the film, but created "priceless" publicity.[6] Early frontrunners included Miriam Hopkins and Talullah Bankhead, who were regarded as possibilities by Selznick prior to the purchase of the film rights; Joan Crawford who was signed to MGM was also considered as a potential pairing with Gable. After a deal was struck with MGM, Selznick offered the role of Scarlett to Norma Shearer—who was MGM's top female star at the time—as a courtesy, which she declined. George Cukor who was hired to direct lobbied hard for his friend, Katharine Hepburn, but she was vetoed by Selznick who felt she was not right for the part.[10][11] Many famous—or soon-to-be-famous—actresses were considered, but those that were actually screen-tested for Scarlett included: Ardis Ankerson, Jean Arthur, Talullah Bankhead, Diana Barrymore, Joan Bennett, Nancy Coleman, Frances Dee, Ellen Drew (as Terry Ray), Paulette Goddard, Susan Hayward (under her real name of Edythe Marrenner), Vivien Leigh, Anita Louise, Haila Stoddard, Margaret Tallichet, Lana Turner and Linda Watkins.[12] Miriam Hopkins was the choice of the novel's author Margaret Mitchell, who felt Hopkins, a Georgia native, was just the right type of actress to play Scarlett as written in the book. However, Hopkins was in her mid-thirties at the time and was considered too old for the part.[10][11]

Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara

Four actresses, including Jean Arthur and Joan Bennett, were still under consideration by December 1938; however, only two finalists, Paulette Goddard and Vivien Leigh, were tested in Technicolor, both on December 20.[13] Goddard almost won the role, but controversy over her marriage with Charlie Chaplin caused Selznick to change his mind.[6]

Selznick had been quietly considering Vivien Leigh, a young English actress who was still little known in America, for the role of Scarlett since February 1938 when Selznick saw her in Fire Over England and A Yank at Oxford. Leigh's American agent was the London representative of the Myron Selznick talent agency (headed by David Selznick's brother, one of the owners of Selznick International), and she had requested in February that her name be submitted for consideration as Scarlett. By the summer of 1938 the Selznicks were negotiating with Alexander Korda, to whom Leigh was under contract, for her services later that year.[14] Selznick's brother arranged for them to meet for the first time on the night of December 10, 1938, when the burning of Atlanta was filmed. In a letter to his wife two days later, Selznick admitted that Leigh was "the Scarlett dark horse", and after a series of screen tests, her casting was announced on January 13, 1939.[15] Just before the shooting of the film, Selznick informed newspaper columnist Ed Sullivan: "Scarlett O'Hara's parents were French and Irish. Identically, Miss Leigh's parents are French and Irish."[16]

Screenplay

Of original screenplay writer Sidney Howard, film historian Joanne Yeck writes, "reducing the intricacies of Gone with the Wind's epic dimensions was a herculean task ... and Howard's first submission was far too long, and would have required at least six hours of film; ... [producer] Selznick wanted Howard to remain on the set to make revisions...but Howard refused to leave New England [and] as a result, revisions were handled by a host of local writers".[17] Selznick dismissed director George Cukor three weeks into filming and sought out Victor Fleming to replace him, who, at the time, was directing The Wizard of Oz. Fleming was dissatisfied with the script, so Selznick brought in famed writer Ben Hecht to rewrite the entire screenplay within five days (an event dramatised by Ron Hutchinson in his play Moonlight and Magnolias[18]). Hecht returned to Howard's original draft and by the end of the week had succeeded in revising the entire first half of the script. Selznick undertook rewriting the second half himself but fell behind schedule, so Howard returned to work on the script for one week, reworking several key scenes in part two.[19]

David O. Selznick in 1940

"By the time of the film's release in 1939, there was some question as to who should receive screen credit," writes Yeck. "But despite the number of writers and changes, the final script was remarkably close to Howard's version. The fact that Howard's name alone appears on the credits may have been as much a gesture to his memory as to his writing, for in 1939 Sidney Howard died tragically at age forty-eight in a farm-tractor accident, and before the movie's premiere."[17] Selznick, in a memo written in October 1939, discussed the film's writing credits: "[Y]ou can say frankly that of the comparatively small amount of material in the picture which is not from the book, most is my own personally, and the only original lines of dialog which are not my own are a few from Sidney Howard and a few from Ben Hecht and a couple more from John Van Druten. Offhand I doubt that there are ten original words of [Oliver] Garrett's in the whole script. As to construction, this is about eighty per cent my own, and the rest divided between Jo Swerling and Sidney Howard, with Hecht having contributed materially to the construction of one sequence."[20]

According to Hecht biographer, William MacAdams, "At dawn on Sunday, February 20, 1939, David Selznick ... and director Victor Fleming shook Hecht awake to inform him he was on loan from MGM and must come with them immediately and go to work on Gone with the Wind, which Selznick had begun shooting five weeks before. It was costing Selznick $50,000 each day the film was on hold waiting for a final screenplay rewrite and time was of the essence. Hecht was in the middle of working on the film At the Circus for the Marx Brothers. Recalling the episode in a letter to screenwriter friend Gene Fowler, he said he hadn't read the novel but Selznick and director Fleming could not wait for him to read it. They would act out scenes based on Sidney Howard's original script which needed to be rewritten in a hurry. Hecht wrote, "After each scene had been performed and discussed, I sat down at the typewriter and wrote it out. Selznick and Fleming, eager to continue with their acting, kept hurrying me. We worked in this fashion for seven days, putting in eighteen to twenty hours a day. Selznick refused to let us eat lunch, arguing that food would slow us up. He provided bananas and salted peanuts....thus on the seventh day I had completed, unscathed, the first nine reels of the Civil War epic."

MacAdams writes, "It is impossible to determine exactly how much Hecht scripted...In the official credits filed with the Screen Writers Guild, Sidney Howard was of course awarded the sole screen credit, but four other writers were appended ... Jo Swerling for contributing to the treatment, Oliver H. P. Garrett and Barbara Keon to screenplay construction, and Hecht, to dialogue ..."[21]

Filming

Principal photography began January 26, 1939, and ended on July 1, with post-production work continuing until November 11, 1939. Director George Cukor, with whom Selznick had a long working relationship, and who had spent almost two years in pre-production on Gone with the Wind, was replaced after less than three weeks of shooting.[10][nb 1] Selznick and Cukor had already been having disagreements over the pace of filming and the script,[10][22] but other explanations put Cukor's departure down to Gable's discomfort at working with him: Cukor knew of Clark Gable's early days in Hollywood working as a gigolo on Hollywood's gay circuit, so Gable used his influence to have him discharged.[25] Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland learned of George Cukor's firing on the day the Atlanta bazaar scene was filmed, and the pair went to Selznick's office in full costume and implored him to change his mind. Victor Fleming, who was directing The Wizard of Oz, was called in from MGM to complete the picture, although Cukor continued privately to coach Leigh and De Havilland.[19] Another MGM director, Sam Wood, worked for two weeks in May when Fleming temporarily left the production due to exhaustion. Although some of Cukor's scenes were later reshot, Selznick estimated that "three solid reels" of his work remained in the picture. As of the end of principal photography, Cukor had undertaken eighteen days of filming, Fleming for ninety-three, and Wood for twenty-four.[10]

File:Burning of Atlanta.ogg
The "burning" of Atlanta from the film trailer

Cinematographer Lee Garmes began the production, but on March 11, 1939—after a month of shooting footage that Selznick and his associates regarded as "too dark"—was replaced with Ernest Haller, working with Technicolor cinematographer Ray Rennahan. Garmes completed the first third of the film—mostly everything on screen prior to Melanie having the baby—but did not receive a credit.[26] Most of the filming was done on "the back forty" of Selznick International with all the location scenes being photographed in California, mostly in Los Angeles County or neighboring Ventura County.[27] Tara, the fictional Southern plantation house, existed only as a plywood and papier-mâché facade built on the "back forty" California studio lot.[28] For the burning of Atlanta other false facades were built in front of the "back forty"'s many abandoned sets, and Selznick himself operated the controls for the explosives that burned them down.[6] Sources at the time put the estimated production costs at $3.85 million, making it the second most expensive film made up to that point, with only Ben-Hur (1925) having cost more.[29][nb 2]

Although legend persists that the Hays Office fined Selznick $5,000 for using the word "damn" in Butler's exit line, in fact the Motion Picture Association board passed an amendment to the Production Code on November 1, 1939, that forbade use of the words "hell" or "damn" except when their use "shall be essential and required for portrayal, in proper historical context, of any scene or dialogue based upon historical fact or folklore ... or a quotation from a literary work, provided that no such use shall be permitted which is intrinsically objectionable or offends good taste." With that amendment, the Production Code Administration had no further objection to Rhett's closing line.[31]

Music

"Tara's Theme" from the film trailer

To compose the score, Selznick chose Max Steiner, whom he had worked with at RKO Pictures in the early 1930s. Warner Bros.—who had contracted Steiner in 1936—agreed to loan him to Selznick. Steiner spent twelve weeks working on the score, the longest period he had ever spent writing one, and at two hours and thirty-six minutes long it was also the longest he had ever written. Five orchestrators were hired, including Hugo Friedhofer, Maurice de Packh, Bernard Kaun, Adolph Deutsch and Reginald Bassett. The score is characterised by two love themes, one for Ashley's and Melanie's sweet love and another that evokes Scarlett's passion for Ashley, although notably there is no Scarlett and Rhett love theme. Steiner drew considerably on folk and patriotic music which included Stephen Foster tunes such as "Louisiana Belle", "Dolly Day", "Ringo De Banjo", "Beautiful Dreamer", "Old Folks at Home" and "Katie Belle", which formed the basis of Scarlett's theme; other tunes that feature prominently are: "Marching through Georgia" by Henry Clay Work, "Dixie", "Garryowen" and "Bonnie Blue Flag". The theme that is most associated with the film today is the melody that accompanies Tara, the O'Hara plantation; in the early 1940s, "Tara's Theme" formed the musical basis of the song "My Own True Love" by Mack David. In all, there are ninety-nine separate pieces of music featured in the score. Due to the pressure of completing on time, Steiner received some assistance in composing from Friedhofer, Deutsch and Heinz Roemheld, and in addition, two short cues—by Franz Waxman and William Axt—where taken from scores in the MGM library.[32]

Release

File:Queen's Theatre 1941.jpg
Showing at the Queen's Theatre, Hong Kong in 1941

On September 9, 1939, Selznick, his wife, Irene, investor Jock Whitney and film editor Hal Kern drove out to Riverside, California to preview it at the Fox Theatre. The film was still a rough cut at this stage, missing completed titles and lacking special optical effects, and ran for four hours and twenty-five minutes (it would later be cut down to under four hours for its proper release). A double bill of Hawaiian Nights and Beau Geste was playing, and after the first feature it was announced that the theater would be screening a preview; the audience were informed they could leave but would not be readmitted once the film had begun, nor would phone calls be allowed once the theater had been sealed. When the title appeared on the screen the audience cheered, and after it had finished it received a standing ovation.[10][33] In his biography of Selznick, David Thomson wrote that the audience's response before the film had even started "was the greatest moment of his life, the greatest victory and redemption of all his failings",[34] with Selznick describing the preview cards as "probably the most amazing any picture has ever had."[35] When Selznick was asked by the press in early September how he felt about the film, he said: "At noon I think it's divine, at midnight I think it's lousy. Sometimes I think it's the greatest picture ever made. But if it's only a great picture, I'll still be satisfied."[29]

At noon I think it's divine, at midnight I think it's lousy. Sometimes I think it's the greatest picture ever made. But if it's only a great picture, I'll still be satisfied.

— David O' Selznick

One million people came to Atlanta for the film's premiere at the Loew's Grand Theatre on December 15, 1939. It was the climax of three days of festivities hosted by Mayor William B. Hartsfield, which included a parade of limousines featuring stars from the film, receptions, thousands of Confederate flags and a costume ball. Eurith D. Rivers, the governor of Georgia, declared December 15 a state holiday. An estimated three hundred thousand residents and visitors to Atlanta lined the streets for up to seven miles to watch a procession of limousines bring the stars from the airport. Only Leslie Howard and Victor Fleming chose not to attend: Howard had returned to England due to the outbreak of World War II, and Fleming had fallen out with Selznick and declined to attend any of the premieres.[29][35] Hattie McDaniel was also absent, as she and the other black actors from the film were prevented from attending the premiere due to Georgia's Jim Crow laws, which would have kept them from sitting with the white members of the cast. Upon learning that McDaniel had been barred from the premiere, Clark Gable threatened to boycott the event, but McDaniel convinced him to attend.[36] President Jimmy Carter would later recall it as "the biggest event to happen in the South in my lifetime."[37] Premieres in New York and Los Angeles followed, the latter attended by some of the actresses that had been considered for the part of Scarlett, among them Paulette Goddard, Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford.[35]

From December 1939 to July 1940, the film played only advance-ticket road show engagements at a limited number of theaters at prices upwards of $1—more than double the price of a regular first-run feature—with MGM collecting an unprecedented seventy percent of the box office receipts (as opposed to the typical thirty to thirty-five percent of the period). After reaching saturation as a roadshow, MGM revised its terms to a fifty percent cut and halved the prices, before it finally entered general release in 1941 at "popular" prices.[38] Its distribution and advertising costs brought the total expenditure on the film to $7 million.[39]

Later releases

1967 re-release poster

In 1942, Selznick liquidated his company for tax reasons, and sold his share in Gone with the Wind to his business partner, John Whitney, for $500,000. In turn, Whitney sold it on to MGM for $2.8 million, so that the studio more or less owned the film outright.[39] MGM first re-released the film in 1947, and again in 1954;[10] the 1954 reissue was the first time the film was shown in widescreen, compromising the original Academy ratio and cropping the top and bottom to an aspect ratio of 1.75:1. In doing so, a number of shots were optically re-framed and cut into the three-strip camera negatives, forever altering five shots in the film.[40] A 1961 release commemorated the centennial anniversary of the start of the Civil War, and included a gala "premiere" at the Loew's Grand Theater. It was attended by Selznick and many other stars of the film, including Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland,[41] but not by Clark Gable who had died the previous year.[42] For its 1967 re-release, it was blown up to 70mm,[10] and issued with updated poster artwork featuring Gable—with his white shirt ripped open—holding Leigh against a backdrop of orange flames.[41] There were further re-releases in 1971, 1974 and 1989; for the fiftieth anniversary reissue in 1989, it was given a complete audio and video restoration. It was released theatrically one more time, in 1998.[43][44]

Television

The film received its world television premiere on the HBO cable network on June 11, 1976, and played on the channel for a total of fourteen times throughout the rest of the month. It made its network television debut in November later that year: NBC paid $5 million for a one-off airing, and it was broadcast in two parts on successive evenings. It became at that time the highest-rated television program ever presented on a single network, watched by 47.5 percent of the households sampled in America, and 65 percent of television viewers. In 1978, CBS signed a deal worth $35 million to broadcast the film twenty times over as many years.[19][44] It was was also used to launch two cable channels owned by Turner Broadcasting: TNT (1988) and Turner Classic Movies (1994).[45][46]

Reception

Ona Munson

Gone With the Wind received positive reviews at the time of its release, today being considered a classic. In its original review for the 1939 release, Frank S Nuget from the New York Times praised it, especially the casting, writing that "Mr. Selznick's film is a handsome, scrupulous and unstinting version of the 1,037-page novel, matching it almost scene for scene with a literalness that not even Shakespeare or Dickens were accorded in Hollywood, casting it so brilliantly one would have to know the history of the production not to suspect that Miss Mitchell had written her story just to provide a vehicle for the stars already assembled under Mr. Selznick's hospitable roof."[47] The Manchester Guardian, in 1940, criticized the length, but praised it overall, especially the acting.[48]

With the 1998 restoration, Roger Ebert wrote that: "it will be around for years to come, a superb example of Hollywood's art and a time capsule of weathering sentimentality for a Civilization gone with the wind, all right--gone, but not forgotten."[49]

Box office

It was a sensational hit during the Blitz in London, opening in April 1940, and played for four years.[50] It replaced The Birth of a Nation as the highest-grossing film of all-time,[51] holding the position until 1966, when it was finally overtaken by The Sound of Music.[52]

The film has made $400 million worldwide in theater receipts since its release,[53] which Turner Entertainment estimate to be equivalent to approximately $3.3 billion when adjusted to 2007 prices.[54] Other estimates place the adjusted gross between $3 billion and $5.3 billion at contemporary price levels, making it the highest grossing film of all time.[55][56][57] After adjustments for inflation, Gone with the Wind is also estimated to be the highest grossing film of all time in the United States[58][59] and the United Kingdom, where it is estimated to have sold a total of 35 million tickets.[60][61]

Awards and honors

Gone with the Wind was the first film to get more than five Academy Awards. Of the 17 competitive awards which were given at the time, Gone with the Wind had 13 nominations. It also was awarded the Greatest Film in History by the program Best In Film: The Greatest Films of Our Time, which aired March 22, 2011.

It was the winner of ten Academy Awards (eight regular, one honorary, one technical).[62]

Award Result Winner
Best Picture Won Selznick International Pictures (David O. Selznick, Producer)
Best Director Won Victor Fleming
Best Actor Nominated Clark Gable
Winner was Robert Donat – Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Best Actress Won Vivien Leigh
Best Adapted Screenplay Won Sidney Howard
Awarded posthumously
Best Supporting Actress Won Hattie McDaniel
Received a miniature "Oscar" statuette on a plaque
Best Supporting Actress Nominated Olivia de Havilland
Winner was Hattie McDaniel
Best Cinematography, Color Won Ernest Haller and Ray Rennahan
This received the "Oscar" statuette
Best Film Editing Won Hal C. Kern and James E. Newcom
Received a miniature "Oscar" statuette on a plaque, replaced with a regular statuette in 1962
Best Art Direction Won Lyle Wheeler
Best Visual Effects Nominated Fred Albin (Sound), Jack Cosgrove (Photographic), and Arthur Johns (Sound)
Winners were Fred Sersen (Photographic) and E. H. Hansen (Sound) – The Rains Came
Best Music, Original Score Nominated Max Steiner
Winner was Herbert Stothart – The Wizard of Oz
Best Sound Recording Nominated Thomas T. Moulton (Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department)
Winner was Bernard B. Brown (Universal Studio Sound Department) – When Tomorrow Comes
Award Recipient
Irving G. Thalberg Award David O. Selznick
For his career achievements as a producer.
Honorary Award William Cameron Menzies (Miniature "Oscar" statuette on a plaque)[63]
For outstanding achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood in the production of Gone with the Wind.
Technical Achievement Award Don Musgrave and Selznick International Pictures (Certificate)
For pioneering in the use of coordinated equipment in the production Gone with the Wind.

Legacy

Photograph of First Archivist of the United States R. D. W. Connor receiving the film Gone with the Wind from Senator George of Georgia and Loew's Eastern Division Manager Carter Barron, 1941

Today it is owned by Turner Entertainment, whose parent company Turner Broadcasting acquired MGM's film library in 1986. Turner itself is currently a subsidiary of Time Warner, which is the current parent company of Warner Bros. Entertainment. The film is the favorite movie of TBS founder Ted Turner, himself a resident of Atlanta.

In 1989, Gone with the Wind was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 1998, the American Film Institute ranked it No. 4 on its "100 Greatest Movies" list. In 2007, the film had moved to No. 6 on the 10th anniversay AFI best film list.

Rhett Butler's famous farewell line to Scarlett O'Hara, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn", was voted in a poll by the American Film Institute in 2005 as the most memorable line in cinema history.[64]

Leslie Howard's association to the screen character he most disliked, the winsome Ashley, later obscured his solid contribution to the British film industry and his fight to break the silence about the Holocaust.[65]

In 2005, the AFI ranked Max Steiner's score for the film the second greatest of all time. The AFI also ranked the film No. 2 in their list of the greatest romances of all time (100 Years... 100 Passions).

After filming concluded, the set of Tara sat on the back lot of the former Selznick Studios as the Forty Acres back lot reverted to RKO Pictures and then was sold to Desilu Productions. In 1959, Southern Attractions, Inc. purchased the façade of Tara, which was dismantled and shipped to Georgia with plans to relocate it to the Atlanta area as a tourist attraction.[66][67] David O. Selznick commented at the time,

Nothing in Hollywood is permanent. Once photographed, life here is ended. It is almost symbolic of Hollywood. Tara had no rooms inside. It was just a façade. So much of Hollywood is a façade.[68]

However, the Margaret Mitchell estate refused to license the novel's commercial use in connection with the façade, citing Mitchell's dismay at how little it resembled her description. In 1979 the dismantled plywood and papier-mâché set, reportedly in "terrible" condition, was purchased for $5,000 by Betty Talmadge, the ex-wife of former Georgia governor and U.S. senator Herman Talmadge. She lent the front door of Tara's set to the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum in downtown Atlanta, Georgia where it is on permanent display, featured in the Gone with the Wind film museum. Other items from the movie, such as from the set of Scarlett and Rhett's Atlanta mansion, are still stored at The Culver Studios (formerly Selznick International) including the stained glass window from the top of the staircase which was actually a painting. The famous painting of Scarlett in her blue dress, which hung in Rhett's bedroom, hung for years at the Margaret Mitchell Elementary School in Atlanta, but is now on permanent loan to the Margaret Mitchell Museum, complete with stains from the glass of sherry that Clark Gable, as Rhett Butler, threw at it in anger.

American Film Institute lists

Racial criticism

Recent historical studies of the Civil Rights Movement have focused on the idyllic portrayal (epitomized in the opening credits) of the Civil War-era South in the film. Professor D.J. Reynolds wrote that "The white women are elegant, their menfolk noble or at least dashing. And, in the background, the black slaves are mostly dutiful and content, clearly incapable of an independent existence." Reynolds likened Gone with the Wind to Birth of a Nation (based on The Clansman) and other re-imaginings of the South during the era of segregation, in which white Southerners are portrayed as defending traditional values and the issue of slavery is largely ignored. Hattie McDaniel's performance (for which she became the first black American to win an Oscar) and Butterfly McQueen's have been described as stereotypes of a 'black Mammy' and a childlike black slave (in the novel, the character of Prissy was twelve years old, but played in the film by an adult). Malcolm X recalled that "when Butterfly McQueen went into her act, I felt like crawling under the rug."[69]

Sequel

Main article: Scarlett (TV miniseries)

Rumors of Hollywood producing a sequel persisted for decades until 1994, when one was finally produced for television. It was based upon Alexandra Ripley's novel Scarlett, itself a sequel to Mitchell's book. Both the book and the mini-series were met with mixed reviews. In the TV version, British actors played both key roles: Welsh-born actor Timothy Dalton played Rhett while Manchester-born Joanne Whalley played Scarlett. Original plans were used for the reconstruction of a replica of the original Tara set in Charleston, South Carolina for the filming.

Notes

  1. ^ From a private letter from journalist and on-set technical advisor 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 thing did not click as it should. Gradually he became convinced that the script was the trouble... David [Selznick], himself, thinks HE is writing the script... And George has continually taken script from day to day, compared the [Oliver] Garrett-Selznick version with the [Sidney] Howard, groaned and tried to change some parts back to the Howard script. But he seldom could do much with the scene... So George just told David he would not work any longer if the script was not better and he wanted the Howard script back. David told George he was a director—not an author and he (David) was the producer and the judge of what is a good script... George said he was a director and a damn good one and he would not let his name go out over a lousy picture... And bull-headed David said "OK get out!"[22]
    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. In a confidential memo written in September 1938, Selznick flirted with the idea of replacing him with Victor Fleming.[23] Louis B. Mayer had been trying to have Cukor replaced with an MGM director since negotiations between the two studios began in May 1938. In December 1938, Selznick wrote to his wife about a phone call he had with Mayer: "During the same conversation, your father made another stab at getting George off of Gone With the Wind."[24]
  2. ^ Time also report that Hell's Angels (1930)—directed by Howard Hughes—cost more, but this was later revealed to be a fallacy; the accounts for Hell's Angels show it cost $2.8 million, but Hughes publicised it as costing $4 million, selling it to the media as the most expensive film ever made up to that point.[30]

References

  1. ^ Gone With the Wind at IMDb
  2. ^ Ben-Hur at IMDb
  3. ^ Awards for gone with the wind. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031381/awards
  4. ^ "Gone With the Wind". The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures. American Film Institute. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  5. ^ "One of the last surviving cast members of 'Gone With the Wind,' Ann Rutherford dies". Catholic Online. June 12, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Friedrich, Otto (1986). City of Nets: A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940s. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. pp. 17–21 & 24. ISBN 9780520209497.
  7. ^ "The Book Purchase". Gone With The Wind Online Exhibit. University of Texas at Austin: Harry Ransom Center. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  8. ^ "The Search for Scarlett Chronology". Gone With The Wind Online Exhibit. University of Texas at Austin: Harry Ransom Center. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  9. ^ Selznick 1938–1939, pp. 172–173.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Gone with the Wind (1939) – Notes". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  11. ^ a b Miller, Frank. "Gone with the Wind (1939) – Articles". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  12. ^ "The Search for Scarlett Chronology". Girls Tested for the Role of Scarlett. University of Texas at Austin: Harry Ransom Center. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  13. ^ Haver, Ronald (1980). David O. Selznick's Hollywood. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-394-42595-2.
  14. ^ Pratt, William (1977). Scarlett Fever. New York: Macmillan Publishers. pp. 73–74, 81–83. ISBN 0-02-598560-4.
  15. ^ Walker, Marianne (2011). Margaret Mitchell and John Marsh: The Love Story Behind Gone With the Wind. Peachtree Publishers. pp. 405–406. ISBN 9781561456178.
  16. ^ Selznick, David O. (January 7, 1939). "Letter from David O. Selznick to Ed Sullivan". Gone With The Wind Online Exhibit. University of Texas at Austin: Harry Ransom Center. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  17. ^ a b Yeck, Joanne (1984). Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. American Screenwriters. Gale. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. ^ Spencer, Charles (October 8, 2007). "Moonlight and Magnolias: Comedy captures the birth of a movie classic". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
  19. ^ a b c Bartel, Pauline (1989). The Complete Gone with the Wind Trivia Book: The Movie and More. Taylor Trade Publishing. pp. 65–68 & 161–166. ISBN 9780878336197.
  20. ^ Selznick 1938–1939, pp. 224–225.
  21. ^ MacAdams, William (1990). Ben Hecht. New York: Barricade Books. pp. 199–201. ISBN 9781569800287.
  22. ^ a b Myrick, Susan (1982). White Columns in Hollywood: Reports from the GWTW Sets. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press. pp. 126–127. ISBN 0-86554-044-6.
  23. ^ Selznick 1938–1939, pp. 179–180.
  24. ^ Eyman, Scott (2005). Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer. Robson Books. pp. 258–259. ISBN 9781861058928.
  25. ^ Capua, Michelangelo (2003). Vivien Leigh: A Biography. McFarland & Company. pp. 59–61. ISBN 9780786414970.
  26. ^ Turner, Adrian (1989). A celebration of Gone with the wind. Dragon's World. p. 114.
  27. ^ Molt, Cynthia Marylee (1990). Gone with the Wind on Film: A Complete Reference. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. pp. 272–281. ISBN 0-89950-439-6.
  28. ^ Bridges, Herb (1998). The Filming of Gone with the Wind. Mercer University Press. PT4. ISBN 9780865546219.
  29. ^ a b c "Cinema: G With the W". Time. December 25, 1939. pp. 9171, 762137–1, 00.html 1–9171, 762137–2, 00.html 2 & 9171, 762137–7, 00.html 7. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  30. ^ Eyman, Scott (1997). The speed of sound: Hollywood and the talkie revolution, 1926–1930. Simon & Schuster. p. 253. ISBN 978-0-684-81162-8.
  31. ^ Leff, Leonard J.; Simmons, Jerold L. (2001). The Dame in the Kimono: Hollywood, Censorship, and the Production Code. University Press of Kentucky. p. 108.
  32. ^ MacDonald, Laurence E. (1998). The Invisible Art of Film Music: A Comprehensive History. Scarecrow Press. pp. 52–53. ISBN 9781880157565.
  33. ^ Bell, Alison (June 25, 2010). "Inland Empire cities were once 'in' with Hollywood for movie previews". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 25,2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  34. ^ Thomson, David (1992). Showman: The Life of David O. Selznick. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-394-56833-8.
  35. ^ a b c Lambert, Gavin (March 1973). "The Making of Gone With The Wind, Part II". The Atlantic Monthly. Vol. 265, no. 6. pp. 56–72. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  36. ^ Harris, Warren G. (2002). Clark Gable: A Biography. Harmony Books. p. 211.
  37. ^ Cravens, Hamilton (2009). Great Depression: People and Perspectives. Perspectives in American Social History. ABC-CLIO. p. 221. ISBN 9781598840933.
  38. ^ Schatz, Thomas (1999) [1st. pub. 1997]. Boom and Bust: American Cinema in the 1940s. Vol. Volume 6 of History of the American Cinema. University of California Press. pp. 65–66. ISBN 9780520221307. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  39. ^ a b Shearer, Lloyd (October 26, 1947). "GWTW: Supercolossal Saga of an Epic". The New York Times. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
  40. ^ Haver, Ronald (1993). David O. Selznick's Gone with the wind. New York. pp. 84–85. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |publsiher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  41. ^ a b Brown, Ellen F.; Wiley, John, Jr. (2011). Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind: A Bestseller's Odyssey from Atlanta to Hollywood. Taylor Trade Publications. pp. 293 & 287. ISBN 9781589795273.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  42. ^ Olson, James Stuart (2000). Historical Dictionary of the 1950s. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 108. ISBN 9780313306198.
  43. ^ Block, Alex Ben; Wilson, Lucy Autrey, eds. (2010). George Lucas's Blockbusting: A Decade-By-Decade Survey of Timeless Movies Including Untold Secrets of Their Financial and Cultural Success. HarperCollins. pp. 220–221. ISBN 9780061778896.
  44. ^ a b Krämer, Peter (2005). The New Hollywood: From Bonnie And Clyde To Star Wars. Short Cuts. Vol. 30. Wallflower Press. p. 46. ISBN 9781904764588.
  45. ^ Clark, Kenneth R. (September 29, 1988). "Tnt Rides In On 'Gone With Wind'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  46. ^ Robert, Osborne. "Robert Osborne on TCM's 15th Anniversary". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  47. ^ Movie Review Gone With the Wind (1939) THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; David Selznick's 'Gone With the Wind' Has Its Long-Awaited Premiere at Astor and Capitol, Recalling Civil War and Plantation Days of South--Seen as Treating Book With Great Fidelity
  48. ^ From the archive, 28 May 1940: Gone with the wind at the Gaiety / Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 28 May 1940
  49. ^ Gone With the Wind (1939)
  50. ^ "London Movie Doings", The New York Times, June 25, 1944, p. X3.
  51. ^ Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-903364-66-6.
  52. ^ Dirks, T. "Top Films of All-Time: Part 1 – Box-Office Blockbusters". Filmsite.org. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  53. ^ "Gone with the wind (1939)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 1, 2009.
  54. ^ Miller, Frank; Stafford, Jeff (January 5, 2007). "The Critics Corner: Gone With the Wind". Turner Classic Movie. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
  55. ^ Shone, Tom (February 3, 2010). "Oscars 2010: How James Cameron took on the world". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  56. ^ Will, George F. (June 26, 2006). "'Wind' captured change". St. Petersburg Times. p. 11A. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  57. ^ "Highest box-office film gross – inflation adjusted". Guinness World Records. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  58. ^ "Top Grossing Films of All Time in the U.S. Adjusted for Inflation". The Movie Times. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
  59. ^ "Top 10 Grossing Movies Adjusted for Inflation". Scene-Stealers. August 19, 2008. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
  60. ^ "The Ultimate Film Chart". British Film Institute. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  61. ^ "Gone with the Wind tops film list". BBC News. BBC. November 28, 2004. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
  62. ^ "The 12th Academy Awards (1940) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
  63. ^ Newsreel footage of Menzies receiving award, seen in The Making of Gone With the Wind (1988).
  64. ^ ABC.net http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200506/s1398449.htm
  65. ^ Eforgan, Estel. Leslie Howard: The Lost Actor. London: Vallentine Mitchell Publishers, 2010. ISBN 978-0-85303-941-9
  66. ^ Los Angeles Times, May 17, 1959, p. G10.
  67. ^ Jennifer W. Dickey, "A Tough Little Patch of History": Atlanta's Marketplace for Gone With the Wind Memory, PhD dissertation, Georgia State University, 2007, pp. 85–89.
  68. ^ Murray Schumach, "Hollywood Gives Tara to Atlanta," New York Times, May 25, 1959, p. 33.
  69. ^ 'America, Empire of Liberty', D J Reynolds, p. 241-2; 'Making Whiteness', Grace Elizabeth Hale, p. 52

Bibliography

Sources

  • Selznick, David O. (1938–1939). Behlmer, Rudy (ed.). Memo from David O. Selznick: the creation of Gone with the wind and other motion picture classics, as revealed in the producer's private letters, telegrams, memorandums, and autobiographical remarks. New York: Modern Library (published 2000). ISBN 9780375755316. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Further reading

  • Bridges, Herb (1999). Gone with the Wind: The Three-Day Premiere in Atlanta. Mercer University Press. ISBN 0-86554-672-X.
  • Brown, Ellen F. and John Wiley (2011). Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind: A Bestseller's Odyssey from Atlanta to Hollywood. Lanham: Taylor Trade. ISBN 978-1-58979-567-9
  • Cameron, Judy; Christman, Paul J. (1989). The Art of Gone with the Wind: The Making of a Legend. Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-046740-5.
  • Harmetz, Aljean (1996). On the Road to Tara: The Making of Gone with the Wind. New York: Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3684-4.
  • Lambert, Gavin (1973). GWTW: The Making of Gone With the Wind. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
  • Pratt, William. (1977). Scarlett Fever: The Ultimate Pictorial Treasury of Gone with the Wind. Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-012510-0.
  • Vertrees, Alan David (1997). Selznick's Vision: Gone with the Wind and Hollywood Filmmaking. University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-78729-4.
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Awards
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Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress

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