Gone with the Wind (1939)

Director:

Victor Fleming

Writers:

Margaret Mitchell (novel)
Sidney Howard (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 January 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | 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:

Love | Civil War | Carpetbagger | Party | Plantation

Awards:

Won 8 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Lo que el viento se llevó (Argentina) (Chile) (Colombia) (Mexico) (Panama) (Peru) (Spain) (Venezuela) [es]
Autant en emporte le vent (Belgium: French title) (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Vom Winde verweht (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
сМЕЯ╦ММШЕ бЕРПНЛ (Soviet Union: Russian title) [ru]
...E o Vento Levou (Brazil) [pt]
Allò que el vent s'endugué (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Borta med vinden (Sweden) [sv]
Borte med blæsten (Denmark) [da]
E Tudo o Vento Levou (Portugal) [pt]
Gejaagd door de wind (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
Gejaagd door de wind (Netherlands) (video title) [nl]
Jih proti Severu (Czechoslovakia: Czech title) [cs]
Odviate vetrom (Czechoslovakia: Slovak title) [sk]
Osa pairnei o anemos (Greece) [el]
Prohujalo sa vihorom (Serbia) [sr]
Przeminelo z wiatrem (Poland) [pl]
Rüzgar gibi geçti (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Tatt av vinden (Norway) [no]
Tuulen viemää (Finland) [fi]
Tuulest viidud (Estonia) [et]
Via col vento (Italy) [it]

Runtime:

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) | 226 min (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-11 (2004) | Brazil:Livre | West Germany:12 (f) | Australia:G (TV rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Belgium:KT | Canada:G (British Columbia/Nova Scotia/Québec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Chile:TE | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:PG | Norway:16 | Peru:PT | South Korea:12 | Sweden:11 (re-release) (1985) | Sweden:15 (original rating) | 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:

Among the many famous actress considered for the part of Scarlett were Jean Arthur, Lucille Ball, Tallulah Bankhead, Bette Davis, Claudette Colbert, Joan Crawford, Paulette Goddard, Katharine Hepburn, Olivia de Havilland, Carole Lombard, Norma Shearer, Barbara Stanwyck, and Margaret Sullavan. Bankhead (an authentic "Southern Belle" from Alabama) was the clear front-runner, but her unsavory personal life made producers reluctant to hire her.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: (At 1:05:15) In the scene where Scarlett leaves the military hospital in Atlanta, repulsed at the impending leg amputation, she runs out into the street where panic has ensued. The scene goes to a wide shot of the square. A radio tower is visible in the distance, painted the standard alternating red and white scheme still used today. Radio towers existed in late 1930's, but not in 1864.

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 "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant: Special #3" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Ye Cavaliers of Dixie

An immortal and towering achievement

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

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