1. Gone with the Wind– one of the greatest“goldenyears” greats.
Russell Grenning
Thisyear we are celebratingthe 75th
anniversaryof one of the greatestmoviesevermade –Gone
with theWind – and nextyearwill be the 75th
anniversaryof the 1940 AcademyAwardswhichsaw
thisblockbusterscore athenrecord of 10 Oscars from 13 nominations.
Made for a thenstaggeringlyhighbudgetof $3.85 million,the movie hasoverthe yearsgrossed
almost$400 millioninactual dollarswhich,whenadjustedforinflation,translatesintosomewhere
near$5 billion.Itis the mostpopularmovie evermade andhas had more come-backsthanDame
NellieMelbaandJohnFarnhamcombined.
It was onlyin1966, that The Sound of Musicfinallyoutstrippedthe actual dollarearningsof Gone
with theWind.
Happily,twoof the creditedactorsare still alive –the indomitableOliviade Havillandwhoisnow 98
and Micky Kuhn,now82. In the movie Kuhnplayedthe characterof Beau Wilkes,the sonof Olivia’s
character, Melanie Wilkes.Theyhave aunique distinctionbeingthe longestlivingmovie “mother”
and “child”everandit isa recordthat probablywill neverbe broken.
The book of the same name byMargaret Mitchell –it wasthe onlybookshe everpublishedinher
lifetime–wasa smashhit,precedingthe movie,beingthe highestsellingfictionbookafterits
publicationin1936. It was awardedthe PulitzerPrize forfictionin1937 and,since then,hassold
more than 30 millioncopies.A 2014 Harris Poll showeditwasthe secondmostfavourite bookinthe
USA, onlyslightlybehindthe Bible.
Runningfor3 hoursand 56 minutes,itwasthe firstcolourpicture to be awardedBestPicture Oscar.
Oliviawasnominatedbutdidnotwinthe Oscar forBestSupportingActressalthoughshe
subsequentlywontwoothersin1947 and 1950.
The movie sawan AfricanAmericanHattie McDaniel winanOscar for the firsttime (asBest
SupportingActress).Whenshe wascriticisedforplaying the role of amaidby the National
Association fortheAdvancementof Coloured People(NAACP) anddescribedasanUncle Tom, she
snappilyresponded, “Iwould rathermake$700 a week playing a maid than $7 being one.”Such
were the race relationsinAmericainthose daysthatHattie andher escorthad to sitat a segregated
table at the Oscars ceremony.
The book andthe filmcoverthe period1861 to 1873 and the story’sbackgroundisthe American
Civil Warand itsutter devastationof the confederate (southern,slave-owning) statesandthe painful
reconstructionperiod.The tumultuousrelationshipbetweenScarlettO’Hara(VivienLeigh) andRhett
Butler(ClarkGable) iscentral tothe plot.
Leigh,thenanunknownEnglishactress,workedfor125 days on the movie forwhichshe gotabout
$25,000 while Gable,alreadyahugelypopularstar,workedfor71 days andgot more than$120,000.
Despite theirconvincinglypassionate screenperformances,Leighsaidlater,”Kissing ClarkGablein
Gone withthe Wind wasnotthat exciting.His denturessmelled something awful.”
2. The producer,DavidSelznick,wasthe consummate publicrelationsprofessional.Whenhe didn’t
have the money,the scriptor directorletalone a cast,he announcedthe “search forScarlett” to
keeppublicinterestrunninganditworked.Some 1,400 actressessoughtthe role,more than400
readfor the role and 32 were givenscreentests.
It couldhave had a verydifferentcast.GaryCooperwasconsideredforthe leadrole butturnedit
downsaying, “Gonewith the Wind is going to be the biggestflop in Hollywood history.I’mjustglad
it’ll be ClarkGable who’sfalling on his faceand notGary Cooper” while Bette Davis,under
considerationforthe Scarlettrole alsoturneditdownbecause she hatedthe scriptandthoughtthat
Errol Flynn,whomshe despised,wouldbe playingRhett.
Filmingwastrulyanepicmess.Three weeksintofilming,the firstdirectorwassackedandfive weeks
intofilming,acompletelynew scriptwaswritten.There were countlessrewritesandeditsandat
leasta dozenwritersandthree directorsworkedonit.
At that time,the notoriousHaysOffice - whichdecidedwhatthe USpubliccouldor couldn’tsee -
famouslychangeditsrulestoallowcertainwordstobe usedif there were usedinan historicor
literarycontextandnotover-stressedbythe actorusingthem–underpressure fromMGM. Thus the
lastline wasallowed, “Frankly,my dear,Idon’tgivea damn”(RhettButlertoa distraughtScarlett).
It was ClarkGable who inserted “Frankly”intothe scriptandbecause itworkedsowell,itwaskept.
Howeverotherverysensitive wordslike “miscarriage”were forbidden –whenRhettsaysto a
pregnantScarlettshortlybefore she fallsdownthe stepswithpredictableresults, he hadtosay,
“Maybeyou’llhavean accident.”
I do give a damnabout thismovie –it isa true classic.
