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| An epically romantic embrace and kiss adorn this beautifully framed poster for Victor Fleming, George Cukor and Sam Wood's Gone with the Wind |
Scarlett O'Hara keeps her unhappy love of the already wed soldier Ashley alive in Georgia in 1861, through the coming horrors of the American Civil War and 3 marriages of her own, solely to learn that only her homestead Tara lasts forever.
Gone with the Wind is written by Sidney Howard (The Silver Cord (1933)), with Oliver H.P. Garrett (Street of Chance (1930, story)), Ben Hecht (The Indian Fighter (1955)), Jo Swerling (Lady by Choice (1934)) and John Van Druten (Old Acquaintance (1943)) contributing elements, based on the same-titled 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell (Lost Laysen (1916)), and directed by Californian master filmmaker Victor Fleming (When the Clouds Roll By (1919)), whose 42nd feature it was, with George Cukor (Gaslight (1944)) and Sam Wood (A Night at the Opera (1935)) making uncredited directing contributions.
The film is a splendid, fantastic epic: Every shot blinds with splendor and sumptuous dedication. (Cinematography by Ernest Haller (My Girl Tisa (1948)) and Lee Garmes (The Lusty Men (1952)).) The grandiose, story-telling score by Max Steiner (Marjorie Morningstar (1958)), magnificent Technicolor and performances are out of this world: Vivien Leigh (The Village Squire (1935)) and Olivia de Havilland (Government Girl (1943)) in particular, but really the cast is tremendous across the board. The wonderfully human story is also extraordinarily strong for its time in its African-American parts, and I don't write a single one off as a flat, stereotypical character. - Shame on those who dare to write off the entire film, which is so precious cinema history, and not just the line from it which every one still knows: "Frankly dear, I don't give a damn!"
Gone with the Wind is a true masterpiece, and is about women first and foremost! It is big-time American South nostalgia, which carries you off to that place with a wildly exciting 4-hour melodrama. An incredible achievement.
Cost: 3.85 - 3.9 mil. $ (different reports)
Box office: 400.5 mil. $
= Blockbuster (returned 102.69 - 104.02 times its cost)
[Gone with the Wind premiered 15 December (Atlanta, Georgia) and runs 234 minutes. Producer David O. Selznick bought the rights to Mitchell's novel in 1936 for a record 50k $. (Selznick would later acknowledge that Mitchell had still been underpaid, considering the film's success, and paid out an additional 50k $.) Production was delayed to secure Clark Gable's participation, whereas Leigh was cast from a vast pool of actresses following a hugely publicized national 'search for Scarlett'. Gable was paid around 120k, Leigh 25k $ (for a much longer working period), whereas the writing team reportedly earned 126k $. Cukor was fired as director after less than 3 weeks shooting; rumored to be due to his homosexuality, and possibly for knowing details as to Gable's secret gay past. Shooting took place in Arkansas, Georgia and California, including Los Angeles, from December 1938 - November 1939. Cukor continued coaching Leigh and De Havilland in private on weekends. Steiner's was the longest score written for a film up to that point. The preview screening concluded with cheers and a standing ovation. The Atlanta premiere was an event with record admission prizes and 300k people there to see and participate in the 3-day festivities and parade; one of the days was declared a state holiday. Hattie McDaniel (Maryland (1940)), who plays Mammy, was absent, because the racist Jim Crow laws kept her from attending the film. It was shown in North America as a roadshow engagement only in 1939-40 with a 1 $ admission prize, double the day's standard, and 70 % going to MGM (up from the typical 30-35 % of the period). Prizes were later normalized for a general release. The print, distribution and ad costs reportedly came to around 3.1 mil. $ additionally. It is estimated 60 mil. tickets were sold in North America in the film's first 4 years, around half the population. The film was nominated for 13 Oscars, winning 10, 2 of which were honorary: It won Best Picture, Actress (Leigh), Supporting Actress (McDaniel, first Africa-American to win an Oscar, though she was segregated from her colleagues at the ceremony; also nominated was De Havilland), Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction, Editing, and honorary Oscars for its use of equipment and color, (it was the first Best Picture winner in color.) The 8 competitive Oscars set a new record, which the film held until Gigi (1958) beat it with 9. It is still the longest Best Picture winner of all time. It also won 2 National Board of Review awards. Selznick sold his share in the film in 1942 to his business partner (for just 500k $), who sold it on to MGM for 2.8 mil. $. The film had brought the studio back 32 mil. $ in 1943, making it the most profitable movie ever made up to that point. Another 5 mil. $ was earned at the first re-release in 1947, where it again was one of the year's ten biggest earners. Subsequent re-releases continued to rake in tens of millions of $ worldwide. The film was finally overtaken in box office might by The Sound of Music (1966). The 1967 re-release was again a roadshow, and it became the most successful re-release ever, grossing 68 mil. $, and assuring its position as the 4th highest-grossing picture of the 1960s. It overtook Sound of Music with a 1971 re-release, but was then overtaken by The Godfather (1972) as the top-earner. An estimated 200 mil. tickets have been sold for the film in North America, more than any other film ever. It was immensely popular abroad as well, selling 35 mil. tickets in the UK and 16 mil. in France, during WWII, and in the recovering years after. Adjusted for inflation the film made more than 3.44 bil. $ at the box office. NBC paid 5 mil. $ to be the first network station to show the film in 1976, which became the highest-rated TV program and most-watched film to ever air on TV: 47.5 % of households in the US and 65 % of TV viewers saw it. CBS paid 35 mil. $ in 1978 for the right to show the film 20 times in the following 20 years. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, in line with this one. The 6-hour sequel miniseries Scarlett was released in 1994 with none of the original talents involved. IMDb's users have voted the film in at #168 on the site's Top 250, sitting between The Truman Show (1998) and Soul (2020). Fleming returned with They Dare Not Love (1941); Cukor with Susan and God (1940); Wood with Out Town (1940). Leigh returned in 21 Days Together (1940); De Havilland in My Love Came Back (1940); Gable in Strange Cargo (1940); and Leslie Howard (The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)) in Common Heritage (1940, short) and theatrically in 'Pimpernel' Smith (1941). Gone with the Wind is certified fresh at 91 % with an 8.79/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
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