Gone with the Wind (1939)

A manipulative Southern belle carries on a turbulent affair with a blockade runner during the American Civil War.

Directors:

Victor Fleming, George Cukor (uncredited)

Writers:

Margaret Mitchell (story of the old south "Gone with the Wind"), Sidney Howard (screenplay)

Stars:

Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell

Top Rated Movies #159 | Won 8 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Thomas Mitchell	...	Gerald O'Hara
Barbara O'Neil	...	Ellen - 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
Leslie Howard	...	Ashley - His Son

Storyline

Scarlett is a woman who can deal with a nation at war, Atlanta burning, the Union Army carrying off everything from her beloved Tara, the carpetbaggers who arrive after the war. Scarlett is beautiful. She has vitality. But Ashley, the man she has wanted for so long, is going to marry his placid cousin, Melanie. Mammy warns Scarlett to behave herself at the party at Twelve Oaks. There is a new man there that day, the day the Civil War begins. Rhett Butler. Scarlett does not know he is in the room when she pleads with Ashley to choose her instead of Melanie.

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Plot Keywords:

gallantry | honesty | indifference | scandal | battle of the sexes | 

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Taglines:

The greatest romance of all time!

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance | War

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 January 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Vom Winde verweht

Filming Locations:

Agoura Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,977,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,192,593 (USA) (26 June 1998)

Gross:

$198,655,278 (USA) (13 November 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Selznick International Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

238 min 223 min (1969 re-release) 234 min (1985 re-release) 224 min (1994 re-release) 233 min (1989 re-release) 226 min (copyright length)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was cinematographer Ernest Haller's first color film.

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Goofs

When trying to get Doc Meade, Scarlett runs past several lamp posts containing electric bulbs.

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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: War! Isn't it exciting, Scarlett? You know those fool Yankees 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 ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Rather than simply saying "Selznick International in association with Metro-Goldwyn Mayer presents Margaret Mitchell's 'Gone With the Wind'", the opening credits say "Selznick International in association with Metro-Goldwyn Mayer has the honor to present its Technicolor production of Margaret Mitchell's story of the Old South 'Gone With the Wind'".

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Connections

Featured in Interactive Film Quiz (2006)

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Soundtracks

Massa's in de Cold Ground
(1852) (uncredited)
Written by Stephen Foster
In the score for the death of Charles and Frank

User Reviews

A Classic in the History of Movie-making.

Every time I watch this film, and I've seen it more times than I can remember, I'm always astonished by the freshness of the story, the power of the emotions it conveys and the beautiful, detailed images of a time long gone. That this film was made in the 1930's is almost incomprehensible to me. The challenges that had to be overcome in order to bring it to life must have been monumental. But come to life it did, and still does! A triumph of film-making ingenuity and genius, that will live on for many generations to come.