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 | Party | Poverty | Epic

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

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:

The scene where Scarlett makes a dress out of a curtain later was later spoofed on "The Carol Burnett Show" (1967) in what became one of the most memorable comedy bits in TV history. Carol Burnett as "Starlet" O'Hara wears the curtains with the rod still in them. Harvey Korman as "Rat" Butler says: "Starlet, that gown is lovely", to which she responds: "Thank you. I just saw it in the window and couldn't resist it!"

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Rhett takes Bonnie Blue out of her crib right after she is born, we can briefly see "Bonnie's" forehead and eyes which are clearly that of a doll.

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 Superman Returns (2006)

Soundtrack:

Selznick International Theme

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.