The year 1939 was a busy year for the Hollywood industry. Large-scale, majestic epics were front and center that year. You should look up the list of films released in 1939. It was a very, busy year, with huge titles from the golden age. Lots and lots of entertainment for a pre-WW2 audience. The Wizard of Oz (1939), Stagecoach (1939), Son of Frankenstein (1939), Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) and this little film, are just some of the titles on that list. Everyone was competing for perfection in the film industry. The first two hurtles, being sound and color film, had been implemented into the technical side of the filmmaking process, to this point in film history. Technicolor had been utilized for, about, five years to this point and it was perfectly utilized in this film too. Technicolor always was a good film stock, rich with colors, that pop on the screen. Head cinematographer, Ernest Haller's camera, captures images, not seen before on film and blazes colors across the screen, in Gone With the Wind (1939).
I'm sure everyone knows the basic premise of the film. It boils down to a story about the life of woman, a daughter of a rich cotton plantation owner in 1860s, Georgia, who's life interweaves with the real life events of the American Civil War and the recovery and reconstruction years. It is a fictitious story utilizing events from the real world. Of course, most of us remember the picture on the movie posters of Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) and Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), locked in that emotional, romantic embrace, plus it's on the cover of every DVD and Blu-Ray out there these days, but the film is really about Scarlett and all the other characters come into her circle. And, the film needs to be about Scarlett in order to be successful, because it is her spoiled, selfish, smug demeanor that energizes the whole film. Everyone who comes into her circle feels her wrath, even Rhett. Rhett isn't really a very likeable character either and watching these two unlikeable characters square off, through various parts of this film, is something to see. These are the reasons, that make this film so good. A plot involving two unlikeable characters, who eventually, reach a certain amount of maturity, that they earn some respect from the audience, doesn't deter from the overall quality of the film, because it is such a unique character study, while chaos is happening all around them.
The film does contain many sub-plots, involving politically, socially, culturally and racially charged tones, which would be expected, considering the time this period piece takes place. Which, brings up another interesting point to this film. Even though this film is approaching 85 years old now in the 21st century, it is still considered a period piece. The interesting part is the filmmakers had a more recent memory of the events used in the film, being only 75 years before, as opposed to our view, which is roughly 150 years later. In fact, there probably were a couple of Civil War veterans still alive in 1939. Another amazing thing about this film is, they started shooting this thing in January, 1939 and released it just before Christmas that same year. That is impressive, considering the massive runtime of this film. It is the runtime of this film that really hurts it from being a perfect film.
The images the filmmakers (I would list names, but you should see the Crew List on this film), are able to show us on the screen, is incredible. The color you will have stuck in your head, for a week after viewing this film, will be the color of orange, red fire, that is seen throughout the movie and obviously, mostly comes from the burning of Atlanta. A technical achievement, that hadn't been seen in the movies yet. The special effects, art direction, costuming and lighting is fantastic. You still don't notice, even today, that most of this movie was just filmed, out in the Los Angeles countryside and on sound stages. So much is going on in this film, you don't notice it. The performances by the cast is perfect. This is an epic journey about redemption and maturing. A maturity that helps the characters and a nation begin to grow. This film would roll through the Oscars in 1940, including winning the Best Picture Oscar.
9.3 (A MyGrade) = 9 IMDB.
