GONE WITH THEWIND FILM

CELEBRATES 75THANNIVERSARY

By David Zernhelt

My name is David Zernhelt.I live in Allentown, Pa. and I'mthe author of a “Friday The13th” book series titled, “TheCamp Crystal Lake Diaries.” Iwas inspired to write thisarticle by a woman namedCourtney Anne who resides inLos Angeles, Ca. She is awonderful pen pal of mine whoI admire in so many ways. Idedicate this article toCourtney and to all the fanswho loved “Gone With TheWind.” It's been 75 years sinceSelznick International Picturesand Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer(MGM) released the “GoneWith The Wind” film. To date,countless viewers continue tobe endlessly captured by thatcinematic masterpiece. "Gone with the Wind" is a1939 American epic historicalromance film adapted fromMargaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel. It wasproduced by David O. Selznickof Selznick International

Pictures and directed by VictorFleming. Set in the 19th-century American South, thefilm tells the story of ScarlettO'Hara, portrayed by VivienLeigh, and her romantic pursuitof Ashley Wilkes (LeslieHoward) who is married to hiscousin, Melanie Hamilton(Olivia de Havilland), and hermarriage to Rhett Butler (ClarkGable). Set against thebackdrop of the AmericanCivil War and Reconstructionera, the story is told from theperspective of whiteSoutherners. The production of the filmwas troubled from the start.Filming was delayed for twoyears due to David O.Selznick's determination tosecure Clark Gable for the roleof Rhett Butler, and the "searchfor Scarlett" led to 1,400women being interviewed forthe part. The originalscreenplay was written bySidney Howard, but underwentmany revisions by severalwriters in an attempt to get itdown to a suitable length. Theoriginal director, GeorgeCukor, was fired shortly afterfilming had begun and wasreplaced by Victor Fleming,who in turn was brieflyreplaced by Sam Wood whileFleming took some time offdue to exhaustion. The film received positivereviews upon its release inDecember 1939, althoughsome reviewers found itdramatically lacking andbloated. The casting waswidely praised and manyreviewers found Vivien Leighespecially suited to her role as

Scarlett. At the 12th AcademyAwards held in 1940, itreceived ten Academy Awards(eight competitive, twohonorary) from thirteennominations, including winsfor Best Picture, Best Director(Victor Fleming), Best AdaptedScreenplay (posthumouslyawarded to Sidney Howard),Best Actress (Vivien Leigh)and Best Supporting Actress(Hattie McDaniel, becomingthe first African-American towin an Academy Award). It setrecords for the total number ofwins and nominations at thetime. The film was immenselypopular, becoming the highest-earning film made up to thatpoint, and retained the recordfor over a quarter of a century.Adjusted for inflation, it is stillthe most successful film inbox-office history. The film has been criticizedas historical revisionismglorifying slavery, butnevertheless it has beencredited for triggering changesto the way African Americansare depicted on film. It was re-released periodicallythroughout the 20th centuryand became ingrained inpopular culture. It has placed inthe top ten of the AmericanFilm Institute's list of top 100American films since the list'sinception in 1998, and in 1989,Gone with the Wind wasselected to be preserved by theNational Film Registry. I first watched the “GoneWith The Wind” film when Iwas in my early 30s. It was solengthy that I had to watch itanother 3 to 4 times just to beable to memorize even more of

the film. There were times Ilaughed, cried, and theromance shown from withinthe film was so magical. Thiswas because most of the actorsand actresses back in that timehad an “untouchable” actingtalent that would be extremelyhard to ever duplicate in thisage. "Gone with the Wind" startedout as a novel written byMargaret Mitchell, firstpublished in 1936. The story isset in Clayton County, Georgia,and Atlanta during theAmerican Civil War andReconstruction era. It depictsthe experiences of ScarlettO'Hara, the spoiled daughter ofa well-to-do plantation owner,who must use every means ather disposal to come out of thepoverty she finds herself inafter Sherman's March to theSea. A historical novel, thestory is a Bildungsroman orcoming-of-age story, with thetitle taken from a poem writtenby Ernest Dowson. "Gone with the Wind" waspopular with American readersfrom the onset and was the topAmerican fiction bestseller inthe year it was published andin 1937. As of 2014, a Harrispoll found it to be the secondfavorite book by Americanreaders, just behind the Bible.More than 30 million copieshave been printed worldwide. Written from the perspectiveof the slaveholder, "Gone withthe Wind" is Southernplantation fiction. Its portrayalof slavery and AfricanAmericans is controversial, aswell as its use of a racialepithet and ethnic slurs.

However, the novel hasbecome a reference point forsubsequent writers about theSouth, both black and white.Scholars at Americanuniversities refer to it in theirwritings, interpret and study it.The novel has been absorbedinto American popular culture. Margaret Mitchell wasimaginative in the use ofcolour symbolism, especiallythe colours red and green,which surround ScarlettO'Hara. Mitchell identified theprimary theme as survival. Sheleft the ending speculative forthe reader, however. She wasoften asked what became ofher lovers, Rhett and Scarlett.She did not know, and said,"For all I know, Rhett mayhave found someone else whowas less difficult." Twosequels authorized byMitchell's estate werepublished more than a halfcentury later. A parody wasalso produced. Mitchell received the PulitzerPrize for Fiction for the bookin 1937. It was adapted into a1939 American film. The bookis often read or misreadthrough the film. Gone withthe Wind is the only novel byMitchell published during herlifetime. Before publication of thenovel, several Hollywoodexecutives and studios declinedto create a film based on it,including Louis B. Mayer andIrving Thalberg at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM),Pandro Berman at RKOPictures, and David O.Selznick of SelznickInternational Pictures. Jack

Warner liked the story, butWarner Bros.'s biggest starBette Davis was uninterested,and Darryl Zanuck of 20thCentury-Fox did not offerenough money. Selznickchanged his mind after hisstory editor Kay Brown andbusiness partner John HayWhitney urged him to buy thefilm rights. In July 1936—amonth after it was published—Selznick bought the rights for$50,000. The casting of the two leadroles became a complex, two-year endeavor. For the role ofRhett Butler, Selznick wantedClark Gable from the start, butGable was under contract toMGM, who never loaned himto other studios. Gary Cooperwas considered, but SamuelGoldwyn—to whom Cooperwas under contract—refused toloan him out. Warner offered apackage of Bette Davis, ErrolFlynn, and Olivia de Havillandfor lead roles in return for thedistribution rights. By thistime, Selznick was determinedto get Gable and eventuallystruck a deal with MGM.Selznick's father-in-law, MGMchief Louis B. Mayer, offeredin August 1938 to provideGable and $1,250,000 for halfof the film's budget but for ahigh price: Selznick wouldhave to pay Gable's weeklysalary, and half the profitswould go to MGM whileLoew's, Inc—MGM's parentcompany—would release thefilm. The arrangement to releasethrough MGM meant delayingthe start of production until theend of 1938, when Selznick's

distribution deal with UnitedArtists concluded. Selznickused the delay to continue torevise the script and, moreimportantly, build publicity forthe film by searching for therole of Scarlett. Selznick begana nationwide casting call thatinterviewed 1,400 unknowns.The effort cost $100,000 andwas useless for the film, butcreated "priceless" publicity.Early frontrunners includedMiriam Hopkins and TallulahBankhead, who were regardedas possibilities by Selznickprior to the purchase of thefilm rights; Joan Crawford,who was signed to MGM, wasalso considered as a potentialpairing with Gable. After adeal was struck with MGM,Selznick held discussions withNorma Shearer—who wasMGM's top female star at thetime—but she withdrew herselffrom consideration. KatharineHepburn lobbied hard for therole with the support of herfriend, George Cukor, who hadbeen hired to direct, but shewas vetoed by Selznick whofelt she was not right for thepart. Many famous—or soon-to-be-famous—actresses wereconsidered, but only thirty-onewomen were actually screen-tested for Scarlett includingArdis Ankerson, Jean Arthur,Tallulah Bankhead, DianaBarrymore, Joan Bennett,Nancy Coleman, Frances Dee,Ellen Drew (as Terry Ray),Paulette Goddard, SusanHayward (under her real nameof Edythe Marrenner), VivienLeigh, Anita Louise, HailaStoddard, Margaret Tallichet,

Lana Turner and LindaWatkins. Although MargaretMitchell refused to publiclyname her choice, the actresswho came closest to winningher approval was MiriamHopkins, who Mitchell felt wasjust the right type of actress toplay Scarlett as written in thebook. However, Hopkins wasin her mid-thirties at the timeand was considered too old forthe part. Four actresses,including Jean Arthur and JoanBennett, were still underconsideration by December1938; however, only twofinalists, Paulette Goddard andVivien Leigh, were tested inTechnicolor, both on December20. Goddard almost won therole, but controversy over hermarriage with Charlie Chaplincaused Selznick to change hismind. Selznick had been quietlyconsidering Vivien Leigh, ayoung English actress who wasstill little known in America,for the role of Scarlett sinceFebruary 1938 when Selznicksaw her in Fire Over Englandand A Yank at Oxford. Leigh'sAmerican agent was theLondon representative of theMyron Selznick talent agency(headed by David Selznick'sbrother, one of the owners ofSelznick International), and shehad requested in February thather name be submitted forconsideration as Scarlett. Bythe summer of 1938 theSelznicks were negotiatingwith Alexander Korda, towhom Leigh was undercontract, for her services laterthat year. Selznick's brotherarranged for them to meet for

the first time on the night ofDecember 10, 1938, when theburning of Atlanta was filmed.In a letter to his wife two dayslater, Selznick admitted thatLeigh was "the Scarlett darkhorse", and after a series ofscreen tests, her casting wasannounced on January 13,1939. Just before the shootingof the film, Selznick informednewspaper columnist EdSullivan: "Scarlett O'Hara'sparents were French and Irish.Identically, Miss Leigh'sparents are French and Irish." Of original screenplay writerSidney Howard, film historianJoanne Yeck writes, "reducingthe intricacies of Gone with theWind's epic dimensions was aherculean task ... and Howard'sfirst submission was far toolong, and would have requiredat least six hours of film; ...producer, Selznick wantedHoward to remain on the set tomake revisions ... but Howardrefused to leave New England[and] as a result, revisions werehandled by a host of localwriters". Selznick dismisseddirector George Cukor threeweeks into filming and soughtout Victor Fleming, who wasdirecting The Wizard of Oz atthe time. Fleming wasdissatisfied with the script, soSelznick brought in famedwriter Ben Hecht to rewrite theentire screenplay within fivedays. Hecht returned toHoward's original draft and bythe end of the week hadsucceeded in revising the entirefirst half of the script. Selznickundertook rewriting the secondhalf himself but fell behindschedule, so Howard returned

to work on the script for oneweek, reworking several keyscenes in part two. "By the time of the film'srelease in 1939, there wassome question as to whoshould receive screen credit,"writes Yeck. "But despite thenumber of writers and changes,the final script was remarkablyclose to Howard's version. Thefact that Howard's name aloneappears on the credits mayhave been as much a gesture tohis memory as to his writing,for in 1939 Sidney Howarddied at age 48 in a farm-tractoraccident, and before themovie's premiere." Selznick, ina memo written in October1939, discussed the film'swriting credits: "You can sayfrankly that of thecomparatively small amount ofmaterial in the picture which isnot from the book, most is myown personally, and the onlyoriginal lines of dialog whichare not my own are a few fromSidney Howard and a few fromBen Hecht and a couple morefrom John Van Druten.Offhand I doubt that there areten original words of OliverGarrett's in the whole script. Asto construction, this is abouteighty per cent my own, andthe rest divided between JoSwerling and Sidney Howard,with Hecht having contributedmaterially to the constructionof one sequence." According to Hechtbiographer, WilliamMacAdams, "At dawn onSunday, February 20, 1939,David Selznick ... and directorVictor Fleming shook Hechtawake to inform him he was on

loan from MGM and mustcome with them immediatelyand go to work on Gone withthe Wind, which Selznick hadbegun shooting five weeksbefore. It was costing Selznick$50,000 each day the film wason hold waiting for a finalscreenplay rewrite and timewas of the essence. Hecht wasin the middle of working onthe film At the Circus for theMarx Brothers. Recalling theepisode in a letter toscreenwriter friend GeneFowler, he said he hadn't readthe novel but Selznick anddirector Fleming could notwait for him to read it. Theywould act out scenes based onSidney Howard's original scriptwhich needed to be rewritten ina hurry. Hecht wrote, "Aftereach scene had been performedand discussed, I sat down at thetypewriter and wrote it out.Selznick and Fleming, eager tocontinue with their acting, kepthurrying me. We worked inthis fashion for seven days,putting in eighteen to twentyhours a day. Selznick refusedto let us eat lunch, arguing thatfood would slow us up. Heprovided bananas and saltedpeanuts ... thus on the seventhday I had completed,unscathed, the first nine reelsof the Civil War epic." MacAdams writes, "It isimpossible to determineexactly how much Hechtscripted ... In the officialcredits filed with the ScreenWriters Guild, Sidney Howardwas of course awarded the solescreen credit, but four otherwriters were appended ... JoSwerling for contributing to

the treatment, Oliver H. P.Garrett and Barbara Keon toscreenplay construction, andHecht, to dialogue ..." Principal photography beganJanuary 26, 1939, and endedon July 1, with post-productionwork continuing untilNovember 11, 1939. DirectorGeorge Cukor, with whomSelznick had a long workingrelationship, and who hadspent almost two years in pre-production on Gone with theWind, was replaced after lessthan three weeks of shooting.Selznick and Cukor hadalready disagreed over the paceof filming and the script, butother explanations put Cukor'sdeparture down to Gable'sdiscomfort at working withhim. Emanuel Levy, Cukor'sbiographer, claimed that ClarkGable had worked Hollywood'sgay circuit as a hustler and thatCukor knew of his past, soGable used his influence tohave him discharged. VivienLeigh and Olivia de Havillandlearned of Cukor's firing on theday the Atlanta bazaar scenewas filmed, and the pair wentto Selznick's office in fullcostume and implored him tochange his mind. VictorFleming, who was directingThe Wizard of Oz, was calledin from MGM to complete thepicture, although Cukorcontinued privately to coachLeigh and De Havilland.Another MGM director, SamWood, worked for two weeksin May when Flemingtemporarily left the productiondue to exhaustion. Althoughsome of Cukor's scenes werelater reshot, Selznick estimated

that "three solid reels" of hiswork remained in the picture.As of the end of principalphotography, Cukor hadundertaken eighteen days offilming, Fleming ninety-three,and Wood twenty-four. To compose the score,Selznick chose Max Steiner,with whom he had worked atRKO Pictures in the early1930s. Warner Bros.—who hadcontracted Steiner in 1936—agreed to lend him to Selznick.Steiner spent twelve weeksworking on the score, thelongest period that he had everspent writing one, and at twohours and thirty-six minuteslong it was also the longest thathe had ever written. Fiveorchestrators were hired,including Hugo Friedhofer,Maurice de Packh, BernardKaun, Adolph Deutsch andReginald Bassett. The score ischaracterized by two lovethemes, one for Ashley's andMelanie's sweet love andanother that evokes Scarlett'spassion for Ashley, thoughnotably there is no Scarlett andRhett love theme. Steiner drewconsiderably on folk andpatriotic music, which includedStephen Foster tunes such as"Louisiana Belle," "DollyDay," "Ringo De Banjo,""Beautiful Dreamer," "OldFolks at Home," and "KatieBelle," which formed the basisof Scarlett's theme; other tunesthat feature prominently are:"Marching through Georgia"by Henry Clay Work, "Dixie,""Garryowen" and "The BonnieBlue Flag." The theme that ismost associated with the filmtoday is the melody that

accompanies Tara, the O'Haraplantation; in the early 1940s,"Tara's Theme" formed themusical basis of the song "MyOwn True Love" by MackDavid. In all, there are ninety-nine separate pieces of musicfeatured in the score. Due tothe pressure of completing ontime, Steiner received someassistance in composing fromFriedhofer, Deutsch and HeinzRoemheld, and in addition, twoshort cues—by Franz Waxmanand William Axt—were takenfrom scores in the MGMlibrary. On September 9, 1939,Selznick, his wife, Irene,investor John "Jock" Whitneyand film editor Hal Kern droveout to Riverside, California topreview it at the Fox Theatre.The film was still a rough cutat this stage, missingcompleted titles and lackingspecial optical effects. It ranfor four hours and twenty-fiveminutes, but would later be cutdown to under four hours forits proper release. A double billof Hawaiian Nights and BeauGeste was playing, and afterthe first feature it wasannounced that the theaterwould be screening a preview;the audience were informedthey could leave but would notbe readmitted once the filmhad begun, nor would phonecalls be allowed once thetheater had been sealed. Whenthe title appeared on the screenthe audience cheered, and afterit had finished it received astanding ovation. In hisbiography of Selznick, DavidThomson wrote that theaudience's response before the

film had even started "was thegreatest moment of [Selznick's]life, the greatest victory andredemption of all his failings",with Selznick describing thepreview cards as "probably themost amazing any picture hasever had." When Selznick wasasked by the press in earlySeptember how he felt aboutthe film, he said: "At noon Ithink it's divine, at midnight Ithink it's lousy. Sometimes Ithink it's the greatest pictureever made. But if it's only agreat picture, I'll still besatisfied." One million people came toAtlanta for the film's premiereat the Loew's Grand Theatre onDecember 15, 1939. It was theclimax of three days offestivities hosted by MayorWilliam B. Hartsfield, whichincluded a parade oflimousines featuring stars fromthe film, receptions, thousandsof Confederate flags and acostume ball. Eurith D. Rivers,the governor of Georgia,declared December 15 a stateholiday. An estimated threehundred thousand residents andvisitors to Atlanta lined thestreets for up to seven miles towatch a procession oflimousines bring the stars fromthe airport. Only LeslieHoward and Victor Flemingchose not to attend: Howardhad returned to England due tothe outbreak of World War II,and Fleming had fallen outwith Selznick and declined toattend any of the premieres.Hattie McDaniel was alsoabsent, as she and the otherblack actors from the film wereprevented from attending the

premiere due to Georgia's JimCrow laws, which would havekept them from sitting with thewhite members of the cast.Upon learning that McDanielhad been barred from thepremiere, Clark Gablethreatened to boycott the event,but McDaniel convinced himto attend. President JimmyCarter would later recall it as"the biggest event to happen inthe South in my lifetime."Premieres in New York andLos Angeles followed, thelatter attended by some of theactresses that had beenconsidered for the part ofScarlett, among them PauletteGoddard, Norma Shearer andJoan Crawford. From December 1939 to July1940, the film played onlyadvance-ticket road showengagements at a limitednumber of theaters at pricesupwards of $1—more thandouble the price of a regularfirst-run feature—with MGMcollecting an unprecedented 70percent of the box officereceipts (as opposed to thetypical 30–35 percent of theperiod). After reachingsaturation as a roadshow,MGM revised its terms to a 50percent cut and halved theprices, before it finally enteredgeneral release in 1941 at"popular" prices. Along withits distribution and advertisingcosts, total expenditure on thefilm was as high as $7 million. In 1942, Selznick liquidatedhis company for tax reasons,and sold his share in Gone withthe Wind to his businesspartner, John Whitney, for$500,000. In turn, Whitney

sold it on to MGM for $2.8million, so that the studio moreor less owned the film outright.MGM first re-released the filmin 1947, and again in 1954; the1954 reissue was the first timethe film was shown inwidescreen, compromising theoriginal Academy ratio andcropping the top and bottom toan aspect ratio of 1.75:1. Indoing so, a number of shotswere optically re-framed andcut into the three-strip cameranegatives, forever altering fiveshots in the film. A 1961release commemorated thecentennial anniversary of thestart of the Civil War, andincluded a gala "premiere" atthe Loew's Grand Theater. Itwas attended by Selznick andmany other stars of the film,including Vivien Leigh andOlivia de Havilland; ClarkGable had died the previousyear. For its 1967 re-release, itwas blown up to 70mm, andissued with updated posterartwork featuring Gable—withhis white shirt ripped open—holding Leigh against abackdrop of orange flames.There were further re-releasesin 1971, 1974 and 1989; for thefiftieth anniversary reissue in1989, it was given a completeaudio and video restoration. Itwas released theatrically onemore time in the United States,in 1998. In 2013, a 4K digitalrestoration was released in theUnited Kingdom to coincidewith Vivien Leigh's centenary. The film received its worldtelevision premiere on theHBO cable network on June11, 1976, and played on thechannel for a total of fourteen

times throughout the rest of themonth. It made its networktelevision debut in Novemberlater that year: NBC paid $5million for a one-off airing,and it was broadcast in twoparts on successive evenings. Itbecame at that time thehighest-rated televisionprogram ever presented on asingle network, watched by47.5 percent of the householdssampled in America, and 65percent of television viewers.In 1978, CBS signed a dealworth $35 million to broadcastthe film twenty times over asmany years. TurnerEntertainment acquired theMGM film library in 1986, butthe deal did not include thetelevision rights to Gone withthe Wind, which were still heldby CBS. A deal was struck inwhich the rights were returnedto Turner Entertainment andCBS's broadcast rights to TheWizard of Oz were extended. Itwas used to launch two cablechannels owned by TurnerBroadcasting: TNT (1988) andTurner Classic Movies (1994).It debuted on videocassette inMarch 1985, where it placedsecond in the sales charts, andhas since been released onDVD and Blu-ray Discformats. Gone with the Wind was wellreceived upon its release, withmost consumer magazines andnewspapers giving it generallyexcellent reviews. However,while its production values,technical achievements andscale of ambition wereuniversally recognized, someof the more notable reviewersof the time found the film to be

dramatically lacking. Frank S.Nugent for The New YorkTimes best summed up thegeneral sentiment byacknowledging that while itwas the most ambitious filmproduction made up to thatpoint, it probably was not thegreatest film ever made, butnevertheless found it to be an"interesting story beautifullytold". Franz Hoellering of TheNation was of the sameopinion: "The result is a filmwhich is a major event in thehistory of the industry but onlya minor achievement inmotion-picture art. There aremoments when the twocategories meet on good terms,but the long stretches betweenare filled with mere spectacularefficiency." While the film was praisedfor its fidelity to the novel, thisaspect was also singled out asthe main factor in contributingto the bloated running time,which many critics felt was tothe detriment of the overalldramatic impact. John C. Flinnwrote for Variety that Selznickhad "left too much in", and thatas entertainment, the filmwould have benefitted ifrepetitious scenes and dialogfrom the latter part of the storyhad been trimmed. TheManchester Guardian felt thatthe film's one serious drawbackwas that the story lacked theepic quality to justify theoutlay of time, and found thesecond half which focuses onScarlett's "irrelevantmarriages" and "domesticsquabbles" mostly superfluous,and the sole reason for theirinclusion had been "simply

because Margaret Mitchellwrote it that way". TheGuardian believed that if "thestory had been cut short andtidied up at the point markedby the interval, and if thepersonal drama had been madesubservient to a cinematictreatment of the central theme—the collapse and devastationof the Old South—then GoneWith the Wind might havebeen a really great film."Likewise, Hoellering alsofound the second half of thefilm to be weaker than the firsthalf: identifying the Civil Warto be the driving force of thefirst part while the charactersdominate in the second part, heconcluded this is where themain fault of the picture lay,commenting that "thecharacters alone do notsuffice". Despite manyexcellent scenes, he consideredthe drama to be unconvincingand that the "psychologicaldevelopment" had beenneglected. Much of the praise wasreserved for the impeccablecasting, with Vivien Leigh inparticular being singled out forher performance as Scarlett.Nugent described her as the"pivot of the picture" andbelieved her to be "so perfectlydesigned for the part by art andnature that any other actress inthe role would beinconceivable". Similarly,Hoellering found her "perfect"in "appearance andmovements"; he felt her actingbest when she was allowed to"accentuate the splitpersonality she portrays", andthought she was particularly

effective in such moments ofcharacterization like themorning after the marital rapescene. Flinn also found Leighsuited to the role physically,and felt she was best in thescenes where she displayscourage and determination,such as the escape fromAtlanta, and when Scarlett killsa Yankee deserter. Of ClarkGable's performance as RhettButler, Flinn felt thecharacterization was "as closeto Miss Mitchell's conception—and the audience's—asmight be imagined", a viewwhich Nugent concurred with,although Hoellering felt thatGable didn't quite convince inthe closing scenes, as Rhettwalks out on Scarlett indisgust. Of the other principalcast members, both Hoelleringand Flinn found Leslie Howardto be "convincing" as theweak-willed Ashley, with Flinnidentifying Olivia de Havillandas a "standout" as Melanie;Nugent was also especiallytaken with de Havilland'sperformance, describing it as a"gracious, dignified, tendergem of characterization".Hattie McDaniel's performanceas Mammy was singled out forpraise by many critics: Nugentbelieved she gave the bestperformance in the film afterVivien Leigh, with Flinnplacing it third after Leigh'sand Gable's performances. At the 12th Academy Awardsheld in 1940, Gone with theWind set a record for AcademyAward wins and nominations,winning in eight of thecompetitive categories it wasnominated in, from a total of

thirteen nominations. It wonfor Best Picture, Best Actress,Best Supporting Actress, BestDirector, Best Screenplay, BestCinematography, Best InteriorDecoration and Best Editing,and received two furtherhonorary awards for its use ofequipment and color (it alsobecame the first color film towin Best Picture). Its record ofeight competitive wins stooduntil Gigi (1958) won nine,and its overall record of tenwas broken by Ben-Hur (1959)which won eleven. Gone withthe Wind also held the recordfor most nominations until AllAbout Eve (1950) securedfourteen. It was the longestAmerican sound film made upto that point, and may still holdthe record of the longest BestPicture winner depending onhow it is interpreted. Therunning time for Gone with theWind is just under 221minutes, while Lawrence ofArabia (1962) runs for justover 222 minutes; however,including the overture,intermission, entr'acte, and exitmusic, Gone with the Windlasts for 234 minutes (althoughsome sources put its full lengthat 238 minutes) whileLawrence of Arabia comes inslightly shorter at 232 minuteswith its additional components. Hattie McDaniel became thefirst African-American to winan Academy Award—beatingout her co-star Olivia deHavilland who was alsonominated in the samecategory—but was raciallysegregated from her co-stars atthe awards ceremony at theCoconut Grove; she and her

escort were made to sit at aseparate table at the back of theroom. Meanwhile, screenwriterSidney Howard became thefirst posthumous Oscar winner,Selznick personally receivedthe Irving G. ThalbergMemorial Award for his careerachievements, and VivienLeigh won the New York FilmCritics Award for Best Actress. Sometime during this year,be sure to watch “Gone WithThe Wind.” Not just becauseof its 75th Anniversary, butbecause it's indeed a film to beloved, cherished, andrespected. And if you've neverseen it, you'll definitely like it.It's not that often you findyourself getting that muchemotionally involved with sucha film like “Gone With TheWind.” The artistic displaywith each and every scene isvery fascinating. On a humorous note – onewebsite listed withplaybuzz.com allows everyoneto take a quiz to see which“Gone With The Wind”character they are. When Itook the quiz, these were theresults. It read, “You are“Rhett Butler.” You are onedashing, mischievous andcharming individual aren'tyou!? You are instantly wellliked, envied by most, andknow how to work a crowd.Not exactly a man of honor,but that’s just because youknow that “nice guys finishlast.” One thing’s for sure, youcertainly don’t like taking “no”for an answer, but yourconniving nature will quicklyget you want you want. Youthrive on adventure, the thrill

of life, and frankly, you justdon't give a damn!” The ending of “Gone WithThe Wind” is one all can neverforget. Scarlett follows Rhettto the front door begging himnot to leave. Rhett cuts off therelationship between themwhile Scarlett asks him, “Rhett,where shall I go and what shallI do?” This is where ClarkGable's highly skilled actingtalent kicks in and he tellsScarlett, “Frankly my dear – Idon't give a damn.” Words that would beremembered for an eternity byall who fall in love with “GoneWith The Wind.” A film mygrandparents and parents grewup on that even taught meabout film history and its ownspecially created moments.Other family generations of thepresent and future are sure tofollow loving that film. Andthe thing is – that film reallydid help to bring so manypeople together. It still doestoday and it's amazing that“Gone With The Wind” createssuch a positive impact like thatall around the world. “Gone With The Wind” wasone of the best films evermade. I don't believe any filmproduction company couldever duplicate it no matter howhard they tried. A “one of akind” film that still stronglyholds its values, reputation,creativeness, originality, anddominance over most otherfilms that were ever made.After 75 years, “Gone WithThe Wind” is loved just asmuch as when it was firstreleased back on December15th of 1939 (Almost 2 years

before the start of World WarII). “Gone With The Wind” willforever remain like a “rarediamond” of its own kind incinematic history.