The film that set the standard for grandeur...

Rating: 8/10 (12 January 2005)

David O. Selznick set out to make the biggest, and best, film that money could buy. The result is one of the biggest, most-successful, most critically acclaimed American films of all time - Gone With the Wind. Based on Margaret Mitchell's tale of long-lost southern gallantry, and a way of life that would never return, Gone With the Wind is a work of fiction, set in a glorified Technicolor rendition of the old south. Now, to say that this is all historically accurate would be like saying that this is a short film. Clocking in at just under four hours long, this story can be a little hard to sit through. You really have to get caught up in the soap opera. Once you do, however, it is not hard to see why this film is as highly regarded as it is. I can't help but feel that it is a little over-rated, but considering when it was made, it is spectacular. Vivien Leigh is extraordinary as the beautiful and manipulative Scarlett O'Hara. The intensity of each emotion she expresses throughout the film is outstanding! Clark Gable is the foil to Ms. Leigh's southern belle, the dashing, devil-may-care Rhett Butler. He is often very cool, allowing room for his bottled-up emotion to erupt. He spars with Scarlett, her intensity versus his calm resolve, but both characters are quite similar in many other ways...Leslie Howard is Ashley Wilkes, the physical embodiment of a southern gentleman. His wife, Melanie Hamilton, is played with a quiet grace all her own by Olivia de Havilland. Hattie McDaniel's Academy Award winning performance as Mammy, the voice of reason amongst all of the drama, is just as astounding as any of the other performances in this epic picture. While not a perfect film, Gone With the Wind is still an extremely important one, and should not be missed by anyone interested in classic American cinema.