movies don't get much better than this

Rating: 10/10 (31 December 2009)

The history of the cinema is full of monumental achievements coming from directors such as F.W. Murnau, Alfred Hitchcock, Cecil B. DeMille, and Sergio Leone and many of their successes became known as all-time classics. And even among these fabulous titles, there are those so monumental that they tower above even the others in their rank. "Gone with the Wind" is one of those pictures. In a way, it's the most important Hollywood movie ever made. Not only is it the most successful movie of all time (in adjusted dollars), but it revolutionized and inspired the world anew with its breathtaking, sweeping power and iconic portrait of the Old South and the Reconstruction, all seen through the eyes of not a man, but a woman, Margaret Mitchell's unforgettable character of Scarlett O'Hara, played unforgettably by Vivien Leigh.
"Gone with the Wind" is a movie about a great many things, but it is really the story of Scarlett. The movie starts in the dawn of the Civil War, when Scarlett was a high-strung sixteen-year-old and follows her experiences through the war, watching people die before her very eyes, and her undying effort to not only survive but to prosper through the Reconstruction of the Old South, a world she shall never see again. The movie is also about her relationship to the charismatic Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) and what evolves into a turbulent love affair.
Clark Gable had received top-billing due to his fame, but the movie is about and really works because of the Vivien Leigh character. Vivien Leigh and her enthusiasm and her never-say-die attitude throughout her performance is the cement foundation that keeps this near-four-hour epic fresh and powerful viewing after viewing. I have debated and debated and still not decided who gave the best performance by an actor in a film, but after looking at "Gone with the Wind" just once, I knew which *actress* had given the best performance. And that is Vivien Leigh. Leigh simply *is* Scarlett O'Hara, never striking a false note in her performance. At the beginning of the picture, she's only supposed to be sixteen. Leigh was much older than that, but she carries the performance through and convinces us that not only is she sixteen, but that she's maturing throughout the picture. Despite her character's personality and how Victor Fleming wanted her portray Scarlett, Leigh makes us feel for and take side with this spitfire for a role. Because of Vivien Leigh and her energetic, impeccable performance, Scarlett O'Hara became not a snobbish anti-hero of a protagonist, but one of the screen's greatest and most admirable heroines.
But I cannot – shall not – leave out Clark Gable. I still don't know which actor gave the best cinematic performance, but Gable's portrait of Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind" is an undeniable candidate. According to Hollywood lore, Gable did not want to make "Gone with the Wind" and did not care for the picture even though it immortalized him. Rumor has it he only did the picture for the paycheck, but he was entirely professional in his work nonetheless. Because of his strong charismatic acting, the Rhett Butler character not only stands out strongly in his early scenes, but by the last third of the picture, the movie is equally about him as well as Scarlett.
Powered by the immortalizing performances by Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable, "Gone with the Wind" is still a landmark is many other regards. Even though the movie does, in a way, glorify or at least take a sympathetic approach on the Old South, it does it with nobility. It does not make the Old South look like a heaven, but a once peaceful, if corrupt world gone forever. For example, although the O'Hara family owns slaves, they do not treat them as slaves, more as hired servants. Even after the war is over, their slaves return of them. And as for the African Americans in the picture, they have been treated in screenplay and acting honorably. They have to be shown as servants, because unfortunately that's how they were treated back then. But we can see by the Hattie McDaniel performance that the movie knows that despite their treatment, African Americans are human beings themselves and are as infinitely different and equal to everybody else. Apart from this, "Gone with the Wind" also stands out because McDaniel became the first African American to not only be nominated for, but win an Academy Award and it was a well-deserved gesture.
Although filming "Gone with the Wind" may have been as turbulent as Scarlett and Rhett's relationship became, the final product was truly marvelous. Director Fleming and producer David O. Selznick (who naturally watched over the production like a guardian) made "Gone with the Wind" one of the most professional-looking and feeling pictures of all time. The scenes of the Civil War through Scarlett's eyes are some of the most powerful, gritty, and moving moments in cinema history including the burning of Atlanta scene in which many Hollywood props of the past were wiped out of existence. And the screenplay is as perfect as they come. The movie runs nearly four hours in length and there's not one scene – not one bit of fat – that feels like it needs to come off. The numerous characters all serve their purpose. And it's just wonderful to look at this picture and pick out familiar supporting role faces such as Olivia de Havilland, Thomas Mithcell, Ward Bond, and Butterfly McQueen.
Just about every moment of "Gone with the Wind" is an iconic, revolutionary scene. I have seen the picture three times within the past six months and it hasn't shed a bit of power or sweeping authority yet. From its high-spirited opening to its tear-jerking but optimistic end, it is an enthralling cinematic experience. Movies don't get much better than this.