GREAT BALLS OF FIRE, it's terrific!

Rating: 10/10 (7 July 2007)

There has never been any movie in the cinema history that was more a legend than "Gone with the wind". It is undeniable that this movie contains lots of goofs, but, despite all this, it is a blockbuster and a real masterpiece. Completely NOT overrated.
I love this movie. I can't explain why exactly. There are sooo many reasons. I first saw it when I was a little kid and still can't forget it.
It's so special if you can return to movie even when you had seen it more than 100 times... And GWTW is this kind of a movie.
In my opinion a movie can not be a good when the acting is not good. And there acting is great! Every character is portrayed so magnificently!
I will start with the supporting players. Barbara O'Neil, though only 28 while filming, played mother of quite adult daughters. She was the Ellen Robillard Mitchell descirbed in her book: so stative, so smart, so lady. Thomas Mitchell should have received Oscar for his Gerald O'Hara portroyal, and I think he did not just because he won for "Stagecoach" that year. Scarlett's sisters are really well cast. But the best supporting performance of the film is this one of Hattie McDaniel's. She is simply magnificent, moving and unforgettable as Mummy. Just amazing.
Many people claim that Leslie Howard did not fit the role of Ashley. They may be right in some sense, but let's think it over twice. Ashley was more handsome as Mitchell described him, but he was a dreamer who could not find himself in a new, cruel world. And Howard showed this quality as best as possible.
Of course, Olivia de Havilland's performance of Melanie was as worth of Oscar as Hattie McDaniel's, but later on she was given what she deserved (Oscars for "To each his own" and "The Heiress"). She plays Melanie with such a sensibility, but she manages to show her hidden strength, but not in a dominate way. Clark Gable was so unsure of his talent till the end of his life. I think that he was a great actor. He's so real as Rhett, and he has to play several dramatic scenes. And he does it perfectly-remember that playing those scenes, like those after Scarlett's miscarriage, needed acting talent. He's perfect. But, I won't hide my opinion that Vivien Leigh's Scarlett is the best and most powerful point of the whole movie. Vivien won the role when she was completely unknown. She managed to master the Southern accent as well. She did not play Scarlett. She WAS Scarlett. But only in this movie. She never acted any other character the same way. She is terrific and has all those features that original Mitchell's Scarlett possesses. I heard that she wanted to play the part exactly as Mitchell created it, and Fleming wanted her to play it just as a bitch, so they fought about it badly, but, finally, Vivien did a great work and her Oscar was something very obvious.
If you love good cinema, if you want to see something moving and something that is not getting old, though almost 70!, do not miss it.