A great American classic

Rating: 10/10 (7 January 2004)

'Gone with the Wind' is one of the greatest American classics ever made. It tells the story of Scarlett O'Hara, played the very beautiful Vivien Leigh. She is one of the most selfish heroines you will ever see in a movie and still care for her. She is in love with Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard) but he marries to Melanie Hamilton. She is played by Olivia de Havilland in a great performance. A new man in Scarlett's life is Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) but Scarlett does everything to get what she wants including marrying someone for money and her own benefit. Rhett loves Scarlett with all his heart, mainly because they are much the same. They both think the world is there for them. Melanie and Scarlett become friends.
The movie is set in the time of the Civil War. What happens exactly with Scarlett, Rhett, Ashley and Melanie is for you to see but the war is pretty important for the story and the way it is used is great. The story itself is great anyway. Although the movie is long it is never boring. A reason for that is the performances. I already mentioned Olivia de Havilland, Clark Gable is very good, charming and sometimes funny, Hattie McDaniel as the black made is outstanding but I have to say that the best thing in this movie is Vivien Leigh. To make you care for a character like that is a pretty hard thing to do, but she makes it seem so easy. It is one of the strongest performances I have seen.
Besides the story and the acting we have the music, the sets, the costumes, the cinematography and of course the direction. It is all great. It was made in 1939 and over 60 years later it still is a very impressive movie.