GWTW -- The Hollywood Sex Magic History Machine

Rating: 10/10 (23 February 2003)

The creators of WIND did not envision a 65-year life to their work. Indeed, David O. Selznick sold his interest in the film within years; Margaret Mitchell remarked on publication that she hoped the book would sell a few thousand copies(!). So it's a huge mistake to judge WIND on any terms but its own -- what it "was", and then, what it "is". Today we see a colorful, vividly realized costume epic. But in 1939, it seemed like the Sistine Chapel had come to life and was appearing at the downtown Rialto. Forgive the silly metaphor, but you get what I'm after -- the size and scope of WIND on film had no precedent. Released in the shadow of the Great Depression, WIND in hindsight is less about the Civil War than a nation's slow crawl out of recent poverty. When Scarlett said `I'll never be hungry again,' the nation rose and said `Damn Right!' The moment was set to fiery, defiant music, and the illusion of America, as she wanted to see herself, was set. History, right or wrong, was suddenly embodied by a sexy young girl who wants, not just to survive, but to prosper. Powerful stuff. But is that enough to hold our attention, year after year, decade after decade? WIND is still visually persuasive and always will be. Max Steiner's score beneath those images cannot be underestimated -- there had never been so much music outside the realm of grand opera. Music completes the illusion. The script however, full of momentum, has little substance. It weakens as years go by. Mitchell was no Tolstoy, but her brilliant novel is condensed to a long, shallow, sentimental melodrama. The writing is redeemed only by two key performances: Hattie McDaniel, as Mammy, is the first African American allowed to create a real human being on screen (for that we thank David O. Selznick); and of course, Vivien Leigh's complex, amazingly sexual Scarlett. In a strange mix of glamour and guts, the vortex of her acting seems to create the film around her; she wills it to happen. After 35 years of watching, I've come to regard her as, not merely the leading actress, but the real director of Gone With the Wind -- and the reason to keep watching.