THE big movie for ages

Rating: 10/10 (19 May 2017)

This was the great feat for Hollywood the other side of "The Godfather". The movie is much quoted even today, more than seventy years after its release in 1939. It is an understatement to say it is no wonder that it won the Best Picture award for that same year. Truly, Margaret Mitchell's very long novel (a little over a thousand pages long) was definitely a great feat for the outstanding producer David O. Selznick and directors Victor Fleming and George Cukor, and a great accomplishment for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as well. This definitely made Clark Gable a household name after he played excellently the role of Rhett Butler, and the career of Vivien Leigh was catapulted in this great classic as she played the role of Scarlett O'Hara. The young Olivia deHavilland did something for her career in the movies as well by acting well the part of Melanie Wilkes. Truly Leslie Howard, who played Ashley Wilkes, the husband of Melanie as well as the owner of the plantation Twelve Oaks, typified a southern gentleman, even though in real life Howard was originally from England. Hattie McDaniel was the epitome of a southern mammy. Thomas Mitchell was an almost-perfect actor in his role as Mr. O'Hara, the owner of the plantation Tara and also Scarlet's father. Though not a major actor here, Harry Davenport was quite impressive as Dr. Meade. Butterfly McQueen was there mainly for decorative purposes, but herself did well. The movie depicted well the War Between the States very realistically and graphically, of course. (I will have to tell something on myself: when I was almost eight years of age in the summer of 1954 when this movie was a return, the burning of Atlanta was so loud that I declared to myself that I would never see this movie again, though that did not become the truth.) The screaming wounded Rebel soldiers(though many of them were actually mannequins) added to the cinematic work being realistic and graphic. And, of course, the undulating romance twixt Butler and Scarlett O'Hara was excellently depicted. And too, the southern pride of the characters came across strongly; after all, Scarlett fought well for the reconstruction of the estate Tara at all costs including lying and stealing. Though the movie was originally filmed in B&W, the color did come through beautifully later. And, who can forget the closing line of Gable/Butler to Leigh/Scarlett "Frankly, my dear, I don't..." (Surely the reader of this knows the completion of the line.) A fine of at least a thousand dollars was imposed for using that unforgettable line. For all the reasons listed, definitely it has been for over half a century a movie whose very title has a special ring to it.