No one needs another review of this film but, as a film lover, I've never really cared for it

Rating: 7/10 (5 February 2013)

Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) is a 16 year old headstrong Southern belle just before the civil war. At every picnic and gathering of folks near her father's plantation in Georgia, our Miss O'Hara is knee deep in admiring men, for she is beautiful and saucy. Unhappily for her, however, the one gentleman she really has eyes for, Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard), doesn't seem to be interested in becoming a suitor, although he considers her a friend. This is because, after tradition, Ashley has been "promised" for a long time to his distant cousin, Melanie (Olivia DeHavilland). Being a bold lady, Scarlett tries to court HIM, when she is supposed to be napping before a ball. He turns her down, reluctantly and leaves the room. Scarlett throws a fit and a piece of china and narrowly misses another man, Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). From that moment, Mr. Butler has admiration for Scarlett, for he has defied a few conventions himself. Stung from Ashley's rejection, Scarlett marries Melanie's brother in haste, for the war has just started and he must leave to fight. Through the war, Scarlett and Melanie live together in Atlanta and when Sherman comes marching, Rhett rescues the ladies and actually declares his love for Scarlett, before leaving her on the road home, as he is enlisting, finally. She is as mad as a hatter, both from his hot kisses and his abandonment. Yet, Miss O'Hara makes it home, keeps hold of the plantation through the reconstruction period and still harbors love for Mr. Wilkes. Yet, when Scarlett's second husband dies, she agrees to, at last, marry Rhett, for he is very rich. But, will it be love everlasting? Wait and see. First, let me state that I LOVE the book and got it as an eighth grade birthday present. It is one of the great love stories of all time, set in the South at a difficult point in history. But, I've never been overly fond of the movie. There are several reasons. The cast, while some call it a "dream", is merely good. Hattie McDaniel, who plays the faithful mammy of Scarlett, is my favorite while Leigh, Howard and DeHavilland are certainly fine. Gable is good, too, but he's not my idea of the perfect Rhett, though many others think so. I always wanted Burt Reynolds, in his "Dan August" heyday to star in a new version, for he was smoking hot. Obviously, this won't happen. But, while sets, costumes, and photography are nicely done, the script is overly melodramatic and maudlin, taking power away from the story, and the direction must be blamed, too. All in all, there are so many remakes of classics today, why doesn't someone give this one a modern take? But, it probably won't occur, for most film fans, unlike myself, consider this the classic of all classics and feel any new version would fall on its face.