David O. Selznick's determination to get this made and made right pays off

Rating: 10/10 (24 April 2006)

I first saw this during it's theatrical re-release of 1961 at a Drive-In theater. I was seven years old and fell asleep by intermission. I didn't see it again or in it's entirety until the 1976 two night television presentation. I've seen it a couple times since but never again on the big screen and it needs to be seen on a big screen to fully appreciate it. At almost four hours it's still too long for my tastes but when it was made the book was widely popular and people would have been screaming if they cut a lot out of the 1000+ page novel to do a two hour movie.
Clark Gable was the immediate choice for Rhett Butler but speculation was rampant as to who would play Scarlett O'Hara. Leading contenders were Norma Shearer, Katherine Hepburn, Carol Lombard and Paulette Goddard. In June of 1938 it was learned that both Gable and Shearer who were under contract to Metro were going to MGM for the project. Also in the cast would be Walter Connolly as Gerald O'Hara, Maurice Murphy as Charlie Hamilton and Margaret Tallichet as Carreen O'Hara. In August of 1938 Shearer announced she was dropping out of the project. Out of 1400 candidates for the role 90 screen tests were made but it wasn't until filming of some scenes were underway that Vivien Leigh wandered on the set and got enough of producer David O. Selznick's attention that she was given a screen test the next day and ultimately the coveted role and eventually the Oscar as Best Actress. The script was in reality never completed until the film was. Playwright Sidney Howard wrote two drafts but unsatisfied with either Selznick brought on Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur who were doing Wuthering Heights to make changes. Also brought on were John Van Druten, Jo Swerling, Edwin Justin Mayer and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Dialog changes were being done as filming was going on with the additions of Oliver H.P. Garrett, Winston Miller, John Balderston and Michael Foster to the screenplay. Ultimately it's collaborated, changed, reworked and reworded screenplay got Sidney Howard the Oscar. George Cukor was the original director but Gable couldn't get along with him so he gave Selznik a list of four directors and said, pick one or I walk, so Selznik chose Victor Flemming and Cukor was out. Flemming had a breakdown while filming and Sam Wood completed the picture with help from William Cameron Menzies and Breeves Eason. Flemming got the Oscar for Best Director. Additional Academy Awards went to Selnick for Best Picture. Ernest Haller and Ray Rennahan for Best Color Cinematography, Hal C. Kern and James E. Newcam of Best Film Editing, Lyle Wheeler for Best Art Direction and Hattie McDaniel for Best Supporting Actress beating out nominated co-star Olivia DeHavilland. McDaniel became not only the first African-American to win an Academy Award she was the first African-American to be invited to attend the Academy Awards. Two special awards from The Academy Awards were presented to production designer William Cameron Menzies and a technically production award to Don Musgrave.
Before GWTW was released or had it's premiere, a theater was filled by patrons in Riverside, California who were ready to watch a film they had came to see. It was announced that the film would not be shown and instead they were to see a sneak preview of an upcoming major release and they could have their tickets refunded and leave but once the film began the doors would be locked and they couldn't leave until it was over. When Gone With the Wind came on the screen they shrieked with excitement. 20 million movie tickets were sold for this film during it's initial theatrical run. By it's fourth theatrical release in 1947 100 million tickets had been sold. It's other major theatrical re-releases came in 1954, 1961, 1967 and 1998. More people have bought movie tickets to see this picture than any other film ever released. Among the large cast are also Leslie Howard, Evelyn Keyes, Ann Rutherford, George Reeves and Victor Jory. It's an unlikely love story about a self-absorbed southern belle named Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler who was kicked out of West Point and doesn't actually fight in the Civil War but uses it to his commercial advantage by being a blockade runner but then eventually does become a confederate. It's an adventurous romantic melodrama epic that span 12 years of the Civil War era. Although long and melodramatic, as a film Selnicks determination to have it made and made right paid off. I would give it a 10.