Physically Breathtaking; a Seminal Epic; Admirable and Admired

Rating: 8/10 (21 June 2005)

This epic film has been written about for decades; but what needs to be said about it has, perhaps, never been addressed. It is a very entertaining, well-photographed and generally well-acted historical work. The music by Max Steiner, the great scenes such as Scarlett O'Hara's descent into chaos as she seeks a doctor during the battle for Atlanta, the ball, the party at Twelve Oaks, the burning of Atlanta fight scene, and others have never been surpassed. But despite David O. Selznick's vast exertions with writer Sidney Howard and others to bring Margaret Mitchell's novel to the screen, some script problems were never solved. The film is in fact I assert a partially-completed allegory. Scarlett O' Hara, played by British Vivien Leigh represents southern womanhood wanting to live an American, a full life; her erstwhile love, Ashley Wilkes, played by Brit Leslie Howard, represents the Old South--which is why he could never find a handle on the motivations of his character. Scarlett was given straightforward actions; he was given several contradictory decisions to resolve. But the great triumphs of the film as Ayn Rand pointed out are that it involves all levels of the society in the great changes brought about by the Civil War, and its aftermath; and the other is that the use of observers as "norms" of the Southern viewpoint in so many scenes allows the viewer to understand both those who challenge and those who defend the Old South's ideas and practices. Every element of this huge cinematic 1939 production works beautifully. The actors, challenged by the style and scope of the script, who did very well include Leigh as Scarlett, Barbara O'Neill and Thomas Mitchell as her parents, Olivia de Havilland and Hattie McDaniel, Carroll Nye, Alicia Rhett, Victor Jory, Butterfly McQueen, Rand Brooks and dozen of others from Everett Brown as Big Sam to the most minor of roles. Clark Gable brings off Rhett Butler, but lacks classical speech training to complete a difficult role. Mention should be made of several others for their for their creative contributions including directors Sam Wood, Victor Fleming and George Cukor, production designer William Cameron Menzies, Walter Plunkett's costumes, Sydney Guilaroff's hairstylings and Lyle Wheeler's art direction.Whatever few questions one has about Ashley Wilkes' character, there is so much here that is outstanding here that this is a film for the ages in every sense, beautiful to watch and hard-to-forget.