Wonderfully magnificent, despite flaws

Rating: Null/10 (26 June 2002)

Gone with the Wind, for me, is one of those films that, as soon as it's over, you can't wait to watch it again. I won't bore you with the story-line (as everyone knows it, surely). People complain that Scarlett's character isn't likeable, but that's not the point. In Scarlett, we see something that's rare in films - character development. I loathed her the first time I started watching it, she was flighty and spoiled and utterly obnoxious, but by the second half of the film, she has completely grown up. The hardships of the war turned her into a self-sufficient woman - she comes back to her plantation to find her family starving and takes charge, slowly rebuilding their ruined lives almost single-handedly. It's a magnificent film, although some parts were miscast. Ashley Wilkes comes across as a total drip. How are we to believe that beautiful, vivacious Scarlett is pining away for someone so utterly dull? Melanie Wilkes is equally as dull, but more likeable because she's so kind and forgiving. However, so many stellar performances are given that the boring Mr. and Mrs. Wilkes are readily forgotten. Clark Gable is, as always, Clark Gable, playing the man's man, the loveable scoundrel. Hattie McDaniel is superb and earned her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress (the first African-American to ever win an Oscar). Belle Watling and Gerald O'Hara are particularly interesting characters which could have been developed more.
I always put off watching Gone With the Wind because most love stories set during a war end up being horrid movies, but it's well worth 4 hours of your time to see just why it's heralded as one of the greatest movies ever made.