Gone with the Wind

Rating: 10/10 (24 February 2020)

Margaret (b.Atlanta) found a porcelain pin amongst the post-War rubble, cleaned it, set it on the mantel, began to dreaming, put it to words and called it Gone-With-The-Wind.
What do you write about a 4-hr epic showcasing maybe the most beguiling leading lady (Leigh), commanding lead man (Gable), charming characters (Melanie & Mammy) in arguably the best film ever made? Whatever it is, you keep it under 3000 words.
If you are of the politically-correct persuasion, have feelings easily hurt or think the Classics are just so much cinema snooze, don't bother watching. But if you have a warm heart, like it tugged on a bit, understand historical context, know the difference between a documentary and a movie, you'll find the time needed to drink-in this sweeping, familial Civil War drama is very well spent.
It's clearly Scarlett's movie but it's the meaning of the Ashley character that makes it one of the most curious. Leslie Howard (d.43) had balked at playing the hesitant Wilkes who may be Mitchell's nod to Lee: Learned men clinging to a corrupt code of honor who struggle with divided loyalties, choosing state (VA) over nation (USA), Wilkes engaging the additional battle of love (Melanie) versus passion (Scarlett).
Those today with a hidden agenda will have you believe in the absurd, that Producer Selznick, he of Jewish heritage, sought to sentimentalize or make monument to the CSA and slavery. The plain truth, easy enough to see by those who watch film with an eye for entertainment and art, is that David O, along with directors Fleming & Cukor, elaborately portray the pain of life and circumstance, a treatment for which the pharmacology industry holds no monopoly of patents but for which movies offer some relief.
And if you've a boycott bee in your bonnet, consider, when Rhett and Mams mix n' mingle over bourbons (2 hours in), the makers are firing one of the early shots for Civil-Rights. Does Gone-With-The-Wind romanticize events? Of course it does ("Cavaliers"), and that's why it's called cinema (4/4) (2.24.20).