Despite the epic grandeur, Gone With The Wind is still a performance driven film

Rating: 10/10 (11 February 2004)

When I was very young, my parents would often load her eight kids into the car to see a double feature at the drive-in. Occasionally, we were able to go to the matinee at a walk-in theater, but that was the exception rather than the rule. There was only one occasion that I recall my mother having ventured into a regular movie theater. That time was during a re-release of Gone With The Wind. I knew that for her to do something so out of the ordinary would take an extraordinary event. Because it was her all time favorite film which she had often spoken of, there was no doubt that Gone With The Wind was an exceptional film in her eyes. The question that remains is whether it would be such a prodigious event for me.
I enjoyed my first viewing of Gone With The Wind. It didn't bore me. Yet, I hardly remember it being unforgettable which is understandable when you're thirteen years old. I tried reading Margaret Mitchell's novel once and believe I made it more than half way through. It was not until years later after having viewed the film several more times that I began to appreciate the epic grandeur of Selznick's film.
Many have classified Gone With The Wind as a love story told against the backdrop of the Civil War. I think that is an oversimplification. Though, there is a love story involved, this is strictly a film about a woman, who happens to want a man she can't have, but ends up with those men who suit her purpose to further her needs.
Scarlett O'Hara is on the surface, a spoiled rich Southern belle. In the barbecue at Twelve Oaks, we find her conniving schemes to corral Ashley Wilkes almost humorous. As the film progresses, and the brutality of the Civil War and its aftermath, envelop the South, we see changes take place in Scarlett as well. As she matures into womanhood, Scarlett remains the conniving schemer, but becomes an extremely complex character also. Until the war, her conniving is strictly that of a lovesick teenager. After the war her schemes are those of a woman hardened by the brutality of a vicious war, and her plans serve a distinct and powerful purpose. We may not agree with what she does or how she does it, but we understand her motivations.
To bring Scarlett to life on the screen, Selznick chose Vivien Leigh. Whether it was pure luck or fate it doesn't matter. I can think of no other actress who could have possibly fitted the role as well as Leigh does. If I had to name the top ten performances by an actress in a film ever, Leigh would certainly be in the top ten if not at the top of the list.
Rhett Butler is the male version of Scarlett in many ways. At one point in the film Rhett brings this fact up himself. `Because we're alike - bad lots both of us, selfish and shrewd, but able to look things in the eyes and call them by their right names', he states. He loves Scarlett, yet for most of the film she is out of his reach. Only when it suits her purposes, does Scarlett give in to him. She marries him not for love but for fun. She may indeed love Rhett, because she is stubborn and self-centered, Scarlett can't acknowledge it. Just as Vivien Leigh is the only actress I can picture as Scarlett, Clark Gable is the definitive Rhett. There is no denying the chemistry between Rhett and Scarlett when these two great actors are on the screen together. I have seen many of Gable's films, and have never seen him as good as he is in Gone With The Wind.
If the film has one flaw for me in the acting department, it's Leslie Howard's Ashley Wilkes. Although Ashley is a noble character, he is weak and wishy washy. He is unable to tell Scarlett his true feelings one way or the other, yet is able to fight nobly for the Confederacy. Howard manages to convey the indecisiveness and the weaknesses of the character, yet he fails to do anything to have us believe there is a reason why someone as strong willed as Scarlett might find him remotely attractive.
Melanie Hamilton Wilkes epitomizes the example of pure goodness and greatness that one could only hope to achieve in life. Yet, she sees in Scarlett a zest for living that seems to be unattainable to herself. Because of this and the fact that she finds it difficult to find the evil in anyone, Melanie is blinded to Scarlett's love for Ashley. Olivia de Havilland gives us a Melanie every bit as real as Rhett and Scarlett.
Of all the characters in Gone With The Wind, Mammy is the one who is shrewd enough and smart enough to see everyone for what they really are. It is a fact that continually infuriates Scarlett. Hattie McDaniel's Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Mammy may be the most deserving of all. When she is on the screen, her presence overshadows that of even Leigh.
For all of Selznick's attention to detail, for all the grandeur of the Southern Plantations, for the incredible scenes of the burning of Atlanta and the long back wards crane shot of the thousands of wounded soldier lying in the streets, without the complex characters, and the incredible performances by the actors to portray them, Gone With The Wind would quite possibly have never achieved the historical significance that it has. It is this fact that makes it a great film.
My Grade A+