A classic, but . . .

Rating: 9/10 (11 August 2013)

Here's the scoop about GWTW: Two hours of brilliance, 30 minutes of soapy melodrama, and two great final lines to wrap it up.
*****S P O I L E R S*****
The movie is great until Scarlet and Rhett get married. After that it devolves into the tale of two petulant, hard-headed people who never seem to be in love at the same time.
Rhett is deeply in love and happy after Bonnie Blue is born, but Scarlett seems jealous of his affection for their daughter and promptly destroys their happiness by kicking Rhett out of her bed.
She survives public embarrassment at Ashley's birthday party, thanks to Melanie's saintly temperament. Rhett basically rapes her in a drunken rage (after dramatically carrying her up the stairs), but Scarlet awakes the next morning blissfully happy. Must have been good sex. Well, apparently not for Rhett, who apologizes and asks for a divorce. Huh? He whisks Bonnie off to London, then returns to discover Scarlet is pregnant, so he promptly berates her and indirectly causes her to fall down the stairs, losing the baby. She calls for him on her sick bed. He declares his love for her. Problem is neither knows of the other's feelings. Rhett wants to try again, but it's Scarlet's turn to act selfish. Then Bonnie dies, which makes them both go crazy. Then Melanie dies. Scarlet finally figures out that Ashley doesn't love her, but it's too late to save her marriage.
Then they each get their famous final lines: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a dam." "Tomorrow is another day." The music swells. The end.
A great ending, but during the previous 30 minutes we are forced to deal with two rather unlikable people. What happened to the charmingly roguish cavalier and the prissy southern belle-turned-strong-businesswoman we saw in the first 2/3 of the film? Neither character is perfect, but the ugly, childish turns they take after they marry make that stretch of film almost unwatchable.
With a little more editing and re-writing, GWTW could have been perfect. As it is, it's still very good.