Great for 1939, Ordinary otherwise

Rating: Null/10 (29 June 2003)

This movie was number 4 on the AFI's 100 greatest American movies of all time list. Makes you wonder if the AFI even understands movies. I guess film making has come a long way since 1939 but even then this movie is not worth a place in the top 10. Fantastic production values for a 1939 film, everything else about it though is not worthy of any of the hype that's been created around it.
Incredible cinematography and some really awesome sets are the only things that are appealing about it. How much the mechanics of movie making have changed over the years is apparent by the fact that the movie is projected as a David Selznick production. The director is pushed to the sideline and so is everyone else. Vivien Leigh is loud, uncomfortable and clearly an ordinary actress. An Oscar for this????? I guess the academy voters were as easily swayed by hype as their more modern counterparts. A best supporting actress award for Hattie Mcdaniel??? What were they even thinking? I guess they had to give an Oscar to an African American in a movie about the Civil War. If at all there is something in this movie worth watching, it is Olivia De Havilland as Melanie Wilkes. How unfortunate that her role is so badly built and so much of the book is not there. Here was an actress much ahead of her times. She is very balanced and very subtle. Everything else in this movie is loud, garish and so unreal.
Clark Gable is good in parts but has, like in the book, too little to do. His awesome screen presence though gives you an idea of why he was such a huge star. This movie is from start to finish a Vivien Leigh movie and to me she is completely unconvincing in the role. The constant arching of her eyebrows I guess was supposed to depict the manipulative nature of Scarlett but all that it does is irritate you. Her dialogue delivery seems forced and it is obvious she is more of a stage actress given to voicing long dialogues than an actress who understands film making. And like Margaret Mitchell says in the book, she is not beautiful but you will not realize it.

If this movie is number 4 then Titanic should have been number 1.
Watch the movie for its grandeur in the context of when it was made. If you look for, like I did, quality film making, you will be disappointed.