Fact or fiction about a fictional family in the old south? You must research, then decide!

Rating: 10/10 (13 May 2015)

Happy darkies singing in the fields, a black mammy whose white master's children are just like her own, a slave who lies about being experienced and birthin' babies (and getting violently slapped for lying), brutal Northern soldiers invading the dilapidated Southern plantation, and a spoiled heroine determined that she will make it through no matter if she has to lie, kill, cheat or steal make up the story for this all-time classic epic that nearly 40 years after its release still hadn't been on television, and when it did, it was an event to equal the legendary T.V. mini-series "Roots".
Much has been made about the casting for the film, from the smaller parts way up to the leads, and that itself has enough plot for a movie of its own. One part of the T.V. mini-series "Moviola" dealt with the search for Scarlet, and a sequel novel, "Scarlet", was a much awaited for mini-series. Even two musicals (which never hit Broadway) attempted to tell the long, drawn-out story. But it is the original film, following the best selling book by Margaret Mitchell, that remains the most famous of the variations of the story, often imitated but never surpassed.
No movie audience by 1939 had ever seen anything like this on screen, and even if there had been color movies, none were as exciting or detailed as this. The opening credits are fascinating, only mentioning the leading players, and it even appears that David O. Selznick's office building is indeed the model for Tara, the Southern plantation where the O'Hara family has built up its roots from Irish immigrants to powerful landowners with dozens of slaves. Spoiled Scarlet (Vivien Leigh) is being entranced by two beaus as the film opens, but it is next door neighbor Ashley (Leslie Howard) whom she really loves. He is flattered by her attentions (after all, she is gorgeous and charming in spite of her spoiled nature) but it is the noble and quiet Melanie (Olivia de Havilland) he really loves. This, however, is the eve of the beginning of the Civil War, and if the South is to survive, the men must go off to fight and the women must persevere mostly alone.
Scarlet's own nature keeps getting her into all sorts of trouble, even stealing the beaus away from her own sisters (Ann Rutherford and Evelyn Keyes) in order to keep the attention on her. Father Thomas Mitchell and mother Barbara O'Neill must persevere on alone, and a twice-widowed Scarlet soon finds herself being squired around by the dashing rascal, Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) whom she met on the eve of the beginning of the war (which threatened to ruin all the best parties Scarlet hoped to attend) and whom she dances with in widow's wear much to the shock of Atlanta society.
Then, there's the goings-on at the country plantation Tara where Scarlet is spoiled not only by her parents but by no-nonsense slave Hattie McDaniel who tries to bring Scarlet to some sort of reality but can't. Scarlet finds that she does have a best girlfriend in Melanie whom she must help out of a burning Atlanta while Melanie is in labor, and back at the now desolate Tara, she has to deal with so much more. Will Scarlet make it through the war with ruined crops, dead parents and lecherous Northerners? Most certainly, and when she sees a chance to get some financial help from Rhett, she's not even beyond wearing an old curtain (minus the rod), leading into the next stage of her life as she must now deal with what the new South calls the re-construction. If adding a third husband means security, she's willing to tie the knot with Rhett (for what he refers to as a marriage of fun), even if in one controversial scene, she is obviously forced into sexual relations with him, waking up the next morning as a new happy woman.
But can someone like Scarlet be truly happy? The writer shows her transformation from spoiled young lady to a more layered maturing woman, still willful yet not as selfish as before. More tragedies follow, and ultimately the story must, after more than 3 hours wrap up to show that Scarlet has changed and that she has learned that her life doesn't simply wrap around her always receiving male attention while the women around her are secondary. She begins to appreciate everybody, from the devoted Mamie to even Melanie, and isn't even judgmental anymore against the obvious madame Belle Watling (Ona Munson) who once obviously "entertained" husband Rhett.
Clark Gable's mere presence in this means that supporting character Rhett Butler becomes a leading one, even if he has much less footage than Leigh. She dominates the screen every time she is on, a soap opera heroine from long before soap operas even existed. McDaniel stands out as the wise Mamie who can bark at other slaves and her white owners, yet be flattered by Rhett's attentions to her and cry when tragedy strikes her beloved Scarlet. In different hands, Melanie Wilkes could have been a very bland character, but there's something in Olivia de Havilland's eyes that shows the soul and spirit, even if not outlandish like Scarlet's, she is still as long-suffering yet quietly strong.
Butterfly McQueen adds some humor and patheticness as kitchen slave Prissy, with Jane Darwell and Laura Hope Crews bringing wisdom and humor as members of Atlanta's society. The cast is huge, featuring some long-forgotten faces in smaller roles. The photography, art direction and musical score are all exceptional, and even if the depiction of slavery and the aftermath of slavery have been more realistically depicted, what is shown here can be made to seem believable, for as Mamie herself might have said, "Where would we go?". Not quite flawless, although considering the time and situation, it certainly could not have been made to be any better.