A historical epic about love, war, survival, ruthlessness, loss and inequality: Gone with the Wind is a classic. Released in 1939 and based on the 1936 novel by American author Margaret Mitchell.
The year is 1861, and America is on the brink of civil war. But for headstrong Georgia teenager Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh), impending war isn’t nearly as important as the fact that the man she loves, Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard), has just announced his engagement to his shy, gentle cousin, Melanie Hamilton (Olivia de Havilland). Scarlett’s father (Thomas Mitchell), a self-made Irish immigrant, tries to teach her that Tara, the family plantation, offers something more enduring than human love, but Scarlett can only think of her broken heart. To add insult to injury, a cocky scoundrel named Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) has witnessed Ashley giving her the brush-off. But then the war is on and nothing will ever be the same for her—or the South.
Through the years of war and Reconstruction that follow, Scarlett’s fortunes fall and rise, as she struggles to endure the upheaval of her world and to win Ashley away from Melanie—even as she and Melanie forge an unlikely friendship. In these tumultuous years, the only constants are Rhett Butler, who sees through all Scarlett’s pretenses to recognize that they are two of a kind, and Tara, which Scarlett comes to love as herself.
Gone with the Wind received 10 Oscars and has consistently been voted in the top 10 greatest movies. Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win (and be nominated for) an Oscar for her supporting role as Scarlett’s strict but faithful housemaid, Mammy. A film of firsts, screenwriter Sidney Howard received an Oscar posthumously for his script.
If you’d like to watch Gone with the Wind yourself then head over to 813.52 mit in the DVD Off-air recordings on the Ground Floor of the University Library.
Q. Clark Gable was initially reluctant to play Rhett Butler. In the end. what made him agree to the role?
