Gone with the Wind Reviews

Sure, the book's very long and not p.c. at all, but it's a fast and vivid read (though somewhat repetitive) that supplies a tremendous amount of thoroughly researched historical and literary detail missing from the movie.

Although both book and film harbor some nasty attitudes and demeaning speech patterns, I think it's very important for those who have only seen GWTW on the screen to know how author and studio differed in their respective approaches toward their subject and their characters. Ms. Mitchell was surely allowed her input during filmmaking, but a number of unnecessary alterations crept in that don't seem quite right.

Both versions carry the same powerful anti-war message, but the book makes a clearer implication that a plantation culture built on slavery is inherently doomed, and the author has less of the filmakers' nostalgia for the Dear Old Days. The movie's cloyingly sunny portrayal of slavery is fortunately tempered in the novel.

Another theme -- present in the film but heavily expounded in the book -- is that Old South society (and its tenacious postwar ghost) also held its WOMEN in bondage. While the screen Scarlett seems only to be fighting for food, Tara and Ashley, the Scarlett of the novel, the daughter of a free-thinking Irishman, has from the beginning been engaged in a private war for personal freedom of which she seems scarcely aware (with Rhett and Melanie as her only allies). Her thought processes are re-examined by the author at each battle. In the end she can't accept her brilliant victories, and she brings herself to grief by her stubborn pursuit of a useless ideal. If the film viewer wonders why this is, the book reader knows that Scarlett also takes after her mother, who as a girl had also failed in the pursuit of hopeless love.

Ms. Mitchell gives her main Black characters (Prissy excepted) far more dignity and authority than they have in the movie: Pork isn't such a whiner; Pittypat's Uncle Peter isn't this Willie Best type (chasing the Christmas-dinner rooster) but has status in his family just as Mammy does in hers; Big Sam is not the goofy field foreman arguing over "quittin' time", but is promoted to capable overseer after Jonas Wilkerson is fired. This is not to condone the racism, but it isn't quite so bad in the book.

Even the Yankees get a little break: a kind army doctor quartered at Tara ministers to Scarlett's two sick sisters.

In order to keep a tight plot, the sceenwriter had to omit many characters (such as Scarlett's other two kids), which may leave a few vague questions in the viewer's mind that are answered by the novel:
Who's running Tara in Scarlett's absence? The book provides a homeless veteran with farming skills who eventually saves Suellen from dreaded spinsterhood.
Why does Jonas Wilkerson disappear as a threat to Tara after his takeover attempt? Well, one of the County boys, missing from the film, takes care of him.
Can Melanie's baby digest cow's milk? He doesn't have to. Prissy's midwife mother (who never taught her "'bout birthin' babies") actually exists and is there to help.

Also absent from the film are: the wonderful horsey daily life of the pre-war County; Gerald O'Hara's biography and how he won the hand of a young society girl from Savannah; the true cause of Gerald's rage that led to his death; the interesting details of the Confederates' leap-frog defense of Atlanta.

One customer reviewer here finds the second half of the film more disjointed than the first half. This is because the post-war section of the book covers a much greater time span and variety of events in the characters' lives.

At only one point does the film outclass the novel, and that is in the last couple of scenes and Gable's parting shot. (Actually, Gable's entire performance is a major asset.) But then it goes and dulls the edge by dwelling on Scarlett's dewy-eyed hope of getting him back. At the end of the book her prospects don't seem so certain: Can she really get him back or is she just as blind as ever? And how can she live at Tara with Suellen as its mistress?

Rating: 5 - A Masterpiece Of Cinema, Fans Will Be Thrilled
1939: Gone With The Wind swept the Oscars with more than 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It was a blockbuster then, with thousands of fans and audiences captivated by the monumental saga of the Civil War. It was a trend setting film, ahead of its time, and only later in the 50's would historic epics return (such as The Ten Commandments, Spartacus, Ben-Hur and Doctor Zhivago, which comes closer to the romantic and epic verisimilitude of GWTW)Gone With The Wind takes its place among cinema's masterpieces. On DVD, the experience is sensational and worth the price. This limited edition comes equipped with photographs and a wealth of information on the making of the film. It's a dream.

Gone With The Wind was Margaret Mitchell's only novel. Thank God it was a masterpiece and considered by many to be the "Great American novel". From the best-selling book came the idea for the movie. Director David O. Selznick would die being honored for this film (eventhough he tried to be more than just the Gone With The Wind director with the later film "Duel In The Sun"). On his tomb is written, "Here lies David O. Selznick, the man who directed Gone With The Wind." Because the film was unlike any other before its time, it instantly made Selznick a Hollywood legend, eventhough it was a one-time event for him. This can be said of James Cameron, who directed Titanic, also likened to Gone With The Wind.

30's sex symbol Clark Gable portrayed Rhett Bulter, the wealthy maverick who attempted to win the heart of the seemingly untamable Scarlett O'Hara (played by the beautiful Vivien Leigh in her debut cinematic role). Scarlett is a strong and courageous Southern belle, whose only goal in life was to have the man of her dreams- Ashley Wilkes (played by the British actor Leslie Howard). But tragically for Scarlett, things never got to be the way she wanted them. The dignified Ashley married the meek, sensitive Victorian lady Melanie Hamilton.

Throughout the lush, dramatic film, which covers the Civil War and the Reconstruction, Scarlett endures hardships, war, death and loss (she loses her mother and father). When Tara, her plantation home is threatened, Scarlett's heroic nature emerges. She will do anything to protect and preserve Tara. She goes as far as to marry men she did not love - Frank Kennedy, her own sister's boyfriend. Although Scarlett is willful, vibrant, lusty and strong, and many would argue incredibly selfish, she has the side to her that remains true to her better nature- that of her love for family and home. She even does good to Melanie Hamilton, her own rival sort to speak. Scarlett is a complex, anti-heroine whom we all want to be like. She could survive anything and she was herself, perhaps unconsciously to the viewers in 1939 and afterward, a symbol of hope, figurative resurrection and survival in America. America was going through the Great Depression and World War 2 was just around the corner.

The film has a romantic, sweeping soundtrack by the composer Max Steiner. "Tara's theme" is unforgettable and nostalgic. Although straying far from the novel in many aspects, the film has its great moments. The most memorable are Scarlett at the barbecue flirting with every man in a gorgeous green gown and yellow hat, the fire as Atlanta burns and falls to the Yankees, Scarlett's great vow "I will never be hungry again!" as the sun sets across her plantation, the dead soldiers by the thousands and of course, the finale in which Clark Gable, disenchanted and resigned, understands that Scarlett did not love him and would not give him a chance, decides to abandon the marriage. "But, Rhett, what shall I do ? Where shall I go ?" Scarlett asks in tears. "Frankly, my dear," replies Rhett, "I don't give a damn." During this time, the censors must have had a field day.

Above all, the theme of Gone With The Wind, is that of hope. Scarlett's real love was never Ashley, nor Rhett Butler, but her home in Tara. With courage and with renewed strength, we know that Scarlett will eventually win Rhett back. The novel said of her "There was nothing she could not do or have if she put her mind to it." She says proudly, "After all, tomorrow is another day."

Rating: 5 - The Greatest Story Second to the Bible
When I read the book by Margaret Mitchell, I found that it was as long and as epic as the Bible( the book is approximately 1,024 pages) but it was worth reading. The story is unforgettable, masterfully written and touching. When I saw the movie, I was impressed. The vivid scenes, the action, the romance, it's Hollywood at its finest. And it was true to the book. Gone With The Wind is a movie that cannot be beat. Spectacular crowd scenes, like the Ten Commandments, are in it, for example the Confederate Soldiers lying on the ground scene. Particularily touching was the Tara theme. Scarlett, as self-centered as she is, can not put her homeland above anything else. Throughout the movie she labors and schemes to keep her family in Tara safe. She must be credited for that. Melanie was a dream. Rhett Butler is heroic. Even with flaws, the characters are good at heart. Buy this movie ! It deserves to be in your movie pile at home. Fall in love with Gone With The Wind as I did. And who cannot forget the famous lines ? " Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn " and " Tomorrow is another day ".

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