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Written by: Margaret Mitchell (story of the Old South "Gone with the Wind"), Sidney Howard (screen play by),
Oliver H.P. Garrett, Ben Hecht, Jo Swerling, John Van Druten, (contributing writer, uncredited)
Directed by: Victor Fleming
Starring: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Hattie McDaniel
Rated: G
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Plot
A sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
Verdict
It's a laborious watch, but the scale is impressive even today. Accounting for the point of view and the acceptance of slavery and racism the movie posits, and all you can do is accept it as a misguided sign of the times or ignore this movie outright, what makes this popular is the romance. It's a great story that's just too long, now more of a film class movie. Rhett chases Scarlett through most of the movie, his love unrequited. At the end when Rhett finally concludes he's done chasing her affections, that's the moment Scarlett realizes she cares for him. It's too late. That leads to the memorable conclusion where Rhett rejects her, an ironic twist on their tale of romance. She vows to win him over, but it's four hours to get to that point.
It depends.
Review
We can't ignore the idyllic South this tries to present, nor should we. It's a vision built on the acceptance of racism and subjugation of people. While it may have been the viewpoint of people when this movie was made and certainly during the time period it depicts, it's worth separating the movie from the falsehoods it propagates. To simply ignore the movie as a whole doesn't address the issue. The movie can be celebrated and castigated. It's a long movie that looks at the Civil War era south romantically as the end of gallant gentleman and fair ladies. It ignores, revises, or worse outright lies about the detrimental parts of that world.
Scarlett (Vivien Leigh) becomes upset upon learning that Ashley (Leslie Howard) is getting married despite him being unaware she had an interest. She professes her love for Ashley who rebuffs her. He's already engaged, and the fact that she ignored that shows how spoiled she is. Scarlett is difficult to like due to how selfish she is. She only becomes interested when she can't have him.
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| Viven Leigh, Clark Gable play Scarlett, Rhett |
The moment Ashley dismisses her is also when she meets Rhett (Clark Gable). He finds her situation amusing while she's embarrassed and upset that he saw the exchange. Scarlett agrees to marry Charles out of spite and to make Ashley jealous. Charles soon dies in the Civil War, not that she's bothered much by the loss as much as being a widow at such a young age and having to endure a mourning period where she can't go out. Her husband dying was a benefit, removing someone for which she cared little.
It's clear Rhett likes Scarlett, but she's hung up on Ashley despite he being married to her cousin. Throughout the Civil War Rhett continues to appear in her life, often helping or saving her. He freely admits his affection, but his feelings are unrequited.
After the war Scarlett returns home, struggling to return her farm to prominence and pay the taxes. She's still pining for Ashley, and it seems the underlying reason is just because she can't have him.
This movie's point of view is from the South, portraying the North as aggressors. This romanticizes a bygone era, and I can only hope the fascination is with the pageantry, costumes, and the love story. Due to my contemporary vantage, it's wild to see how this portrays slavery and slaves.
This continues to make Scarlett difficult to like. She steals her sister's fiancee to use him for paying taxes on the family farm. It's a rotten thing to do to your sister. Wouldn't the guy help pay the taxes even married to her sister? The whole movie is Scarlett trying to get her way, sometimes just for the sake of it for no real gain. The setting and sprawling epic help to mask Scarlett's deficiencies but even that has issues, portraying a very one sided version of events from the time period.
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| Viven Leigh, Clark Gable play Scarlett, Rhett |
After losing another husband Scarlett agrees to marry Rhett because she's rich and can't bear to be alone. I wonder what he sees in her. Does he just want a trophy wife? Maybe it's selfishness on Rhett's part, wanting her despite knowing she pines for someone else. He seems happier in the marriage than she, doting on their daughter
This isn't the type of movie you'd see in modern times. For one it's too long and it's also such a huge scale. I can appreciate what this does or did at the time, but it's a laborious watch. Then there's the depiction of social structure.
The ironic turn, and what really makes this movie, is that when Scarlett finally realizes how much she cares for Rhett he in turn thinks she's still stuck on Ashley. His realization is that she's never sought him, and he can never win her love. That ending makes this memorable. Rhett and Scarlett both come to a realization. The entire movie he seeks her with no reciprocation. When she realizes she's been chasing Ashley in vain as a means for attention and competition, that's when he realizes he's tired of chasing her. Without their child, there's nothing to hold the marriage together. She bemoans his leaving, but he no longer cares, leading to the oft quoted, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." It's a great ending, but it's a lot of work to get to that point.
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