A-

It's as much of a direct take from the book as the first two Harry Potter films. With that being said, it's very good all the same. Selznick does a fairly wonderful job of taking the world creating by the novel and bringing it to screen exactly, everything ended up looking exactly how I pictured it. Vivien Leigh does a good job carrying the film, she falters a bit at the over the top emotional scenes, but she still deserves her accolades. Was not overly impressed by Clark Gable, he was like a cartoon... got better at it near the end, but up until then he was mostly a goofball, in the book Rhett was more hard and badass. Screenplay crackles in this movie, it's much more entertaining and upbeat than I imagined, despite it's length.

Nearly every scene was lifted from the book, but with a 900 page epic they obviously still missed a lot of material that they just couldn't fit in even with 4 hours of film, though they did take their sweet time with a lot of the scenes at the end. A few things changed are:

- Most of the Atlanta society bits are taken out, in the novel Rhett for a while teaches her to go against typical widow rules, the entire conformity issue is taken away. Also most of the war details are taken away, told in writing between scenes.

- Melanie Hamilton's presence is vastly decreased. In the book it is made much more clear that Scarlett hates her at the beginning, and as the book goes on and Melanie becomes the one truly decent person in the town, the entire town rallies behind her, she becomes the most popular person there. When she dies, Scarlett's realization that she loved her and not Ashley is much more impactful, they kind of breeze over it here. The idea of Ashely being completley pathetic is also kindly brushed over here, in the novel it is made much more clear that he can't do anything in the new society, and how Rhett sees that and Scarlett doesn't.

- The KKK is cleverly left out, they never explain what the boys were doing the night Mr. Kennedy is shot.

- Scarlett likes Rhett a lot more earlier on in the film than in the book, where she hates him immediatley, and doesn't really stop until they get married, at which point she enjoys his company and money but not much more. In the film she tries to kiss him fairly early.

- Scarlett's sisters Sue and Cuellen and their arcs are dropped, the Sue/Gerald thing is simpled down, Scarlett's 2 pre-Bonnie kids Wade and Ella are also dropped, as well as side characters of Tara and Atlanta, her driver Archie, and the farmboy Will. All that just adds depth to that world, but once again, it obviously only had so much time.

It also rushes through most of the first half of the novel, and spends a lot more of the chunk of the story in the Rhett/Scarlett marriage, which is understandable as even though in the novel that doesn't take up as much page-time, it is still as important as everything before it.

Overall, Gone with the Wind is a movie that is not up to the all time greats in terms of quality, but it is a fun time and a worthy bringing to life of the novel. I liked it a lot.

It's interesting to try and pick apart the reasons for it's sucess...
A few... It's an epic-period piece dealing with history of the nation.. It has romance... Looked good on the wide-screen.. A few quirky characters.... an involved story.....
Wait, I might be describing FG...
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hanging at the Iroqui, cheers....

I've never really liked it, although I can admire the filmmaking skill that went into it. I agree it's a well made film, but I just didn't care about the soap-opera love affairs of a bunch of slave owners.

The most annoying character in the history of film!, 14 June 2000



I gave this film an 8 when I voted for it. But that was a difficult decision for me. Do I rate the film based on what it is worth in the scope of film or do I rate it based on what the film accomplished in it's day and age? Because this film is still quite cardboard when it comes to acting and as some other people noted in here, this is really just a four hour episode of The Young and the Restless. But then I also had to realize how the film made me feel. And I did get through all 3 hours and 52 minutes of it, and that is an accomplishment in itself. The first time I saw Citizen Kane, I fell asleep, the second time I saw Citizen Kane I wanted to smash the T.V. But Gone With The Wind is quite good, for this day and age or for the 30's or 40's. I generally don't like older classic films because I just find that they are too one dimensional. They don't have an edge to them and they are very synthetic. Gone With The Wind does fall into that category in some ways, but in other ways it is brilliant.

To think that this film is 61 years old is quite remarkable. It must have been quite the achievement back in the day. The colour in this film was amazing as well as the cinematography, the landscape, the fire and yes even some of the acting. I found Clark Gable to be fascinating to watch and I realized the the film was much more enjoyable when he was in the picture. That is not to say that Vivien Leigh was not good, she was, but I just found Rhett Butler's character to be very charming, engaging and suave. I also liked his carefree attitude. He always bounced back from whatever was troubling him and he never let Scarlett get him down, until the very end.

Scarlett on the other hand was the most annoying character I have ever seen in any film. Vivien Leigh played her brilliantly and if that is what the script called for, a winy bitch that has no idea what life is really about, then Leigh nailed it perfectly. But I must say that she got to me after a while. When she constantly opted for Ashley instead of other men even after her and Melanie became good friends, I wanted her to die. I was hoping the Yankees would capture her and torture her. She was spoiled and nasty and people say that she went on some journey to discover who she was and such but she was the same at the end as she was in the beginning. And that is why the famous line, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" is so appropriate. Someone finally told her off and it was about time. She had been handed everything to her ( except Ashley ) and she didn't appreciate any of it. I do think this was one of the great performances of the era.

Olivia de Havilland and Hattie McDaniel were also great. Melanie was the backbone of the film and Mammie was just a joy to watch. She made me laugh and I think she is one of the few characters from the old films that would still sound real and genuine today. Both were a pleasure to watch.

GWTW has it's place in history and I guess it deserves it. Still I don't think this is one of the best films ever made although it is entertaining. I can only imagine how this must have delighted audiences back in the 30's and 40's though.

I really didn't want to see this film for the longest time. I have been disappointed with some of the other so called classics and I was not looking forward to sitting through another, especially at 4 hours in length. But I was pleasantly surprised. It captivated me and kept me entertained and that is what is missing from many of the 30's 40's and 50's films, entertainment. Gone With The Wind doesn't disappoint.

8 out of 10. A fine effort and a very enjoyable film.

bumped so snack can watch it

And he calls himself a homosexual.

I bet he'd watch it if Bette Davis was in it. Actually, she was. They just called it Jezebel.

but she was supposed to be in this one, and was very upset to not be given the part. I know my shit, I just haven't seen it.

I hate it, I hate it, I just bloody hate it. Stupid Tara, stupid melodrama, stupid scene one after the other... OMFG I can't stand Gone with the Wind.

You just broke my fucking heart.

Sorry. I just can't stand it. How can you?

Gone With the Wind is one of my five or ten most favoritest movies ever. Every single moment is completely sumptuous and involving and beautiful. You're crazy.

How do you like 'Les enfants du paradis', yoshue?

I have not seen it.

It is as corny as 'Gone with the Wind' and far more sophisticated. I suppose you will love it.

Tara this, Tara that... It struck me as being about as bad as an overlong Spanish soap opera. I remember a scene of stormy weather before she arrives at her destroyed Tara, and hating it. And the ending... No, sir, GWTW was just not made for my personal enjoyment.

Everyone is holding the melodrama and goofiness and cheese against Gone With the Wind. That's the fun. It's like an amazing chocolate bar, and I like chocolate. Even though it will eventually rot my teeth and kill my diabetic father.

I prefer spicy things. Das ist des Pudels Kern.

I'll see it again, some day, just for you. But I doubt I will ever be able to say I like this movie.

And another thing, who could ever love Ashley Wilkes? Or Rhett Butler for that matter?

Ashley is a bit of a weenie, though. Howard is miscast, although he's an appealing, classy presence in films better suited to his talents.

Still life films.

Ouch.

Really, though, in things like 49th Parallel, Pygmalion, or The Scarlet Pimpernel, he's completely charming. A tad wooden, as you point out, but charming.

He gets to play upper class European twits in those. Which makes sense. Not a sexy Confederate soldier in the American Civil War.

snack you've never seen Gone with the Wind? What!

it's too long! I can't commit.

I loved it!

It's just so full and lush and totally unconventional. It's not the long, boring, sappy romance you expect; it's destructive and dark and, like, thirty years ahead of its time. The sexual politics of the thing are terribly mature; Scarlett is, essentially, a gold-digger. And she gets properly vilified for it. Same with Rhett the chauvinist.

This is what an epic should be. Not shit like Ben-Hur.

I liked the french one better.