In 1861 on the eve of the American Civil War, Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) is an egotistical Southern Belle living an idyllic lifestyle on Tara, a sprawling cotton plantation with her two younger sisters and father Gerald (Thomas Mitchell) and mother Ellen (Barbara O'Neill). Scarlett is very popular with every young man in the county, except for Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard), whom she wants to marry.
First Title Card: "There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South... Here in this pretty world Gallantry took its last bow... Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave... Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered. A Civilization gone with the wind..."
(first lines) Brent Tarleton: "What do we care if we were expelled from college, Scarlett? The war is gonna start any day now, so we'd have left college anyhow."
Stuart Tarleton: "Oh, isn't it exciting, Scarlett? You know those fool Yanks may actually want a war?"
Brent Tarleton: "We'll show 'em!"
Scarlett: "Fiddle-dee-dee. War, war, war; this war talk's spoiling all the fun at every party this spring. I get so bored I could scream. Besides... there isn't going to be any war."
Brent Tarleton: "Not going to be any war?"
Stuart Tarleton: "Why, honey, of course there's gonna be a war." Scarlett: "If either of you boys says "war" just once again, I'll go in the house and slam the door."
Brent Tarleton: "But Scarlett..."
Stuart Tarleton: "Don't you want us to have a war?" (she gets up and walks to the door, to their protestations)
Scarlett: "Cathleen, Who's that?"
Cathleen Calvert: "Who?"
Scarlett: "That man looking at us and smiling? The nasty dark one?"
Cathleen Calvert: "My dear, don't you know? That's Rhett Butler. He's from Charleston; he has the most terrible reputation."
Scarlett: "He looks as if he knows what I look like without my shimmy."
At a barbecue, she is courted by Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), a handsome rogue who has been disowned by his Charleston family and expelled from West Point. He believes there will be a civil war and the South will lose to the industrial North. An announcement is made that the Civil War has started and men rush to enlist. Scarlett marries Charles Hamilton (Rand Brooks), but he soon dies of pneumonia. Ellen O'Hara sends Scarlett to their Atlanta home, and at a charity ball she dances with Rhett, who says he will marry her.
Scarlett: "Rhett, don't. I shall faint."
Rhett: "I want you to faint. This is what you were meant for. None of the fools you've ever known have kissed you like this, have they? Your Charles, or your Frank, or your stupid Ashley."
During the Battle of Atlanta, Rhett takes Scarlett to safety on the road to Tara. He says, "Take a good look my dear. It's an historic moment you can tell your grandchildren about - how you watched the Old South fall one night." Scarlett finds her mother is dead and her father is cracking up. She vows, "As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again." The family and servants pick cotton in the fields and Scarlett kills a Union soldier and takes his money. Gerald O'Hara dies when he is thrown from a horse.
Scarlett cannot pay the taxes on Tara and visits Rhett for help. He has no money available, so Scarlett marries Frank Kennedy (Carroll Nye), a prosperous merchant. Soon Frank is killed in a fight with Union troops. Rhett tells her, "Now that you've got your lumber mill and Frank's money, you won't come to me as you did to the jail, so I see I shall have to marry you." Scarlett marries Rhett Butler. A daughter Bonnie Blue (Cammie King) is born. Scarlett becomes pregnant again, but falls down the grand staircase and has a miscarriage. Young Bonnie dies in a fall from a pony. Ashley's wife Melanie (Olivia de Havilland) also dies, and Scarlett realizes that her unrequited love for Ashley is in vain.
Rhett packs to leave his wife. As he goes Scarlett asks, "Where shall I go? What shall I do?" He answers, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." and walks away into the fog. Scarlett cries, thinks about Ashley and her father, then her face lights up. "Tara!" she says, "Home. I'll go home, and think of some way to get him back. After all... tomorrow is another day."
GONE WITH THE WIND is adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel of the same name. The movie is an all-time classic, a masterpiece. It is one of the greatest motion pictures ever made and one of the best examples of storytelling on film. An epic Civil War drama on the grandest scale, it has a romantic story, strong characters, and impeccable production. With a runtime of 222 minutes, it maintains our interest for almost 4 hours.
Some of the highlights include the burning of Atlanta scene, which required most of the MGM lot to be razed. There is a great crane shot of wounded Confederate soldiers, and a train depot scene required hundreds of extras. A restored version of the film at 231 minutes is available, but the pseudo-widescreen version produced in the late 1960's should be avoided. The composition and colour have been ruined.
GONE WITH THE WIND is the highest grossing film in box office history and was nominated for 13 Oscars. It won 8 Academy awards and 2 Special Awards: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Screenplay, an Honorary Award, and a Technical Achievement Award.
Others in the cast include: Barbara O'Neil (Ellen O'Hara), Evely Keyes (Suellen O'Hara), Ann Rutherford (Carreen O'Hara), George Reeves (Stuart Tarleton), Fred Crane (Brent Tarleton), Hattie McDaniel (Mammy), Oscar Polk (Pork), Butterfly McQueen (Prissy), Victor Jory (Jonas Wilkerson), Everett Brown (Big Sam), Howard. C. Hickman (John Wilkes), Alicai Rhett (India Wilkes), Marcella Martin (Cathleen Calvert), Laura Hope Cres (Aunt Hamilton), Eddie "Rochester" Anderson (Uncle Peter), Harry Davenport (Dr. Meade), Leona Roberts (Mrs. Meade), Jane Darwell (Mrs Dolly Merriwether), Ona Munson (Belle Watling), J.M. Kerrigan (Johnny Gallagher), Jackie Moran ( Phil Meade), Mickey Kuhn (Beau Wilkes), Ward Bond (Tom), Mary Anderson (Maybelle Merriwether), and many others. Sidney Howard wrote the screenplay with help from Ben Hecht, David O. Selznick, Jo Swerling, and John Van Druten. Music is by Max Steiner with help from Adolph Deutsch and Heinz Roemheld. George Cukor began the direction, but was removed at Clark Gable's homophobic insistence. Sam Wood also did some directing, but the direction is credited to Victor Fleming.
Rhett Butler to Scarlett quotes:
"I can't go all my life waiting to catch you between husbands." "I've always thought a good lashing with a buggy whip would benefit you immensely."
"You go into the arena alone. The lions are hungry for you."
"Don't flatter yourself. I'm not a marrying man."
"I believe in Rhett Butler, he's the only cause I know."
"You're like the thief who isn't the least bit sorry he stole, but is terribly, terribly sorry he's going to jail."
"It seems we've been at cross purposes, doesn't it? But it's no use now. As long as there was Bonnie, there was a chance that we might be happy. I liked to think that Bonnie was you, a little girl again, before the war, and poverty had done things to you. She was so like you, and I could pet her, and spoil her, as I wanted to spoil you. But when she went, she took everything."
Scarlett O'Hara quotes:
"Great balls of fire. Don't bother me anymore, and don't call me sugar."
"Ooh, if I just wasn't a lady, what wouldn't I tell that varmint."
"Marriage, fun? Fiddle-dee-dee. Fun for men you mean."
(to Ashley) "You'd rather live with that silly little fool who can't open her mouth except to say "yes" or "no" and raise a passel of mealy-mouthed brats just like her...Dreams, dreams always dreams with you, never common sense."
"Now I didn't come to talk sillyness about me, Rhett. I came because I was so miserable at the thought of you in trouble. Oh I know I was mad at you the night you left me on the road to Tara and I still haven't forgiven you...Well I must admit I might not be alive now, only for you and when I think of myself with everything I could possibly hope for, and not a care in the world... And you here in this horrid jail, and not even a human jail, Rhett, a horse jail!"
"Oh, no! No, you're wrong, terribly wrong. I don't want a divorce. Oh Rhett, but I knew tonight, when I... when I knew I loved you, I ran home to tell you, oh darling, darling."
"As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again."
First Title Card: "There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South... Here in this pretty world Gallantry took its last bow... Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave... Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered. A Civilization gone with the wind..."
(first lines) Brent Tarleton: "What do we care if we were expelled from college, Scarlett? The war is gonna start any day now, so we'd have left college anyhow."
Stuart Tarleton: "Oh, isn't it exciting, Scarlett? You know those fool Yanks may actually want a war?"
Brent Tarleton: "We'll show 'em!"
Scarlett: "Fiddle-dee-dee. War, war, war; this war talk's spoiling all the fun at every party this spring. I get so bored I could scream. Besides... there isn't going to be any war."
Brent Tarleton: "Not going to be any war?"
Stuart Tarleton: "Why, honey, of course there's gonna be a war." Scarlett: "If either of you boys says "war" just once again, I'll go in the house and slam the door."
Brent Tarleton: "But Scarlett..."
Stuart Tarleton: "Don't you want us to have a war?" (she gets up and walks to the door, to their protestations)
Scarlett: "Cathleen, Who's that?"
Cathleen Calvert: "Who?"
Scarlett: "That man looking at us and smiling? The nasty dark one?"
Cathleen Calvert: "My dear, don't you know? That's Rhett Butler. He's from Charleston; he has the most terrible reputation."
Scarlett: "He looks as if he knows what I look like without my shimmy."
At a barbecue, she is courted by Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), a handsome rogue who has been disowned by his Charleston family and expelled from West Point. He believes there will be a civil war and the South will lose to the industrial North. An announcement is made that the Civil War has started and men rush to enlist. Scarlett marries Charles Hamilton (Rand Brooks), but he soon dies of pneumonia. Ellen O'Hara sends Scarlett to their Atlanta home, and at a charity ball she dances with Rhett, who says he will marry her.
Scarlett: "Rhett, don't. I shall faint."
Rhett: "I want you to faint. This is what you were meant for. None of the fools you've ever known have kissed you like this, have they? Your Charles, or your Frank, or your stupid Ashley."
During the Battle of Atlanta, Rhett takes Scarlett to safety on the road to Tara. He says, "Take a good look my dear. It's an historic moment you can tell your grandchildren about - how you watched the Old South fall one night." Scarlett finds her mother is dead and her father is cracking up. She vows, "As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again." The family and servants pick cotton in the fields and Scarlett kills a Union soldier and takes his money. Gerald O'Hara dies when he is thrown from a horse.
Scarlett cannot pay the taxes on Tara and visits Rhett for help. He has no money available, so Scarlett marries Frank Kennedy (Carroll Nye), a prosperous merchant. Soon Frank is killed in a fight with Union troops. Rhett tells her, "Now that you've got your lumber mill and Frank's money, you won't come to me as you did to the jail, so I see I shall have to marry you." Scarlett marries Rhett Butler. A daughter Bonnie Blue (Cammie King) is born. Scarlett becomes pregnant again, but falls down the grand staircase and has a miscarriage. Young Bonnie dies in a fall from a pony. Ashley's wife Melanie (Olivia de Havilland) also dies, and Scarlett realizes that her unrequited love for Ashley is in vain.
Rhett packs to leave his wife. As he goes Scarlett asks, "Where shall I go? What shall I do?" He answers, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." and walks away into the fog. Scarlett cries, thinks about Ashley and her father, then her face lights up. "Tara!" she says, "Home. I'll go home, and think of some way to get him back. After all... tomorrow is another day."
GONE WITH THE WIND is adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel of the same name. The movie is an all-time classic, a masterpiece. It is one of the greatest motion pictures ever made and one of the best examples of storytelling on film. An epic Civil War drama on the grandest scale, it has a romantic story, strong characters, and impeccable production. With a runtime of 222 minutes, it maintains our interest for almost 4 hours.
Some of the highlights include the burning of Atlanta scene, which required most of the MGM lot to be razed. There is a great crane shot of wounded Confederate soldiers, and a train depot scene required hundreds of extras. A restored version of the film at 231 minutes is available, but the pseudo-widescreen version produced in the late 1960's should be avoided. The composition and colour have been ruined.
GONE WITH THE WIND is the highest grossing film in box office history and was nominated for 13 Oscars. It won 8 Academy awards and 2 Special Awards: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Screenplay, an Honorary Award, and a Technical Achievement Award.
Others in the cast include: Barbara O'Neil (Ellen O'Hara), Evely Keyes (Suellen O'Hara), Ann Rutherford (Carreen O'Hara), George Reeves (Stuart Tarleton), Fred Crane (Brent Tarleton), Hattie McDaniel (Mammy), Oscar Polk (Pork), Butterfly McQueen (Prissy), Victor Jory (Jonas Wilkerson), Everett Brown (Big Sam), Howard. C. Hickman (John Wilkes), Alicai Rhett (India Wilkes), Marcella Martin (Cathleen Calvert), Laura Hope Cres (Aunt Hamilton), Eddie "Rochester" Anderson (Uncle Peter), Harry Davenport (Dr. Meade), Leona Roberts (Mrs. Meade), Jane Darwell (Mrs Dolly Merriwether), Ona Munson (Belle Watling), J.M. Kerrigan (Johnny Gallagher), Jackie Moran ( Phil Meade), Mickey Kuhn (Beau Wilkes), Ward Bond (Tom), Mary Anderson (Maybelle Merriwether), and many others. Sidney Howard wrote the screenplay with help from Ben Hecht, David O. Selznick, Jo Swerling, and John Van Druten. Music is by Max Steiner with help from Adolph Deutsch and Heinz Roemheld. George Cukor began the direction, but was removed at Clark Gable's homophobic insistence. Sam Wood also did some directing, but the direction is credited to Victor Fleming.
Rhett Butler to Scarlett quotes:
"I can't go all my life waiting to catch you between husbands." "I've always thought a good lashing with a buggy whip would benefit you immensely."
"You go into the arena alone. The lions are hungry for you."
"Don't flatter yourself. I'm not a marrying man."
"I believe in Rhett Butler, he's the only cause I know."
"You're like the thief who isn't the least bit sorry he stole, but is terribly, terribly sorry he's going to jail."
"It seems we've been at cross purposes, doesn't it? But it's no use now. As long as there was Bonnie, there was a chance that we might be happy. I liked to think that Bonnie was you, a little girl again, before the war, and poverty had done things to you. She was so like you, and I could pet her, and spoil her, as I wanted to spoil you. But when she went, she took everything."
Scarlett O'Hara quotes:
"Great balls of fire. Don't bother me anymore, and don't call me sugar."
"Ooh, if I just wasn't a lady, what wouldn't I tell that varmint."
"Marriage, fun? Fiddle-dee-dee. Fun for men you mean."
(to Ashley) "You'd rather live with that silly little fool who can't open her mouth except to say "yes" or "no" and raise a passel of mealy-mouthed brats just like her...Dreams, dreams always dreams with you, never common sense."
"Now I didn't come to talk sillyness about me, Rhett. I came because I was so miserable at the thought of you in trouble. Oh I know I was mad at you the night you left me on the road to Tara and I still haven't forgiven you...Well I must admit I might not be alive now, only for you and when I think of myself with everything I could possibly hope for, and not a care in the world... And you here in this horrid jail, and not even a human jail, Rhett, a horse jail!"
"Oh, no! No, you're wrong, terribly wrong. I don't want a divorce. Oh Rhett, but I knew tonight, when I... when I knew I loved you, I ran home to tell you, oh darling, darling."
"As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again."
