STUFF YOU GOTTA WATCH - Gone With the Wind

GONE WITH THE WIND

(1939)
With Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Leslie Howard, Hattie McDaniel, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil, Henry Davenport, Butterfly McQueen
Directed by Victor Fleming
Reviewed by JL

It's the king of corn and the soapiest soap opera ever filmed, but who'd have it any other way? If CITIZEN KANE is the screen's greatest film, GONE WITH THE WIND is the screen's greatest entertainment. Based on Margaret Mitchell's phenomenal bestseller, GWTW's storyline is little more than a love triangle set midst the Civil War. But, as with all great films, it is the characters that make it a classic. That, plus the obsessive attention to detail that producer David O. Selznick poured into his labor of love. The film also boasted an impeccable cast (with the exception of a miscast Leslie Howard), including King of Hollywood Clark Gable in what is probably his finest screen performance. But it is the remarkable gale-force performance of relative newcomer Vivien Leigh that holds the film together and provides its relentless drive and energy. As the New York Times observed at the time: "She is so beautiful, she need hardly be so talented. She is so talented, she need hardly be so beautiful." - JL