If I had my book there would be a lot more here, but as it is... I will quote only Rhett Butler. I love him... Clark Gable was a fine actor who I think really did the character of Rhett Butler justice.
Rhett Butler: With enough courage, you can do without a reputation. (Book and Movie)
Rhett Butler: How fickle is woman. (Book and Movie)
Rhett Butler: No, I don't think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how. (Movie and Book)
Rhett Butler: You're so brutal to those who love you, Scarlett. You take their love and hold it over their heads like a whip. (Book)
One of the most amazing, influential and accurate historical novels of the time "Gone with the Wind" was written by Margaret Mitchell. It was her only book as she was killed in an accident at the age of 48. She was hit by a car while on her way to the Theatre. She won the Pulitzer Prize for "Gone with the Wind".
Vivien Leigh hated kissing Clark Gable. She said his breath stank. I would just give him a tic tac and go to town personally... *giggle*
Gone with the Wind was actually a very controversial movie. In it Scarlett is raped by Rhett (during their marriage), the slaves were "happy" to be slaves, and there was the Soldiers Hospital which was more gruesome than any movie previous. Also, it was the first movie created in Hollywood that had a cuss word. Rhett says "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" at the end.
The first scene to be shot was the burning of the Atlanta Depot, filmed on 10 December 1938. If there was a major mistake during the filming, the entire film might have been scrapped. They actually burned many old sets that needed to be cleared from the studio backlot, including sets from The Garden of Allah (1936) and the "Great Wall" set from King Kong (1933). The fire cost over $25,000, and yielded 113 minutes of footage. It was so intense that Culver City residents jammed the telephones lines, thinking MGM was burning down.
In the scene where Scarlett searches for Dr. Meade, making her way among 1,600 suffering and dying Confederate soldiers, to cut costs and still comply with a union rule that dictated the use of a certain percentage of extras in the cast, 800 dummies were scattered among 800 extras.
In the scene where Rhett pours Mammy a drink after the birth of Bonnie, for a joke during a take, Clark Gable actually poured alcohol instead of the usual tea into the decanter without Hattie McDaniel knowing it until she took a swig.
Margaret Mitchell wrote her novel between 1926 and 1929. In her early drafts, the main character was named "Pansy O'Hara" and the O'Hara plantation we know as Tara was called "Fountenoy Hall."
Clark Gable was so distressed over the requirement that he cry on film (during the scene where Melanie is comforting Rhett after Scarlett's miscarriage) that he almost quit. Olivia de Havilland convinced him to stay.
Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to be nominated for, and win, an Academy Award.
To add to the publicity, fans were asked to vote for the actress they think should play Scarlett. Out of hundreds of ballots cast, Vivien Leigh got only one vote.
The fact that Hattie McDaniel would be unable to attend the premiere in racially segregated Atlanta annoyed Clark Gable so much that he threatened to boycott the premiere unless she could attend. He later relented when she convinced him to go.
Super macho director Victor Fleming wanted Scarlett, for at least once in the film, to look like his hunting buddy Clark Gable's type of woman. So, when wearing the stunning low-cut burgundy velvet dress with rhinestones that Scarlett wears to Ashley Wilkes' birthday party in the second half of the film, to achieve the desired cleavage for Fleming, Walter Plunkett had to tape Vivien Leigh's breasts together.
Vivien Leigh wasn't happy with Victor Fleming's brusque style after the careful nurturing she had enjoyed with George Cukor. When she asked him for direction in one scene, he told her "Ham it up". On another occasion when she asked for his constructive advice, he told her to "take the script and stick it up her royal British ass". After Cukor's departure, Leigh had to fight hard to keep the movie's Scarlett true to her view. Fleming's interpretation of her was that she was an out-and-out bitch as in the novel and that he had no desire to create any sympathy or insight for her.
Margaret Mitchell personally approved of Vivien Leigh's interpretation of Scarlett.
Three of the four principal actors, Leslie Howard, Vivien Leigh, and Clark Gable, died at relatively young ages. Olivia de Havilland is the only one who remains alive as of this writing (May 2008). Ironically, her character is the only one who dies in the film.
(This blog has been dedicated to Judy-Marie, my adorably adorkable PSM)
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