Gone With The WInd

Well finally made to a movie almost everyone has heard of. This movie is the first truely classic movie to win Best Picture. It broke alot of records and when adjusted for inflation still is the highest grossing movie of all time even beating Titanic and Avatar. 1939 was a year filled with classic movies. Gone With The Wind beat The Wizard of Oz, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Wuthering Heights, and Stagecoach. All of which were on AFI 100 Greatest Movies of All Time. But Gone With the Wind is still considered one of the best movies of all time.

I have been somewhat dreading watching this movie because it is 4 hours and I thought it was just a long chick flick love story. I had seen it a while ago but never watched the whole thing all the way through. It turns out that I was wrong about the movie. The movie is very good and not entirely a love story. It really about a stubborn, selfish girl(Scarlett O'Hara) who will do anything to get what she wants. Even marry her sisters fiance to get his money. We watch her as she goes from a little girl in the South pre Civil War to a mother post reconstruction. We get to see the South change through her eyes and how she changes(and doesnt change) in response to it. She grows up to become a strong determined women, but never changes from that selfish little girl. The one man who see through her Southern Charm to who she really is is Rhett Butler. A man who doesnt follow the rules for being a Southern Gentleman he falls for Scarlet's independant and determined streak. The have this chemistry between them but Scarlet has no use for him much of the movie. Olivia de Havilland plays Melanie the wife of the man who Scarlet secretly wants to herself. Melanie is the opposite of Scarlet, very caring, forgiving, and considerate. She goes through the same things that Scarlet goes through but instead of coming out selfish and bitter she comes out caring. It is interesting to see the contrast of the two ways people deal with difficult situations.

All the acting was great. Vivien Leigh as Scarlet was amazing. Clark Gable as Rhett good as always. He has a presence with him on screen that you just dont see much in movies today. This confident almost cocky guy but still likable. I havent seen him in too many movies but this is the third movie that won best picture with him in it and he pretty much plays the same character but he does it so well it doesnt feel overused. You always hear about those two but for me the big surprise was Olivia de Havilland's performance. She always takes a back seat to Scarlet but her presence is always there. And of course Hattie Mcdaniel's Mammy was great. Her looks were priceless and she supplied the comedy for the movie, and won Best Supporting Actress. I was loving the movie for the first 3 hours but the last hour was kind of a let down. I don't want to give too much away but it turns too much into a weepy love story at the end and gets kind of boring. But for the majority of the movie was amazing. It really is one of the best movies of all time.

Some of its acheivements.
When adjusted for inflation it made $1.6 Billion most of all time.
First color movie to win Best Picture
Victor Fleming directed two movies that were nominated for Best Picture Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz.
Hattie McDaniel was the first black actress or actor to win an acting award.
At 238 minutes it is the longest movie to date to win best picture.
Won Oscar for Best Editing, which brings up my a famous question from my dad. "How can a movie that long have good editing?"
The line "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" was voted number 1 movie quote on AFI's 100 Greatest Movie Quotes. Also, "after all tomorrow is another day" and "As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again" were at 31 and 59.
Voted number 4 on AFI's 100 Greatest movie's of all time and number 2 Greatest Passions of all Time, and Number 4 on Greatest Epics of all Time.