Jack Wade, one of the many Hollywood reporters for
Photoplay, must have let loose a big girlish squeal when he got word from the "Selznick-International man" that he would not get bounced off the set of
Gone with the Wind
if he were to swing by to take a look.
"First of all, a report on Vivien Leigh...Hollywood already agreed that she's the happiest choice any one could have made. Even swamp angels from deepest Dixie put their okay on her accent...Clark Gable looks like the real Big-Man-From-the-South. In a black frock coat, starched bosom and ruffles, he makes a menacing, impressive Rhett, and he's a little pleased about it, too."
A
Yank Magazine interview with the author of
Gone with the Wind (1936).
At the time this article was printed, Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949; Pulitzer Prize 1937) was an American publishing phenomenon; Gone with the Wind (or GWTW, to those in the know) was said to be the fastest selling novel in the history of American publishing. Her one book had a sales record of 50,000 copies in one day and approximately 1,500,000 during it's first year. By May of 1941 the sales reached 3,368,000 in the English language alone (there were 18 translations made in all; the novel was a blockbuster in Germany, where 5000,000 editions were swiftly sold).
Available from Amazon: Gone with the Wind
A short notice from a Hollywood fan magazine announcing that Vivien Leigh (born Vivian Mary Hartley: 1913 – 1967), an actress largely unknown to U.S. audiences, had been cast to play the roll of 'Scarlet'. Accompanied by two breathtakingly beautiful color images of the actress, this short announcement outlines her genetic makeup, her previous marriage to Leigh Holman, and her thoughts concerning the upcoming roll.
Click here to read magazine articles about D.W. Griffith.
"Observers of the career of David O. Selznick see his enterprises this year the culmination of a dream....The most lavish motion picture project ever conceived,
Gone With the Wind, is already acknowledged as Selznick's chef d'oeuvre and the picture destined to mark the peak of cinema progress during the past 50 years. Executives of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which company released the picture, as well as those of Selznick International who have seen it, are unanimous in declaring it the greatest picture ever made, and the most frequent comment heard today from those who have observed it in production is 'No one could have made it but Selznick.'"
Selznick produced blockbuster after blockbuster. He was awarded two Academy Awards during his Hollywood reign for 'Outstanding Production': one for Gone With the Wind in 1939 and another one year later for Rebecca.
This page from
Click Magazine contrasts three Civil War photographs by Matthew Brady (1822 – 1896) with three production stills snapped on the sets of
Gone with the Wind. The editors refused to weigh-in on the slowly building case regarding Hollywood's questionable abilities to portray historic events with any degree of accuracy, preferring instead to praise the filmmakers as to "how carefully" they "checked details".
The Matthew Brady images provided on the attached page only serves to condemn the otherwise flawless work of Gone with the Wind costume designer Walter Plunkett (1902 - 1982) who historians and reënactors have slandered through the years for failing to fully grasp the look of the era.
"Many a movie of the deep South has come out of Hollywood studded with 'you-alls' and trailing jasmine blossoms. Never before, however, has any studio had
Gone with the Wind, already the most heavily publicized picture of the era, which, at long last, makes its film debut...For over two and a half years casting difficulties had beset the producers of Gone With The Wind. Most difficult was the part of Scarlet O'hara, green-eyed vixen around whom the 1,307 page novel revolves. With every leading lady in Hollywood under consideration, the studios tested and re-tested Norma Shearer, Miriam Hopkins, and Paulette Goddard. Even the 56,000,000 people reported by the Gallup poll to be waiting to see the picture began to get tired..."
Another great Hollywood movie from 1939 was The Grapes of Wrath - click here to read about it...
"What was the real origin of
Gone with the Wind? Margaret Mitchell (1900 – 1949) referred to a simple incident in her childhood. One afternoon, her mother took her on a buggy ride through the countryside around Atlanta, showing her all the once proud plantation homes that stood in crumbling shame from the Civil War, and others that were symbols of revival and progress. The impression never left her.
Gone with the Wind, she said, was the story of Georgians who survived and those who didn't."
In this article a book reviewer questions why anyone thought the novel was so great.
A proud daughter of Georgia, Susan Myrick (1893 - 1978) worked the sixteen hour days in Hollywood policing the Southern accents and manners of every performer who passed before the camera.
In this article from a 1940 fan magazine, Clark Gable puts to rest some disturbing concerns numerous fans had concerning the human affairs that existed on the set during the production of "Gone with the Wind. He additionally expressed some measure of gratitude for having landed the juiciest role in Hollywood at that time:
"'Rhett' is one of the greatest male characters ever created. I knew that. I'd read the entire book through six times, trying to get his moods. I've still got a copy in my dressing room and I still read it once in a while, because I know I'll probably never get such a terrific role again. But what was worrying me, and still is was that from the moment I was cast as 'Rhett Butler' I started out with five million critics."
"On February 29, at the Academy's twelfth annual dinner at the Ambassador Hotel in Hollywood, Gone with the Wind surpassed [1934's 'It Happened One Night'] by winning eight out of sixteen possible prizes and garnering two special awards for good measure."
