Gone with the wind
"Frankly my dear, I dont give a damn." and Rhett Butler walks out on Scarlett leaving her with no choice.If there was any movie that could be claimed having done justice to its book, that would be - Gone with the wind.
First about the book. Written by Margaret Mitchell. One character throughout the book dominates us all with her vivacious demeanour and 'passion for life' as Ashley puts it. Scarlett O'Hara, as selfish as one could imagine, she struts on with an uptight face, held at pride, even when she is looked down by the whole of Atlanta. Marries thrice to serve her own needs and her only other passion 'Tara' other than Ashley. Rhett Butler, introduced as a rundown first rate scoundrel falls in love with Scarlett. Loving Ashley, till, it dawns upon her, that he, infact is a weak statured dreamer with no wish to take hold of the reigns and will always remain so. Melly, married to Ashley, with all the characteristics that Scarlett could never be, is loved by everyone and the sole person who believes Scarlett to be innocent at all times. A mention should definitely be made about Mammy. Enjoyed her from the very moment. She always knew, what Scarlett was upto and never stopped herself from saying Scarlett's true intentions on her face. The red-petticoat-silent argument between Rhett and Mammy is very simple, with deeper attachments to it. The novel encaptures the war where Sherman leads the yankees and conquers Atlanta, Georgia and proceeds to the sea. And after that, the carpet baggers enters the scene and start plundering by slandering heavy taxes from the locals. It is surprising that even when we read about her, that Scarlett is full of herself, selfish and conceited, one part of you, actually goes out to her, not out of pity, but to just slap her and try to make her understand about Rhett.
'Scarlett', is the sequel to this book. Though is written by another author. Alexandria Ripley. I'd have loved to know about how Margaret would have liked to continue with her characters. But have to be satisfied, though it was not that bad. She has tried to keep up the pace. Actually, would love to have a go at it again, cos its been years. So will write about it then.
About the movie, To start with, Hats down to Victor Fleming. Saw the movie again, before writing this. Could appreciate lot of subtleties and a mamothous task of shrinking a 1000 paged book into a three hour entertaining movie. Casting is definitely one of its stronger points. Rhett Butler played by Clark Gable - Could not have chosen better, that too with Gable's reputation those days. I personally am still in love with him, he died in 1960 :( of heartattack. He was one of the top paid actors under contract with MGM. Infact, people loved him, when he man-handled his co-stars (women) in his earlier days. Gable left three years out of film industry to join in War. Even Adolf Hitler esteemed the film star above all other actors, and during the war offered a sizable reward to anyone who could capture and return Gable unscathed to him! Ok, I think, I'm slightly waiving oo much over on one side! Vivien Leigh played Scarlett O'Hara. A lot of screen tests were taken and many actresses reviewed, for this part. I read in Rita Heyworth's biography about everybody wanting that part. Vivien had the good luck to chance upon the David O'Selznick, while visiting her lover. Then the rest, was history. David O'Selznick is incidentally the son-in law of Meyer. That has an even bigger story to it, but I am not gonna lose track of this post once more.
Some facts about from the sets of Gone with the Wind
- The Atlanta that you see, when it burns, was actually the first set that they had made. But the David-producer, was not satisfied, he wanted it to