Gone with the Wind
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Gone with the Wednesday: The Gift of Rhett
Turns out Clark REALLY liked the sketch that Photoplay magazine did of him as Rhett Butler, that we posted last week. A few issues later, Ruth Waterbury, Photoplay‘s editor, wrote: …it was nothing to be photographed with Mr. Gable…though suffering with Mr. Gable is not actually the worst of all human agony… Clark had asked for that Vincentini portrait of himself as Rhett Butler that we ran in our October issue and though I was more than delighted to have him have it I had to see that PHOTOPLAY got something out of it too…so I asked that we get a shot of him receiving the drawing and they decided to…
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Gone with the Wednesday: Photoplay Magazine Makes Their Choice For Rhett
In 1937, when the casting of Gone with the Wind was the #1 topic of debate, Photoplay magazine declared their choice for Rhett Butler loud and clear. Photoplay Throws Its Hat in the Ring Herewith we enter the Great Casting Battle of “Gone with the Wind,” because to our mind there is but one Rhett–Clark Gable. So sure we were of our choice that we had Vincentini paint this portrait of Clark as we see him in the role: cool, impertient, utterly charming. We like all the other handsome actors mentioned as Rhett–only we don’t want them as Rhett. We want Gable and we’re going to stick to that…
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Gone with the Wednesday: “I Was Afraid of Rhett Butler!”
One of the things I’ll be doing on “Gone with the Wednesdays” this year is revisiting the Gone with the Wind-themed articles in the archive. There are so many and I know that the archive is so hefty now that it is hard to find what you’re looking for sometimes. This article, “I Was Afraid of Rhett Butler!” appeared in Liberty magazine in February 1940 and is completely written by Clark Gable. It’s not very long so here it is in its entirety: Rhett Butler really put me on a spot, a hot one. Or rather Margaret Mitchell did when she created Rhett. I hope some day to have the privilege of…
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Gone with the Wednesday: An English Girl as Scarlett?
From Hollywood magazine, April 1939: The two-year search for Gone with the Wind’s “Scarlett” is ended. You would think that all of the excitement would be over. You would think that those people who have debated passionately the relative merits of nearly every Hollywood actress for the part during these two years would welcome any decision. You would think that the hurricane of speculation and argument would due away to an exhausted sigh of relief. But arguing over Scarlett has become a habit, perhaps, because discussion still rages. “Vivien Leigh is absolutely unknown in this country!” protest those who had chosen, in their own minds, Bette Davis or Miriam Hopkins…
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Introducing…Gone with the Wednesdays!
Happy New Year! 2014 is a special year for classic film fans, as it marks the 75th anniversary of what is considered the greatest year in film: 1939. And of course that means that we will be celebrating the 75th anniversary of Gone with the Wind this year! To commemerate, every Wednesday there will be a GWTW item here on the blog–pictures, articles, audio, etc. Everything GWTW related that I have will be shared! Enjoy!
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CMBA Film Passion 101 Blogathon: Gone with the Wind (1939)
When I saw what theme had been chosen for the Classic Movie Blog Association’s latest blogathon—what movie inspired your love of classic film, there was not even a second’s pause as to what my choice would be: Gone with the Wind. This will sound corny and somewhat cliché, but… Gone with the Wind changed my life. I was not born in the south, but I consider myself a southerner as I have lived in Georgia for 24 years. My mother was born and raised in Arkansas and her grandmother was a true Southern belle from Savannah, Georgia. It wasn’t too long after we moved to Georgia that a fateful trip to…
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Happy 100th Birthday to Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh was heralded as one of the great beauties of her time, won two Best Actress Oscars (especially impressive since she starred in only 19 films), and was the wife of one of the most celebrated actors of the century, Sir Laurence Olivier. Despite all of the above, to most she was simply Scarlett O’Hara. When she died at only 54 years old, many of the world’s headlines proclaimed “SCARLETT O’HARA DEAD!” I’m sure she would have cringed at that headline. Not that she wasn’t proud of hving played Scarlett, but the role became suffocating in a way that she couldn’t escape. Vivien was always Scarlett and sometimes she…
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Gossip Friday: In Defense of Clark Gable
From June 1940, letter to editor: Never having complained before, I feel I am entitled to do so now. I sat through Gone with the Wind twice, thanks to Clark Gable’s excellence performance (and he is not my favorite actor.) Everyone I have seen since the picture was shown here was highly enthusiastic over his marvelous portrayal of Rhett Butler. Now it seems he has been completely ignored, and consideration give to a silly and boring performance by James Stewart in “Mr. Smith, etc.” Finally the Academy Award was given to Robert Donat. Nice going! It’s a wonder to us that Gable’s name was even recalled in connection with the…
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A New Ending for Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind had its world premiere in Atlanta 73 years ago today and ever since, people have pondered if Scarlett would ever get Rhett back. Margaret Mitchell refused to ever answer the question, so everyone was left to their own imaginations. Screen Guide magazine held a contest for their readers to come up with the best new ending for GWTW and published the winner in its September 1940 issue: ___ The fadeout of “Gone with the Wind” whets the curiousity of millions of moviegoers. They watch Scarlett return to Tara alone, deserted by Rhett, and they argue hotly among themselves about what happened afterward. “He’d never go back…
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Gossip Friday: Gone with the Wind Chatter
From May 1937: You wouldn’t think that Willie Powell’s walking out on a production called “The Emperor’s Candlesticks” would have an influence on Clark Gable’s playing the role of Rhett Butler in “Gone with the Wind” now, would you? But that’s Hollywood for you. It did have–for Willie has a mind of his own, and one of the very best in the acting profession it is too, and he realized that another not-so-hot to follow “Mrs. Cheyney” would endanger all that terrific advance his career has made since his lucky accident of being cast in the original “Thin Man.” Hence he went on his own sit-down strike in the desert…