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Gossip Friday: Snippets from the set of Gone with the Wind
From August 1939: There’s a mad scramble between every scene on the “Gone with the Wind” set. For Vivien Leigh is an Anagram fiend and Olivia de Havilland is equally rabid on the subject of Chinese Checkers–and they like Clark Gable for a partner. Gable happens to like both girls and both games, but he’s hit upon a practical solution for the predicament. It’s three-handed bridge and now everyone is happy. *** Though Vivien Leigh has many elaborate costumes for “Gone with the Wind”, her costliest is the ugliest dress she wears in the picture. Fourteen copies of this dress had to be made, for it is the one which…
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Gossip Friday: Clark Answers
From April 1940: I asked Clark Gable if he felt it dangerous to work so long in a single film such as “Gone with the Wind”. Fans forget easily. Will the role of Rhett Butler, no matter how colorful, be strong enough to hold Clark to the top, to overcome the long months of getting him on celluloid? Gable writes thus: “Rather than being dangerous to work too long in one picture, I can say from experience that it is of definite value to an actor and makes for a superior film. There is no substitute for adequate and superior preparation. ‘Gone with the Wind’ proves this. From an acting…
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Gone with the Wind hits Los Angeles
The Los Angeles premiere of Gone with the Wind was 71 years ago this very evening. Jean Garceau, Clark and Carole’s faithful secretary, attended the event with them. Here is how she described it: The theater was decorated inside and out in keeping with the background and theme of the film. Huge searchlights probed the sky, bands played, streets were roped off and uniformed attendants held back the crowds as the police permitted only those cars with passes to draw up in front of the theater. A long flower-decked canopy extended to the sidewalk and a master of ceremonies stood there to welcome the stars, announce their names over a…
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Gossip Friday: On the set of Gone with the Wind
From May 1939: We said we didn’t believe it. “Tell us,” we said, “that Greta Garbo is hunting autographs; that Shirley Temple has been sent to reform school; that Jimmy Cagney is baking a cake. Tell us anything. But don’t tell us ‘Gone with the Wind’ is actually shooting!” “Come over and see for yourself,” said the Selznick-International man. How could we resist making “The Wind”, as Hollywood knows it, our first stop on the monthly set circuit? After these months of waiting and waiting–false hopes, phony Scarletts, reluctant Rhetts and so forth–a mere peep at the champion never-never movie in actual production is like a preview of the millennium.…
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Meet Me in St. Louis…
Well, Friday I am boarding a plane and heading to St. Louis for the Gone with the Wind “Gateway to the Wind” event! The itinerary is as follows: Friday, November 5 2:30 p.m. “Antebellum Plantation Life; Perception vs. Reality”- White Haven Ulysses S. Grant National Historical Site 7400 Grant Rd. St. Louis, MO – Learn all about GWTW author Margaret Mitchell’s Civil War relatives and how their lives inspired her to write “Gone With The Wind” 5:30 p.m. Cocktail Reception At Drury Inn For Those Staying At The Drury 7 p.m. “Blog With The Wind”- Drury Inn Forest Park. Find out about the social media out there. 8 p.m. “Fiddle-Dee-Dee Follies” –…
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TCM Moguls and Movie Stars Exhibit
A few days ago I went to the TCM Moguls and Movie Stars exhibit in Atlanta. From TCM.com: Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is bringing a bit of Hollywood history to five cities across the United States this fall as part of a special tour tied to the network’s landmark seven-part documentary series, MOGULS & MOVIE STARS: A HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD, which premieres Monday, Nov. 1, at 8 p.m. (ET). The multimedia exhibit was created to let film lovers across the country experience the MOGULS & MOVIE STARS series through interactive displays on the history of filmmaking in America. The exhibit will feature unique memorabilia, including an Oscar®…
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Remembering Bonnie Blue
On Sunday, I attended the memorial service for Cammie King Conlon, or as we all know her, Bonnie Blue Butler, in Marietta, Georgia. Filled with both tears and laughter, it was a touching tribute to a woman who always claimed she “peaked at age five”. It began with a video tribute, including all of her scenes from GWTW and also a scene from Bambi (she was the voice of young Faline). Speakers included Cammie’s son Matt Conlon, Chris Sullivan, a long time Gone with the Wind enthusiast and collector (whose collection is housed at the GWTW Museum in Marietta), and Mickey Kuhn, who portrayed Beau as a child in GWTW.…
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Rest in Peace, Bonnie Blue
Cammie King Conlon, who played Rhett and Scarlett’s daughter Bonnie Blue in “Gone with the Wind”, has died. Whenever I think of her, I see a little girl in ringlets–“Let me, let me, Daddy! Let me, let me!” From the Associated Press: FORT BRAGG, Calif. (AP) — Cammie King Conlon, the former child actress who portrayed the doomed daughter of Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone With the Wind,” has died at the age of 76.lung cancer Wednesday morning at her Fort Bragg home on California‘s north coast, said friend Bruce Lewis. Her son, Matthew Ned Conlon, was by her side. Conlon was picked to play the small, but…
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70 years ago today…
Gone with the Wind premiered in Atlanta, the biggest event the town had ever seen. Clark and Carole were front and center for the festivities. Although Carole shyly told reporters that she was only there to support Clark, Clark told everyone back in Hollywood proudly, “Ma was the star of the show! Nobody could take their eyes off her!” Here’s their itinerary: Thursday, December 14: 3:30pm–Arrive Sky-Sleeper from Hollywood with Howard Strickland and Nelson Milikan 3:45pm–Depart for parade through downtown Atlanta Clark and Carole ride with William Hartsfield, mayor of Atlanta 4:30pm–Arrive at the Georgian Terrace Hotel Clark gives a speech, receives a box of Atlanta china as a gift…