Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind (1939)
MGM
Directed by Victor Fleming
Starring Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland

There is only one word that describes Victor Fleming’s Gone with the Wind: masterpiece. Based on the 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell, Fleming brings us one of the greatest films ever created. Set in the Civil War era of the South, Scarlet O’Hara (Leigh) is a narcissistic young lady obsessed with Ashley Wilkes (Howard), the man she secretly loves. When the war breaks out, Ashley proposes to her best friend, Melanie (de Havilland), before heading off to war. Enraged and jealous, Scarlett decides to get back at Ashley by showing that she is wealthy and beautiful. She marries a young man, out of spite for Ashley’s “betrayal,” and ends up a widow by the war. She soon meets the mysterious and dashing Rhett Butler (Gable), who falls in love with her, though she does not feel the same way. Throughout the war, and after, Rhett keeps running into Scarlett, and her feelings change. Obsessed with wealth and stealing Ashley away from Melanie, she marries Rhett for the money and until Ashley is free from his marriage. The two have a happy marriage at first, but soon their mutual feeling begin to change.

The performances of this film are simply amazing. Vivien Leigh brings Scarlett to life. She is beautiful and crazy; wealthy and poor. She has all the money she could have, but no one to love her. The only one she loves is taken. She only realizes at the last moment that’s he loves Rhett, but it’s too late. He leaves her and gives the infamous line, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Her character is extremely layered. Once you think you figure her out, another layer is shown. Clark Gable gives the best performance of his life, and one of the greatest ever as Rhett. He is wealthy, masculine, and powerful. He can have any woman he wants and he picks a young woman who does not love him, nor want anything to do with him. He cares only about his social appearance. He tolerates Scarlett’s antics, even though he knows she loves Ashley. Gable is the true star of this film.

The story is fantastic as well. Gone with the Wind is nearly four hours long and every detail, from dialogue to set pieces are important. This film so near perfect that everything blends together to make a masterpiece. The sets are realistic and vast; the dialogue is wonderful; the acting is legendary; and the messages are clear. Gone with the Wind is about greed, love, and power; and how all three blend into another. In the film, Scarlett has a greed for wealth that eventually turns into a love. She wants power, which Rhett represents, and eventually finds love from him, but it’s too late. The film shows that you cannot have love with greed, or power without greed. Gone with the Wind is also about the South. In fact, I would consider the South as a major character in the film. Everything about the film revolves around the living South: from the wars, to the love of the South; the people, and the way of life. The South forms these characters of Scarlett and Rhett and make the story much more fitting and proper.

However, being a masterpiece, the film does have some racist overtones throughout. For being set in the Civil War, slavery is heavily ignored throughout. Many of the African American slaves seem happy to work with their white masters. They even make it seem as if they need them to survive. Scenes with Scarlett's nanny heavily emphasize the slavery and racism themes within the film.

What is there to say about Gone with the Wind that hasn’t been said before? It is one the greatest American cinematic achievements since the birth of film. It has stellar performances from Vivien Leigh and screen legend Clark Gable. Both Rhett and Scarlett are two of the most well known movie characters ever. And the film features some of the most popular musical scores and dialogue quotes. Gone with the Wind is a classic that will always be immortalized as one the greatest.

Rating: A+


June 24, 2010