In recent years there seems to have been an influx of films making bank at the box office. It seems that each year there are new entries to the top ten highest grossing films of all time, and there always seems to be a misconception that the films making the most money are by default the best. Since 2009 James Cameron’s Avatar has held the top spot with a total box office taking of $2.9 billion (with a brief interruption from Avengers: Endgame in 2019). However, that total pales in comparison to Gone With the Wind when adjusted for inflation. Released in 1939, the epic tale of romance in the final days of the Old South saw unprecedented audience numbers in its day, and subsequent re-releases of the film ensured that Gone With the Wind was truly a classic for the ages. When adjusted for inflation, Gone With the Wind has raked in an astonishing $3.9 billion and held the unadjusted #1 spot for twenty-five years. So, does money mean everything? Is Gone With the Wind amazing beyond compare? Does the fact that it also won eight Oscar’s make it the best film ever? The short answer is no, it most certainly isn’t, but the long answer is as expected a whole lot more complicated.
The year is 1861 and sixteen-year-old Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) is adored by every eligible bachelor in the south. Whilst she may flirt and tease to get her way, Scarlett has eyes for only one man, Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard). However, Ashley is engaged to his cousin, Melanie (Olivia de Havilland), and the American Civil War has just begun.
As the years go by and the war worsens, Scarlett stays by Melanie’s side in the hopes of winning the affections of Ashley when he returns from war. But as Scarlett soon learns, war takes no prisoners, and she must learn to provide for those she holds close to her by whatever means she can find. Eventually needing to rely on the financial aid of the man who has sought her heart for so long, Rhett Butler (Clark Gable).
The year is 1861 and sixteen-year-old Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) is adored by every eligible bachelor in the south. Whilst she may flirt and tease to get her way, Scarlett has eyes for only one man, Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard). However, Ashley is engaged to his cousin, Melanie (Olivia de Havilland), and the American Civil War has just begun.
As the years go by and the war worsens, Scarlett stays by Melanie’s side in the hopes of winning the affections of Ashley when he returns from war. But as Scarlett soon learns, war takes no prisoners, and she must learn to provide for those she holds close to her by whatever means she can find. Eventually needing to rely on the financial aid of the man who has sought her heart for so long, Rhett Butler (Clark Gable).
Gone With the Wind is not the kind of film you just stick on to pass the time, mostly because of its gargantuan runtime of two hundred and thirty-four minutes (just shy of four hours), but also because despite the story basically being about a woman pining for one man for the best part of a decade, there’s a lot of references to political and social turmoil at the time the film is set. You really need to commit to watching Gone With the Wind, and it is certainly admirable to see a film that was as grand with its ambition of adapting Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel of the same name as faithfully as it possibly could. This is the kind of treatment book purists could only dream of when seeing a film adaptation, and whilst I do respect the film for that, there certainly is something to be said for ensuring that a film is entertaining to watch and Gone With the Wind does have significant pacing issues, particularly in the second half of the film.
The first half concerns itself primarily with the American Civil War and how Scarlett copes with moving away from home and pining for a man at war. This first half manages to weave Scarlett’s personal story into that of the social/political climate very neatly and it goes by like a breeze. In fact, come the film’s mid-point I would argue that Scarlett has already undergone the majority of her character building and it could have been wrapped up fairly neatly not to soon after the intermission. But the second half has a tendency to drag its feet as Scarlett navigates life after the war, having the love of her life return home the shell of his former self, and navigate a rocky and reluctant marriage to someone she dislikes.
When your film is four hours long, the last thing you want is for it to drag its feet, and this unfortunately is Gone With the Wind’s Achilles Heel. It makes matters worse that after what seems like over an hour of little to nothing of importance happening the film ends abruptly and seemingly in the middle of things with little to no closure. I think it’s supposed to be a hopeful ending, convey the idea that life will go on for Scarlett despite all the bad things that happen in the last ten minutes or so of the film, but because those bad things happen so suddenly and unprompted it’s hard not to feel cheated out of a proper ending for a lot of the characters.
Vivien Leigh really does carry a lot of the film on her shoulders too. She’s a fantastic actress and I feel like her portrayal of Scarlett really does add layers to this initially superficial woman. Whilst Clark Gable may have been the big name of the time, his turn as Rhett feels wooden in comparison to Leigh, and you’d better not hold out much hope for the rest of the cast either. Whether it be that they are constrained by stiff dialogue, or simply going through the motions rather than delivering their all, the vast majority of the supporting cast really aren’t all that noteworthy. There is one exception however, and that is Hattie McDaniel who plays Mammy. Gone With the Wind may be notable for the number of Oscars it walked away with, but perhaps the most highly regarded and infamous of them is the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress given to McDaniel. The first woman of colour to win an Oscar, McDaniel infamously was initially denied attendance at the ceremony, only for the Academy to back down and allow her entrance so long as she was sat all the way in the back and away from her co-stars and other nominees.
McDaniel delivers a great performance, and she does act as this emotional rock for both Scarlett and the audience. She is nurturing when times are tough, and the first to crack a wicked one liner when the occasion rises.
The first half concerns itself primarily with the American Civil War and how Scarlett copes with moving away from home and pining for a man at war. This first half manages to weave Scarlett’s personal story into that of the social/political climate very neatly and it goes by like a breeze. In fact, come the film’s mid-point I would argue that Scarlett has already undergone the majority of her character building and it could have been wrapped up fairly neatly not to soon after the intermission. But the second half has a tendency to drag its feet as Scarlett navigates life after the war, having the love of her life return home the shell of his former self, and navigate a rocky and reluctant marriage to someone she dislikes.
When your film is four hours long, the last thing you want is for it to drag its feet, and this unfortunately is Gone With the Wind’s Achilles Heel. It makes matters worse that after what seems like over an hour of little to nothing of importance happening the film ends abruptly and seemingly in the middle of things with little to no closure. I think it’s supposed to be a hopeful ending, convey the idea that life will go on for Scarlett despite all the bad things that happen in the last ten minutes or so of the film, but because those bad things happen so suddenly and unprompted it’s hard not to feel cheated out of a proper ending for a lot of the characters.
Vivien Leigh really does carry a lot of the film on her shoulders too. She’s a fantastic actress and I feel like her portrayal of Scarlett really does add layers to this initially superficial woman. Whilst Clark Gable may have been the big name of the time, his turn as Rhett feels wooden in comparison to Leigh, and you’d better not hold out much hope for the rest of the cast either. Whether it be that they are constrained by stiff dialogue, or simply going through the motions rather than delivering their all, the vast majority of the supporting cast really aren’t all that noteworthy. There is one exception however, and that is Hattie McDaniel who plays Mammy. Gone With the Wind may be notable for the number of Oscars it walked away with, but perhaps the most highly regarded and infamous of them is the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress given to McDaniel. The first woman of colour to win an Oscar, McDaniel infamously was initially denied attendance at the ceremony, only for the Academy to back down and allow her entrance so long as she was sat all the way in the back and away from her co-stars and other nominees.
McDaniel delivers a great performance, and she does act as this emotional rock for both Scarlett and the audience. She is nurturing when times are tough, and the first to crack a wicked one liner when the occasion rises.
The scale of the sets in Gone With the Wind is also rather impressive. Whether it be grand and highly decorated mansions, or wide outdoor sets with dozens, sometimes hundreds of extras. Even when special effects needed to be relied on such as painted backdrops, Gone With the Wind goes the extra mile to present some of the most realistic and beautiful looking locales for the story to take place. You can really see the money that went into making this film as grandiose as it could possibly be, with no expense spared or corner cut, and that really is worth appreciating. This extends to Max Steiner’s score too which often says more than the dialogue does, and considering that there’s rarely a moment of silence in the film that’s a whole lot of music.
The saying always goes that they really don’t make them like they used to anymore, and that certainly is the case for Gone With the Wind (for better and worse). Whilst the second half of the film may plot along in comparison to the first half, and I personally feel as though the ending leaves a lot to be desired, Gone With the Wind is a truly epic love story quite unlike anything else. It’s not just a film of human romance, but also a love letter to a bygone era, and whilst Gone With the Wind may gloss over many of the social issues from that time, there is something rather charming about it.
But Gone With the Wind’s greatest strength is in its production design, and the performance from Vivien Leigh. It really is quite a triumph from the dawn of the ‘Golden Age’ of Hollywood, and I can understand why around the time audiences flocked en-masse to see it. Gone With the Wind will continue to stand the test of time for decades to come because of its status, and I think it’s a great conversation piece even if it’s shortcoming’s become more and more apparent with time.
The saying always goes that they really don’t make them like they used to anymore, and that certainly is the case for Gone With the Wind (for better and worse). Whilst the second half of the film may plot along in comparison to the first half, and I personally feel as though the ending leaves a lot to be desired, Gone With the Wind is a truly epic love story quite unlike anything else. It’s not just a film of human romance, but also a love letter to a bygone era, and whilst Gone With the Wind may gloss over many of the social issues from that time, there is something rather charming about it.
But Gone With the Wind’s greatest strength is in its production design, and the performance from Vivien Leigh. It really is quite a triumph from the dawn of the ‘Golden Age’ of Hollywood, and I can understand why around the time audiences flocked en-masse to see it. Gone With the Wind will continue to stand the test of time for decades to come because of its status, and I think it’s a great conversation piece even if it’s shortcoming’s become more and more apparent with time.