Movie Review, Gone With The Wind Essay, Research Paper
* Gone With The Wind * 1939, Directed by Victor Fleming On December 15, 1939 a movie was released in Atlanta, GA that would forever change how people saw the “Old South”. This movie quickly became a smash hit and went on to become the #1 movie of all time and still holds the title.The movie was “Gone With The Wind”. Directed by Victor Fleming, this movie is the beloved epic of the South. The movie’s main character is Scarlett O’Hara. Opposite her is the dashing and debonaire Rhett Butler. The movie is basically the love story of Scarlett and Rhett with the South as the backdrop. Just as the South comes in contact with turbulence, so do Scarlett and Rhett. Scarlett is the product of a wealthy Southern family.Her only weakness is that she does not care what people think of her. She wears whatever she pleases, says what she pleases, and does what she pleases. This is the reason she is so attractive to men. Rhett is similar on the upside. He could care less as to what people think of him…”Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”. Scarlett is convinced that she is in love with Ashley Wilkes, a lifelong friend of the family. The problem Scarlett encounters here is that Ashley is engaged to his cousin, Melanie Hamilton. Scarlett gets the idea in her head that if she tells Ashley that she loves him, he won’t marry Melanie. So, she does. Ashley does not feel that feeling is mutual. As luck would have it, this is where she meets Rhett. He overheard the whole charade. And so from that point the story sets its course. Over the next few years Scarlett found herself married, widowed, remarried, widowed, and remarried again. When the Civil War set in, Scarlett was faced with hardships, all of which she triumphs over in the end. The only thing that did not come out as she had planned was the Rhett issue. She loved him the whole time but she did not know it. Then when she finally discovered that she had what she wanted, it was too late.
Fleming did a wonderful job with creating the characters. The all star cast included Clark gable as the suave Rhett Butler, Vivien Leigh as the sultry Scarlett O’Hara, Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes, and Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Hamilton. The actors/actresses portray their characters so well in this film. I think especially Vivien Leigh. You must keep in mind that she is a British actress yet, she portrayed a southern belle with such realism. Costuming was gorgeous. What I loved about it was the clothing fit the mood. At the barbeque at Twelve Oaks, Scarlett wore a flouncy, flowered dress. That is much different from the dress that she wore to Ashley’s Birthday. That dress is marked down as on of the sexiest in history. Another crucial effect of the movie is the music score. Created by David Steiner, the score from Gone With The Wind re-creates all the different aspects of the South through music. The laid-back days before the war came, the horrifying moments when General Sherman raided Atlanta, and the south trying to regain it’s strength after the war. Gone With The Wind received 10 Academy Awards in total. After the movie was released it changed how a lot of people saw the United States Of America. The movie still continues to be released. I saw it over the summer on the big screen and no movie I have seen thus far can compare to it. Gone With The Wind cleverly combines love, romance, action, suspense, sorrow…every human emotion possible all in one movie. On a scale of 1-10, Gone With The Wind gets an 11.