Gone with the Wind (1939)

As this is my best friend's favorite movie, I am going to make my first post about Gone with the Wind. There are those who proclaim 1939 was the best year for motion pictures. According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences the best film from the best year of film is Gone with the Wind.

I think it is fair to say that as Americans, we tend to romanticize and have a nagging interest in our Civil War. It is the only time in American history, thus far, that two (or more) opinions were so different that it led to years of heartache, bloodshed, and massive death tolls on our own soil.

Gone with the Wind opens in what I like to call, the glorious and naive Antebellum period. Young men delight in the thought of war and the chance of putting some Yankees in their place. The two biggest concerns facing women were what to wear and landing a husband. - Unfortunately for some, these are still the only two things women find to occupy their time.

As time and the film progress we witness the characters go through four years of war, part of the Reconstruction Era, and Scarlett's three husbands. I wonder if Liz Taylor liked this movie as a child?

While Miss O'Hara (followed by 3 additional marriage surnames but why give them away?) goes through the majority of the movie in love with a man who married his cousin, Rhett Butler is the far more dashing man. Mr. Butler has a presence. He has an attitude. He can stand up to the controlling Scarlett! Rhett and Scarlett have to be in the top ten of movie couples of all time, if not in the top spot.

I saw this movie for the first time when I was in college. Maybe women in 1939 never thought this, though some of the more progressive ones might have, but the message I took away from the film was one of a woman coming into her own strength. Yes, Scarlett used and hurt a lot of people but in the end, she was left alone. One scene in the movie shows Scarlett, in full Southern Belle glory, enveloped by her father and overlooking Tara. The final scene shows Scarlett standing in the same spot overlooking Tara. She is without all the frills and minus her hoop skirt. She has learned to stand on her own. If that is not a true and wonderful symbol of feminism, I am not sure what is.

I can only imagine what a huge deal this movie was when it was released. It was the first film in color to win Best Picture. Movies have the ability to overwhelm us on the big screen. A certain friend of mine chokes up when she sees it on the big screen and I can understand why. I have gotten that way over some movies at the theater. Looking back from 70+ years in the future, the movie may seem a bit campy. That being said, this movie continues to have a huge following. There are Gone with the Wind tours, conventions, sequels, and perhaps most importantly, it has become a staple in American pop-culture.

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Gone with the Wind won 10 Academy Awards, the most of any movie for years to come. It held the record held for 20 years. The first African-American to win an acting Oscar was for this film. The next time an African-American took home an acting statue was in 1963, twenty-four years later.