Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's
Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and
directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard. Set in the 19th century
American South, the film stars Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland,
and Hattie McDaniel, among others, and tells a story of the American Civil War and
Reconstruction era from a Southern point of view.
The film received 10 Academy Awards (8 competitive, 2 honorary), a record that stood for 20
years. Ben-Hur surpassed it in 1960. In the American Film Institute's inaugural Top 100 Best
American Films of All Time list of 1998, it was ranked fourth, and in 1989 was selected to be
preserved by the National Film Registry. The film was the longest American sound film made up
to that time 3 hours 44 minutes, plus a 15 minute intermission, and was among the first of the
major films shot in color (Technicolor), winning the first Academy Award for Best
Cinematography in the category for color films. It became the highest-grossing film of all-time
shortly after its release, holding the position until 1966; after adjusting for inflation, it has still
earned more than any other film in box office revenue. As of 2012, there are five surviving cast
members from the film.
Part 1
The film opens on a large cotton plantation called Tara in rural Georgia in 1861, on the eve of the
American Civil War. Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) is flirting with the two Tarleton brothers,
Brent (Fred Crane) and Stuart (George Reeves), who have been expelled from the University of
Georgia. Scarlett, Suellen (Evelyn Keyes), and Careen (Ann Rutherford) are the daughters of
Irish immigrant Gerald OHara (Thomas Mitchell) and his wife, Ellen O'Hara (Barbara O'Neil),
who is of aristocratic French ancestry. The brothers share a secret with Scarlett: Ashley Wilkes
(Leslie Howard), whom Scarlett secretly loves, is to be married to his cousin, Melanie Hamilton
(de Havilland). The engagement is to be announced the next day at a barbecue at Ashley's home,
the nearby plantation Twelve Oaks.
At Twelve Oaks, Scarlett notices that she is being admired by Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), who
has been turned out of West Point and disowned by his Charleston family. Rhett finds himself in
further disfavor among the male guests when, during a discussion of the probability of war, he
states that the South has no chance against the superior numbers and industrial might of the
North. Scarlett sneaks out of the afternoon nap time to be alone with Ashley in the library, and
confesses her love for him. He admits he has always secretly loved Scarlett but that he and the
sweet Melanie are more compatible. She accuses Ashley of misleading her and slaps him in
anger. Ashley exits as Rhett reveals he has overheard the whole conversation, sleeping unseen on
a couch. Rhett promises to keep her guilty secret. Scarlett leaves the library in haste, and the
barbecue is disrupted by the announcement that war has broken out. The men rush to enlist, and
all the ladies are awakened from their naps. As Scarlett watches Ashley kiss Melanie goodbye

from the upstairs window, Melanies shy young brother Charles Hamilton (Rand Brooks), with
whom Scarlett had been innocently flirting, asks for her hand in marriage before he goes. Despite
not truly loving Charles, Scarlett consents. They are married before he leaves to fight.
Scarlett is quickly widowed when Charles dies from a bout of pneumonia and measles while in
the Confederate Army. Scarlett's mother sends her to the Hamilton home in Atlanta to cheer her
up, although the OHaras' outspoken housemaid Mammy (Hattie McDaniel) tells Scarlett she
knows she is going there only to wait for Ashleys return. Scarlett and Melanie attend a charity
bazaar in Atlanta; Scarlett, who should be in deep mourning, is turned against and whispered
about. Rhett, now a heroic blockade runner for the Confederacy, makes a surprise appearance.
Scarlett shocks Atlanta society even more by accepting Rhett's large bid for a dance. While they
dance, Rhett tells her of his intention to win her, which she says will never happen as long as she
lives.
The tide of war turns against the Confederacy after the Battle of Gettysburg in which many of the
men of Scarlett's town are killed. Scarlett makes another unsuccessful appeal to Ashleys heart
while he is visiting on Christmas furlough, although they do share a private and passionate kiss
while in the parlor on Christmas Day, just before he leaves for the war. In the hospital, Scarlett
and Melanie care for a convalescent soldier (Cliff Edwards).
Eight months later, as the city is besieged by the Union Army in the Atlanta Campaign, Melanie
goes into a premature and difficult labor. Staying true to a promise Scarlett made to Ashley to
"take care of Melanie," she and her young house servant Prissy (Butterfly McQueen) must
deliver the child without medical attendance. Scarlett calls upon Rhett to bring her home to Tara
immediately with Melanie, Prissy, and the baby. He appears with a horse and wagon to take them
out of the city on a perilous journey through the burning depot and warehouse district. He leaves
her with a nearly dead horse, helplessly frail Melanie, her baby, and tearful Prissy, and with a
passionate kiss as he goes off to fight. On her journey home, Scarlett finds Twelve Oaks burned
out, ruined and deserted. She is relieved to find Tara still standing but deserted by all except her
parents, her sisters, and two servants: Mammy and Pork (Oscar Polk). Scarlett learns that her
mother has just died of typhoid fever and her father's mind has begun to crumble under the
strain. With Tara pillaged by Union troops and the fields untended, Scarlett vows she will do
anything for the survival of her family and herself, exclaiming, "As God is my witness, I'll never
be hungry again!".