Gone With the Wind

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Summary: Gone with the DVD... very well done ...excellent colour
Review: I recently (June, 2000) purchased this DVD. The Gone with the Wind DVD has excellent colour and the sound is crisp and not damaged. Very impresed with the saving of this important file.

It is NOT on widescreen...did not have them in 1939 but the wounded hospital scene in the Alanta Train station is still inspiring.

My 9 year old daughter saw the whole thing and cried so hard at the ending.

Sincerely,

AWH, [e-mail] civil war reenactor in California.

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Summary: The Best Movie EVER
Review: The title says it all: there is no comparison to Gone With the Wind. The absolute presentation of the South during the pre-Civil War, Civil War, and post-Civil War years is so precise, and the script is pristine. The directors didn't, for the most part, fail to make the screenplay of one of America's most treasured novels paralell to the author's original story. The movie is powerful and engulfing. THIS IS A MUST SEE!! If you haven't seen the movie or read the book, then what hole have you been hiding in?

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Summary: THE WORLD FINALLY DISCOVERED VIVIEN LEIGH
Review: Yes, I could jadajadajada and bla bla bla, but the facts remain simple. This is a producer`s vision. Selznick even directed some scenes himself after Victor Fleming(who got credit), George Cukor, Sam Wood, Reeves Eason and production designer William Cameron Menzies had ended their direction chores. David O. Selznick was a perfectionist and was worn out after this picture. After years of search he landed on Britains Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O`Hara. He couldn`t have made a wiser move. Because of her fresh interpretation of her character and the lush production details it is an eternal winner. Thank u David... U gave us Vivien. Unfortunately she was much more stagestruck than moviestruck(indeed, she hated Hollywood) and went back to Britain in -41 with her bloke Larry Olivier. So Selznick`s final big contrubution to the world was another import that became the greatest attraction of the 40s; INGRID BERGMAN.

Anyway. Thanks 2 David and Vivien this in T H E all-time epic film...

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Summary: If you enjoy a good show, you best keep looking.
Review: Gone With The Wind fables the story of a whiny southern belle in an era where she's the last one who should be whining.It's about 3 hours, thats like two tapes of her stomping and moaning over how some guy she loved "frankly doesnt give a damn". The film climaxes as she decides what to wear to the ball. This film, which has been hailed as one of the greatest films of all time by the society of morons, is comparable to any "Ernest" movie. That is, without the laughs. So if you own a copy throw it out.

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Summary: Buy this DVD
Review: There are few films that are worth purchasing. Most you will watch a couple of times and tire of, but this is truly a classic. It should be a part of anyone's DVD collection like Grapes of Wrath, Catcher in the Rye, Tales of Two Cities or Naughty College Girls (oops, how did that get in there) should be a part of anyone's book library. Buy it. Watch it. Cherish it. It as much a part of the American consciousness as anything.

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Summary: Great - but was it ever in wide screen?
Review: The film is an obvious classic. I would be interested to know if it was ever available in wide-screen.

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Summary: Gone With The Wind - Still the best movie ever made!
Review: If you're looking a movie to watch, pick Gone With The Wind, which is still the greatest film of all time. The story's about the belle of the County, Scarlett O'Hara, who is very much in love with Ashley Wilkes. But, Ashley loves Melanie Hamilton, but Scarlett is sure that he loves herself. But, when they have a heated arguement, Scarlett realizes that Ashley must be in love with her but is too shy to admit it. So, she marries Charles Hamilton, Melanie's brother, to make him jealous. In the midst of all this, the Civil War is beginning and every young man in the Confederacy is eager to get out and fight the Yankees. Charles ends up dying of pneunomia and Scarlett is expecting a child, who she really does not want or like. Then Scarlett meets dashing Rhett Butler, who has an extremely bad reputation. As the movie rolls on, Scarlett must lose her spoiled ways and endure the hardships of war, with romance on the side. This movie, starring Vivien Leigh as Scarlett and Clark Gable as Rhett, has a picture-perfect cast, Technicolor, and everything an ideal movie is. Watch it!

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Summary: VIVIEN SHINES IN SELZNICK`S EPIC
Review: David O. Selznick bought Margaret Mitchell`s only novel and kept a circus going in the search for the heroine, Scarlett O`Hara(originally named Patsy by her author). There were several contenders; Bette Davis, Paulette Goddard, Joan Bennett, Tallulah Bankhead, Lana Turner and Katharine Hepburn. Early suggestions for Rhett Butler were Gary Cooper and Ronald Colman. As for Rhett the American public would hear of no one else but Clark Gable, fresh from hits such as It Happened One Night 1934-Oscar, Mutiny on the Bounty 1935, San Francisco 1936, Saratoga 1937 and Test Pilot 1938. David O, Selznick had to bite the sour apple(MGM, major studio) and borrow Gable. MGM agreed and joined the venture of the production since Selznick`s money dried out. Meanwhile Laurence Olivier filmed Wuthering Heights for Goldwyn and his girlfriend Vivien Leigh visited the set. Back in Britain all knew of Vivien`s obsession with the Scarlett role but none thought the unknown actress with only minor screen achivements would have a go. Vivien signed with Myron, Seznick`s agent brother and got herself a screentest. The result was stunning. It showed a fiery personality and a most wonderful magical face. She was signed in the Christmas week of 1938. In the late 30s letters from all over the world found themselves into the Selznick office with suggestions for the part. A man from New Zealand was the only one who mentioned Vivien. Thanks to a perfectionist of a producer(he had Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood, William Cameron Menzies and Reeves Eason at the director`s chair - Fleming doing the most and winning the Oscar), Selznick always intended it as a PRODUCER`s film(indeed the opening credits says - DAVID O. SELZNICK`S PRODUCTION OF MARGARET MITCHELL`S STORY OF THE OLD SOUTH) - and his PERFECT casting of VIVIEN LEIGH - together with good production values make this film an all-time-great. It was the only film who was revived successfully for forty years in the cinema. The success of casting VIVIEN LEIGH was no fluke; all her subsequent but few filmroles gave the audiences an actress who gave each and every role another interpretation. Other great Vivien Leigh parts include CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA, Mary Treadwell in SHIP OF FOOLS, Blanche DuBois in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Myra Lester in WATERLOO BRIDGE and Emma in THAT HAMILTON WOMAN - UK title: Lady Hamilton. See my MORE ABOUT ME page about my thoughts of VIVIEN LEIGH

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Summary: Victor Fleming's best since The Wizard Of OZ.
Review: Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia De Havilland... Leslie Howard.. Whew! The Greatest historical drama since Exodus..er.. Second only to Exodus, Gone With The Wind is the greatest historical drama ever. What the blazes if it was 4 hrs long? Who cares? The most magnificent piece in film making ever! David O. Selznick, Victor Fleming and every one else who was involved in the making of this movie treated Margeret Mitchell and her novel with respect. I wonder why they don't make movies like this one anymore so innocent, Family-oriented.

David O. Selznick has really outdone himself. An Epic of our time. Rated G. This enormous Epic provides Excellent Family Viewing. Kids and adults of ALL ages will enjoy this 4hr epic. You'll ENJOY this thriller.

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Summary: Mamamia
Review: Gone With the Wind beautifully depicts the south during the Civil War and the Reconstruction era, but through its own "Rose - Colored Glasses." This is to say that the movie completely ignores the poor classes discontent before the war, thus only focusing on the rich planter aristocracy. It also gives a very optimistic view of slave life during and after the civil war. The movie was released in 1939, during the heart of FDR's New Deal and the beginning of WWII (and the US's nonintervention policies). Many aspects of the movie are related to a certain extent to these policies in the movie. The movie begins with a post Civil War society that lived in lavish plantations. The barbecue at "Twelve Oaks" shows southern arrogance when they are talking about the upcoming war with the then hated Yankees. They claimed that they can easily defeat the Yankees in a matter of days (It takes one southern planter to lynch ten Yankees). As the men are smoking their cigars and drinking their brandies, they claim their jubilant ideas and plans about the war. In fact, only the rich aristocrats were happy towards the upcoming war, while the small (poor) farmers were glad to get the slave capital off the hands of the aristocrats (since they could not afford it themselves). Most poor farmers welcomed the Union army, and were thus called "scalawags." This fact is almost erased from the movie. When the war is declared, all the aristocrats (young) rush off to enlist for the "southern cause." While in reality, most aristocrats paid poor farmers to go and fight in their place, or to pay some three hundred dollars so that they could be excused from the war. And since most southerners (poor, especially the poor immigrants) didn't fight for the war, the Confederate army was severely handicapped. Although the movie nicely depicts the southern attitudes to wards the war. The movie also shows an optimistic view of southern attitude towards the blacks (not only the house slaves, but also the field slaves as well). In the movie the blacks are actually happy with their white masters. In one jocular scene, a slave yells "Quit'n Time," instead of a white master. In another scene, Ashley remarks that one should not treat a person so harshly (the people were tied to chains and forced to work), while he had some slaves himself. Even Scarlett remembers the names of all her former slaves.

Once the Confederates loose the war, the soldiers return home. Only to find harsh realities imposed by the black rule (although implicitly stated by the movie), Scalawags, and the Carpetbaggers. The black rule in the post Civil War is demonstrated by the blacks freedom in the streets, and one ex-slave who is riding a carriage, while other ex- confederate soldiers (whites) are walking. In one scene, the streets of Atlanta are filled with freed slaves, talking, playing music, and poking fun of different things. The Scalawags also imposed a $300 tax on the Tara plantation (Scarlett's plantation). This only demonstrates the brutality imposed by pro-northern people. With lack of money, people are reduced to work in harsh conditions, and hardly getting enough to sustain their family. In one dramatic scene, Scarlett finds her plantation completely ruined by Union army soldiers. When she is going around her plantation, she finds a carrot still in the ground. She gets down as says one of her favorite lines, "God as my witness, I shall never go hungry again." This demonstrates the brutality that the southerners had to go through during the early Reconstruction days. Although, some of the white's brutalities over the blacks start to appear, when Scarlett's is attacked by a band of scalawags. Promptly, her second husband, Kennedy, goes to a "political meeting." We can deduce that this political meeting is an early form of the KKK, since most blacks were hatted getting superior posts in government jobs during the military rule. But once Scarlett marries Rhett Butler, most of the Reconstruction hustle disappears, since they live in elegant homes and style. From this point on, most of the historical value of the movie is lost. From this point on, it's a movie of drama, love, rumors, and trust. This does not only have a great deal of historical significance, but it also gives important information about the time when this movie was released (1939). The war (WWII) had already started in Europe, but FDR proclaimed the Neutrality Proclamations (a series of four proclamations). As each proclamation was issued, the country drifted more into the war tangle. This movie strikingly demonstrates the brutality of war, and thus it is clearly nonintervention propaganda. The brutalities of war are also demonstrated by the recent Depression of the 1930's. As FDR's New Deal drifted the country back into progress, and with the new war in Europe, Gone With The Wind, demonstrates a nonintervention policy would benefit all.