Classic Movie of the Week: Gone with the Wind (1939)

Gone with the Wind has always been one of my favorite movies. I grew up watching it. I’ve secretly always wanted to be Scarlett O’Hara (probably not the best role model) and I’ve always not so secretly wanted Rhett Butler. Scarlett and Rhett are what make Gone with the Wind brilliant. These two characters are so real, so strong, and so magnificent that they are impossible to turn away from. And if you’re not looking at them, you’re looking at the bewitching backdrops that make this film so special.

The movie begins with Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh), the very pretty and very headstrong daughter of an Irish plantation owner, flirting with two twin boys. It is the South right before the Civil War, all is calm and idyllic, but the viewer can sense chaos on the horizon. She goes to a party at her neighbor John Wilkes’s house, where she confesses her love for his son Ashley (Leslie Howard) and learns of his impending marriage to his sweet cousin Melanie (Olivia de Havilland). She also meets Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), witness to her rejection. He ridicules Ashley and further enrages Scarlett (a not unusual state for Scarlett, who spends the majority of the film enraged, especially where Rhett is involved). Then, the Civil War breaks out and the peaceful picturesque world of the Old South is set on fire…

For a great Scarlett and Rhett scene, click here.

For the trailer, click here.

Side Note: The book is awesome too.

Gone with the Wind can be found at the Humanities Resource Center and Netflix.

-Lolita De Palma '14