GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)

You know when Scarlett O’Hara furiously swears she’ll never be hungry again in the final scene of GONE WITH THE WIND before the intermission? Well, the 12 year old kid that I was thought that this was the end of the film and walked out of the theater. It took me years to realize I had only seen half of it. When I did catch on to my mistake, my reaction was, meh, why bother with the rest? Fast foward to four decades, and what do you know, I have finally seen this classic in its entirety, and let me tell you it sure was worth the wait.

 

I’ve never been that keen on historical dramas whether on screen or on paper. So perhaps the kid in me that day caught it early on and got out of that movie theater as quickly as he could. Not that the film was a total bore. I remember liking it enough. But after two hours of North and South bashing, slave slapping, and that damn American Civil War ultimately taking over everything else, I wanted to stick with lighter fares, like VALLEY OF THE DOLLS or THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE (which I promise to spotlight one of these days).

 

One evening after dinner recently I found myself locking eyes with the film. It had already started. Perhaps an hour and a half, more or less, had passed but I still found myself intrigued and soon realized I wanted to finish what I had started that many years ago. I had never read the novel, though I do own it (bought an old English paperback edition in Paris). I always imagined that I would eventually invest my time in it. Now I am positive that I will, for what I came to see on my flat screen TV gave me reason enough to pick the novel up and dig right in.

 

I won’t go over the film too much (what else could I say that has not already been said before) but I will declare that I came out of it surprised, enthralled, touched, but most importantly in awe of the whole thing. Clearly, this big melodramatic event deserves all the stops, only for the chance to see the actors, the costumes, the scenery, the cinematography, the special FX, the whole enchilada. Yes, you will be caught up in the goings-on of that snobby little know-it-all who succeeds in making you like her despite her many faults. You’ll even come to understand her plight when Rhett Butler walks out on her on that faithful day. I know I did.

 

Now I really want to see the TV miniseries SCARLETT based on the continuing story by novelist Alexandra Ripley. I’ll probably read it first. So don’t expect a review real soon. Remember, I need to go over the Mitchell book first and that one is also a door stopper. But if you’re really, really patient I’ll eventually get to it, just like I did with this featured movie. I just hope it won’t take me another 40 years to do so.

 

Until next post—Martin