Gone With The Wind

I just hope to get this fixed. I am already spending WAY too much time on this!!!

GWTW is not only a love story but an epic war story-- a drama that tells the tale of our nation's most devastating war with a southern perspective sadly missing in history classes. Vivien Leigh, an English actress who bested the long list of US actresses wanting to play Scarlett, deserved her Oscar for playing main character Scarlett O'Hara. It's regrettable that Clark Gable didn't win one too, because Rhett Butler was undoubtedly his finest role as an actor. Hattie McDaniel won an historic Oscar for a brilliant portrayal of Scarlett's "mammy," often flummoxed trying to get Scarlett to behave. She was Scarlett's strongest moral influence after her mother's death, having raised her from infancy. McDaniel was the first black actress to win an Oscar, yet Hollywood made her receive her award in a segregated facility. Margaret Mitchell's best-seller is a must read-- couldn't put it down when I read it as a teenager. They remain my favorite movie and favorite book.

Yes, this film was made in the 1930s by confederate-loving Hollywood. However, it remains a film classic and those who know the film know the obvious objectionable scenes. Plenty of this saga isn't objectionable and is a visual triumph. You certainly won't see it on television. For those interested in GWTW the Mitchell biography by Anne Edwards, "The Road to Tara" is a good read.