Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind

[Crimson]

She was always totally dependent on men like Rhett, but as long as she was unconscionable about it and refused to genuinely care about them in return, she remains "strong and independent." Scarlett was a narcissist, probably with sociopathic tendencies, but that seems like "strength, defiance and control" to some.

All true, although contextually a woman in the 1860s would have had few paths to success other than strategic marriage and fewer paths to independence other than widowhood. Scarlett played the hand she was dealt; she played it well and dispassionately. Unlike classic screen vamps or femes fatale, there was no malice in Scarlett's actions. She did what was necessary to survive and thrive, she just indifferent to the impact on others. If I thought GWTW and the similarly themed FOREVER AMBER were more than slick potboilers, I'd say there's some social commentary in there; presumably that was a big factor on why the stories resonated with women in the '30s and '40s.

And all the reason why I maintain Leigh was the best and only option. Except for Davis, who might have leaned too far in the other direction, I think any of the other actresses would have made Scarlett more likeable. Goddard was an immensely appealing actress. Scarlett being so unlikable, while not help but admiring her determination, is what makes her such a unique character.

 

[Crimson]

I’ve always thought there was a little bit of that ‘I want what I can’t have’ in Rhett too.

There's an interpretation that Scarlett represents the South wavering between the fraudulent glory of its past (Ashley) and the cynicism of modernity (Rhett). I don't dislike it, but I doubt either Mitchell or Selznick had that in mind.

 

[Scorpienne]

All true, although contextually a woman in the 1860s would have had few paths to success other than strategic marriage and fewer paths to independence other than widowhood. Scarlett played the hand she was dealt; she played it well and dispassionately. Unlike classic screen vamps or femes fatale, there was no malice in Scarlett's actions. She did what was necessary to survive and thrive, she just indifferent to the impact on others. If I thought GWTW and the similarly themed FOREVER AMBER were more than slick potboilers, I'd say there's some social commentary in there; presumably that was a big factor on why the stories resonated with women in the '30s and '40s.

And all the reason why I maintain Leigh was the best and only option. Except for Davis, who might have leaned too far in the other direction, I think any of the other actresses would have made Scarlett more likeable. Goddard was an immensely appealing actress. Scarlett being so unlikable, while not help but admiring her determination, is what makes her such a unique character.

I think Leigh’s passion for the book made her excellent for the part. I’ve watched some of the other auditions and none of them had that magnetism Leigh had. She absolutely loved that book, too much according to Victor Fleming.

Bette is one of my all-time favorite actresses but I think Jezebel was a better vehicle for her - and I don’t believe GWTW would have performed as well at the box office with her in the lead role.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

All true, although contextually a woman in the 1860s would have had few paths to success other than strategic marriage and fewer paths to independence other than widowhood. Scarlett played the hand she was dealt; she played it well and dispassionately. Unlike classic screen vamps or femes fatale, there was no malice in Scarlett's actions. She did what was necessary to survive and thrive, she just indifferent to the impact on others. If I thought GWTW and the similarly themed FOREVER AMBER were more than slick potboilers, I'd say there's some social commentary in there; presumably that was a big factor on why the stories resonated with women in the '30s and '40s.

And all the reason why I maintain Leigh was the best and only option. Except for Davis, who might have leaned too far in the other direction, I think any of the other actresses would have made Scarlett more likeable. Goddard was an immensely appealing actress. Scarlett being so unlikable, while not help but admiring her determination, is what makes her such a unique character.

I think Leigh’s passion for the book made her excellent for the part. I’ve watched some of the other auditions and none of them had that magnetism Leigh had. She absolutely loved that book, too much according to Victor Fleming.

Bette is one of my all-time favorite actresses but I think Jezebel was a better vehicle for her - and I don’t believe GWTW would have performed as well at the box office with her in the lead role.

George Cukor, the original director (and continued to work with the actresses after his being fired) stately bluntly years later that GWTW would never have become the all-time classic that it did had any other actress been cast other than Vivien Leigh.

Which was true. She really was born to play Scarlett. And it's hard to say precisely why, but Leigh always reminds me off a "popular girl" you knew in highschool who people didn't actually like all that much but was prominent in some way.

In earlier eras, women mostly achieved status through men (some might say that hasn't changed as much as it appears) but subsequent generations of girls still took to Scarlett as a kind of "princess" role model. Although today, the movie's just too old for some younger people to be all that much aware of, and current woke-ist zeitgeisty disapproval over the minimizing of the film's racial issues probably squelch its influence today.

Are "the kids" even aware of GWTW?

 

[Scorpienne]

She really was. Losing out on Catherine in Wuthering Heights was one of the best things that ever happened for her - and for us too.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

She really was. Losing out on Catherine in Wuthering Heights was one of the best things that ever happened for her - and for us too.

And Margaret Mitchell's take on WUTHERING HEIGHTS was totally correct: the music was too loud and you can't hear the dialogue.

Today, they do that on purpose.

 

[Scorpienne]

I did not know that and never thought of it before! Next time I watch, I’ll pay closer attention.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

@Crimson makes a good point that Scarlett was totally self-serving but didn't demonstrate any particular malice. That may be why generations of young girls aspired to Scarlett's princess archetype but never seemed to embrace cinema's dragon bitch-monsters other than to be entertained by them.

 

[Toni]

Scarlett was a mini-J.R. As we all said here, she wanted what she couldn´t get. Swellin wouldn´t have expressed it better...

 

[Crimson]

She really was born to play Scarlett. And it's hard to say precisely why

I think Leigh was an inherently unsympathetic actress. Even her Blanche is less delicate than brittle. The undercurrent of harshness, even of instability, added greatly to some of her performances. I think that if De Havilland -- the first choice -- had played Blanche, the result would have been a wilted flower with none of the jagged nuances of Leigh's performance.

Are "the kids" even aware of GWTW?

I belong to a few reddit groups dedicated to classic films, with a sizeable portion of younger fans. GWTW, like the films of John Wayne, is greatly out of fashion. While some of that is due to an inability or refusal to contextual the past beyond their own 2020s sensibilities, I don't regret it too much. I've long thought GWTW was greatly overrated.

On the plus side, Crawford's rep has fully recovered from Dunaway!

 

[ClassyCo]

Bette is one of my all-time favorite actresses but I think Jezebel was a better vehicle for her - and I don’t believe GWTW would have performed as well at the box office with her in the lead role.

There is not another actress I can see playing Scarlett except Vivien Leigh. Vivien as Scarlett was the perfect marriage between actress and character, and no one else could've done the part justice.

That said, Bette Davis desperately wanted to play Scarlett, and went to her grave feeling she should've gotten the role. In her autobiography, Davis says, "It was insanity I not be given Scarlett", although she once told Dick Cavett that she had declined the part somewhere around 1936 when Jack Warner offered it to her. Believing it to be another trash story similar to the ones that been giving her at the time, she laughed it off, saying, "I bet it's a dilly, too," and walked away from Hollywood with the plan to make films in England. This is the version she told Cavett in the early-70s anyway.

Davis, a very good actress, was not right for Scarlett. I second your assessment that GONE WITH THE WIND wouldn't've been as big of a hit in 1939 nor would be as fondly remembered today had Davis played Scarlett.

JEZEBEL, however, was perfect for Bette. One writer said, "It wasn't the wind, but it was a respectable breeze."

 

[ClassyCo]

Are "the kids" even aware of GWTW?

Depends on how you define "kids". I am 29 and my sister-in-law is 32. We are both excited to go see GWTW on October 10.

 

[Scorpienne]

I think Leigh was an inherently unsympathetic actress. Even her Blanche is less delicate than brittle. The undercurrent of harshness, even of instability, added greatly to some of her performances. I think that if De Havilland -- the first choice -- had played Blanche, the result would have been a wilted flower with none of the jagged nuances of Leigh's performance.



I belong to a few reddit groups dedicated to classic films, with a sizeable portion of younger fans. GWTW, like the films of John Wayne, is greatly out of fashion. While some of that is due to an inability or refusal to contextual the past beyond their own 2020s sensibilities, I don't regret it too much. I've long thought GWTW was greatly overrated.

On the plus side, Crawford's rep has fully recovered from Dunaway!

Vivien even said herself that Blanche tipped her on over to madness. (She unfortunately didn’t need much help at that point). I know she wasn’t for everyone. None of them are. But I have to respect that she was nominated for exactly two Oscars and won both times. That’s quite a fete for someone who really didn’t make that many movies in the whole scheme of things.

 

[Miss Texas 1967]

Depends on how you define "kids". I am 29 and my sister-in-law is 32. We are both excited to go see GWTW on October 10.

Seconding this. I'm your sister-in-law's age, and I went through a GWTW phase a couple of years ago. I own the gorgeous deluxe edition of the book, two DVD copies, the Scarlett miniseries, and Rhett Butler's People (which I hated, tbh).

It's one of those things people feel the need to put a disclaimer before admitting they enjoy, but the real ones know the magic of the property. I think a lot of the criticism in recent times comes from people who see (or worse, have only heard about) the surface-level racial stuff and don't actually engage with what a critical masterpiece the film is, or with the fact that the book is written from a very specific perspective, with a certain level of raised eyebrows at the attitudes of its characters.

Even the fact that Rhett points out that all the South has is cotton, slaves, and arrogance, and that Scarlett is completely over all the talk about doing it for the cause, those elements, written by Mitchell herself, actually represent a viewpoint that is much closer to many modern critical perspectives than some people would care to admit.