Aren't southern women manipulative?

This film is truly a classic. The stars, the scenes, the music, and the one liners we all know by heart.

I recently rented this film though I have seen it several times. I must say that any movie that can keep me entranced for 3 hours and 55 min is incredible!

The film must be analyzed in context of its time period. Selznick was ingenious in producing it in technicolor. The country was all abuzz about the film. The book had been on the bestsellers list for over a year and the text had been translated into many languages. The story had captured the world.

The story we all know is centered around Scarlett, a beautiful belle who lives in Georgia. We follow her and her family through the civil war and the burning and destruction of the South. You may not realize that the history in this film is very accurate. Margaret Mitchell went to great lengths to research the battles of the Civil War. She even goes as far as to confirm the weather on an exact date.

While Margaret Mitchell may have been accurate in her historical presentation, it was by no means dry and factual. She develops her characters with detail. The dialects of the black Southerners was well studied and carefully planned. As with any region, dialects will vary with class and race and Mitchell was successful in presenting all of these groups and how they meshed together.

When Selznick began production of this film, he was careful in casting the stars. His choices were perfect. Vivien Leigh delivers a Scarlett we will all remember and her on film chemistry with Gable is captivating. The public's expectations were enormous and the right cast was crucial.

Although history was happening all around them, the true intent of the film is a character study of various personalities in a time of crisis. Our central character, Scarlett transforms before our eyes. She angers us as the selfish debutante, but later impresses us with her ability to pull the family together and build a new Tara. Scarlett is a true Southern lady in her ability to wield power. She uses her womanly ways to manipulate ever man in every scene.

Vivien Leigh is remarkable. She and Olivia de Havilland mimic the southern accents with simplicity. Remember, Leigh is a Brit, so this was a task. The acting was amazing as all of the characters were believable, as odd as it may seem. True southerners find none of the characters far fetched, but the entire country was mesmerized by the actors on the big screen.

The main characters were crucial, but the development of the slaves was what made the movie real. Butterfly McQueen portrayed the bothersome, whining Prissy who was merely a girl trying to complete the duties of a woman. Hattie McDaniel charmed us a Mammie. Her loyalty to Scarlett was heart warming.

The story was captivating, but Selznick is to be congratulated on developing a film that captured a nation. Citizens were already captured by the novel. The development of each scene and each location would be crucial. He took Margaret Mitchell's writing and turned it into a visual masterpiece.






P.S. If you are a true GWTW fan you should read my review of the Margaret Mitchell house/Museum in Atlanta. It is under Atlanta/travel. If you're in town, you must see it!