Gone With the Wind

Starring: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia deHavilland
Directed by: Victor Fleming
Rating: G
Genre: Drama, Romance
Box Office: $189,523,031
1939

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Awards: 8 Academy Awards 1939: Best Picture, Best Director (Victor Fleming), Best Actress (Vivien Leigh), Best Screenplay (Sidney Howard)Best Color Cinematography, Best Interior Decoration, Best Film Editing, and Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel)
The Movie Files Movie Championship I: Sweet Sixteen

Summary: Margaret Mitchell's amazing novel comes to life. The story follows Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) pining for the man she loves, Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard), although he's married Melanie Hamilton (Olivia deHavilland). The Civil War comes and spoils the perfect life for everyone, and it brings with it Captain Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), who immediately is taken with Scarlett.

Review:

Tim: Gone With the Wind... one of the greatest motion pictures in the history of mankind. It has perhaps the greatest quote in any film ever- millions who have never seen the movie can immediately quote, "Rhett... If you go, where shall I go? What shall I do?" and the amazing response: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." Clark Gable saying this line and walking out the door- perhaps the best scene ever.

This masterpiece is 3 hours and 52 minutes long, bringing to it a quality that you can't find in movies nowadays. The film is beautiful to look at, even decades after its original release. Every scene is nothing less than magnificent. People have said Gone With the Wind is more than a movie. That is so incredibly true.

Vivien Leigh gives the performance of a lifetime as Scarlett O'Hara. She is strong, brave, and intelligent, all the while being silly and foolish. She will talk back to anyone, fearing no one- yet she's prone to break down into hysterics. Over the course of the film, you see the remarkable transition of a naive Scarlett, slowly, through seeing death and hard times, into a much more remarkable woman. Her final transition, her breakthrough into a decent human being comes too late, in one of the greatest and most tragic scenes in film history.

Then there is Clark Gable as Captain Rhett Butler. He didn't win an Oscar for his role, and that was a sad mistake. There are no words to describe Gable in this film. His performance is perhaps the finest male performance ever captured on film. I believe every man that has watched this movie can't help but wishing they were a little more like Rhett Butler. Gable gives the performance of a lifetime- a generation- no, a performance that spans mutliple generations, and will continue to astound viewers forever. If you have not seen this film, if you watch for no other reason, watch to see Clark Gable. If you want to see perfection, genius, masculinity, love, hate, and charisma all combined into a single performance, you must watch this movie.

Now, I watch movies mostly for excitement and entertainment. My favorite films are action/adventure. However, a film like this crosses the boundaries of all movie viewers. Any half-decent movie viewer will know a masterpiece when they see it- this film is nothing less than that. It won 10 Academy Awards, and should have won more. In my opinion, this film is the greatest film of all time. If you go through your life and watch only one movie- then this film has to be it. If you want to see pure humanity captured on film, then look no further than this. If you have not seen this film yet, then you are missing a part of American culture, indeed, you are missing a piece of your soul. If you don't listen to a single film I recommend, listen to me now. See this movie. I promise you will not regret it- and your soul will thank you for it.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 10



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