FRANKLY, MY DEAR...: FAULTS ASIDE, THIS CLASSIC DESERVES A WARM WELCOME
Author: Philip Wuntch, Film Critic
Source: The Dallas
Morning News, 06-21-1998, pp 1C.
With this week's re-relese of the restored "Gone With the Wind,'
two of our film critics sound off on why you should--and shouldn'
t--give a damn
Old movies are like old friends.
In both cases, you're aware of their flaws and sometimes roll your
eyes. You know all their best lines but laugh at them anyway. You
tell yourself simply to concentrate on their good points, and you
wind up having a good time. Above all, there's a feeling of kinship.
Gone With the Wind is a good old friend. It has a nationwide
homecoming
Friday, opening across the country in remastered digital sound and
a restoration of Technicolor's dye transfer printing process, which
allows clearer separation of colors and more attention to detail.
As with many longtime friendships, an emotional glaze covers some
sore spots. Like the Margaret Mitchell novel, the movie is filled
with racial stereotypes, a handicap too severe to be excused by
remembering
that GWTW was filmed 59 years ago.
At one point, Gerald O'Hara admonishes daughter Scarlett, "You
must be firm but gentle, especially with darkies."
All the master-slave situations are handled with delicate gloves
- white ones, of course. The masters are benevolent, and the slaves
are loyal. But didn't Mammy or Prissy ever wonder if something better
was possible?
Still, GWTW is not about to let reality interfere with a good yarn.
Its premise is plainly stated in the movie's prologue, with such
phrases
as "ladies fair . . . land of Cavaliers . . . where gallantry took
its last stand."
Gone With the Wind justifiably succeeds with the force of a myth.
And there are two major myths at work here - the Old South and Old
Hollywood. The Old South myth is still so fervent that Scarlett O'
Hara's "I'll never be hungry again!" speech echoes through most beauty
pageants south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
The Old Hollywood mythology has several participants. Producer
David O. Selznick was a compulsive, fanatical showman with an eye
for detail that even Titanic's James Cameron might applaud. Mr.
Selznick
navigated the search for an actress to play Scarlett, a ploy that
in itself became a national pastime. So much was written about the
film, even before it went into production, that some publications
quit writing the full title and simply referred to it by initials.
GWTW saves space but takes longer to say than Gone With the Wind.
And there's the myth of Vivien Leigh, the British actress who won
the role of Scarlett. Talented, beautiful and unstable, she became
the perfect subject for biographers of doomed divas. Since her 1967
death, almost as many books have been written about her as Judy Garland
or Marilyn Monroe. And of course, there's the myth of Clark Gable'
s Rhett Butler. Always the public's choice for the role, Mr. Gable
delivers one of his most Gable-esque performances, aided by better
dialogue than in most of his '30s flicks.
As played by the two stars, Scarlett and Rhett are vibrant enough
to compensate for the monotony of Olivia de Havilland's Melanie and
Leslie Howard's Ashley. Supporting roles are excitingly filled with
Hattie McDaniel's Mammy, Thomas Mitchell's Gerald, Laura Hope Crews'
Aunt Pittypat and Evelyn Keyes' Suellen. (You do wonder, though,
if Tara matriarch Ellen O'Hara was such a prized example of Southern
womanhood, how did her three daughters turn out so different from
her? Scarlett is selfish but strong, Suellen is selfish but weak,
and Carreen is a little ninny.)
Still, Scarlett strikes instant chords of recognition. When she
and Rhett move to Atlanta during their post-Civil War period of
extravagance,
she gloats, "I want everyone who's ever been mean to me to be pea-
green with envy!"
Guffaws of guilty identification usually greet the line. Most of
us have expressed the same sentiment, even if we were in grade school
or middle school at the time.
Scarlett's rebellious spirit is also appealing. Her battles with
Mammy over proper exposure of unclothed flesh and her scandalizing
Atlanta society by dancing in widow's weeds are among the film's
memorable
moments.
However, Rhett is more a wish-fulfillment character for both
genders.
Most guys wish they were as fast with a comeback as he is. And, at
least 59 years ago, many women viewers may have fluttered when he
euphemistically informs Scarlett that she needs to be kissed, "and
often - by someone who knows how!"
Ultimately, the movie is the work of a master showman rather than
a master director. The guiding force was always producer Selznick.
Three directors worked on the epic - George Cukor, Sam Wood and Victor
Fleming. Only Mr. Cukor had a reputation for artistry; the others
were solid craftsmen.
The Selznick showmanship expresses itself in the opening shot,
as the camera zooms down to the steps of Tara, where Scarlett the
Southern Coquette flirts with the Tarleton brothers. Knowing that
audiences would eagerly await the first glimpse of Vivien Leigh as
Scarlett O'Hara, Mr. Selznick sought to extend their anticipation
by delaying her initial close-up. When filming The Godfather, Francis
Ford Coppola used the same approach, delaying our first glance of
Marlon Brando's Don Corleone.
The burning of Atlanta doesn't rate as a great movie spectacle.
But sequences of the ravaged countryside are memorable, and the crane
shot of Scarlett wandering through the courtyard of wounded and dying
Confederate soldiers is rightly a classic.
The movie also contains stirring intimate moments, as when Rhett
and a reluctant Scarlett stroll through Atlanta, pushing baby Bonnie
in her carriage. Looking after Bonnie's future standing in society,
Rhett woos each Atlanta doyenne, while Scarlett forces a smile through
gritted teeth. It's a clever vignette, told with forceful cinematic
economy.
Both novel and movie have the perfect ending for what, essentially,
is a very classy soap opera. The conclusion ensures that audiences
will discuss the story at length. The sequels, both in print and on
television, were self-defeating.
On its own, Gone With the Wind is an old friend worth keeping.
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