CASTING RHETT
(Selznick's memos)

To: Katherine Brown
May 28, 1936
What do you think about Ronald Colman for the lead? Spent late last night talking stories with him and found myself selling him this story. He seemed interested indeed, and we discussed matter of southern accent. He thinks he would love to tackle it and says he would spend next several months making study of it and is sure he could masterit, and I don't doubt that he could...Do you think Colman is insane for it? Even if Colman is right, the problem is that it takes him forever to make up his mind...

To: Mr. O'Shea
January 4, 1937
One of our strongest possibilites for the lead in Gone with the Wind is Errol Flynn. Myron is to determine from Warner Brothers whether they would give us a picture a year with Flynn, if we gave him this lead [...]. For your confidential information, Cukor and I jointly feel that the choice is in the following order: 1. Gable. 2. Gary Cooper. 3. Errol Flynn. 

To: Katherine Brown
March 25, 1937 
MUST REGREFTULLY INFORM YOU THAT CHANCES OF GETTING GABLE ARE PRACTICALLY NIL, IF NOT IN FACT ACTUALLY INEXISTENT.

To: Mr. J.H. Whitney
March 14, 1938
...I feel that we must get the production plans of this picture settled before you leave California, and also that any plans involving Gary Cooper should be settled, if possible, before Goldwyn goes to Europe on Friday. 
I therefore urge you to make clear to Mr. Goldwyn that there is no chance whatsoever of our distributing the picture through United Arists unless it is clear before he leaves for Europe that in any negotiations that may take place during his absence for the release of the picture through United Artists, we are to have Gary Cooper for the lead...

From: Margaret Mitchell
To: Katherine Brown
July 13th, 1938
Clark Gable...was not as popular here in the South as in the other sections of the country... He has never been a choice for Rhett down here. People think he's a very fine actor, too, but they think he does not look Southern or act Southern...In looks and and in conduct Basil Rathbone has been the first choice in this section, with Frederic March and Ronald Colman running second and third.

To: George Schaefer (United Artists)
August 25, 1938
We have signed contracts with Metro calling for the release of GWTW and for Gable as Rhett Butler. The only regret I have about the deal is that you and I will not be associated in the handling of this picture. I cannot help but feel that the picture would have been made by now and would have been released through United Artists had we been able to secure the long-sought cooperation on Gary Cooper, but this is water over the dam... 

To:Ed Sullivan (New York Daily News columnist)
August 26, 1938
...You have been in Hollywood enough to realize that players under contract to a studio cannot be secured by another studio just for the asking, even for a project such as Gone with the Wind. The public's choice was clearly Gable for Rhett Butler. For two years I tried everything on earth to get Clark Gable. But you ought to have a rough idea as to how willing MGM would be to guve up Clark Gable for a picture to be released by another company - bear in mind that my was under an exclusive contract for distribution with United Artists. 
Accordingly, the only way I could get Gable was to distribute the picture through MGM, and this meant that I had to wait to start the picture unitl my contract with United Artists had expired, which it does with Made for Each Other, which we are now shooting. Therefore, Gone with the Wind, with Clark Gable as Rhett Butler, couldn't under any circumstances have been made one day sooner...