1)
During
class I learned that before the making of Gone with the wind black actors and
actress never had any starring roles in a drama film. The only roles that they
were depicted in were comedies and musicals and they were portrayed in menial
roles or as happy genial help or as marginalized talent such as being a singer
or dancer ,an example of a black actor staring in a musical is the classic Shirley
temple movies having Bojangles Robinson dance along side Shirley temple. Hollywood white actors would also use black face
to depict black actors.
Gone with the wind a 1936 novel written by Margaret
Mitchell, it took her 10 years to write this novel and Selznick purchased the
rights to her novel to create Gone with the wind for $50,000. Once the rights
to her novel were purchased Mitchell refused to comment or advice on the film. This
was Michell's only novel published during her life. Sadly she died in 1949 by a
speeding car. The leading stars of the movie were heartthrob Clark Gable and
English leading lady Vivian Leigh, also staring Hattie McDaniel, Butterfly
McQueen, Olivia De Havilland and Leslie Howard. Gone with the wind Won numerous
Academy Awards the groundbreaking award was Best Supporting Actress Hattie
McDaniel . Unfortunately Clark Gable did not win Best actor it was awarded to
Robert Donet in Goodbye Mr. Chips .
Other honors included Ranking 4th in American Film Institutes Top
100 Best American Films of all time, and selected to be preserved by National
Film Registry, Highest grossing film of all time until 1966, but adjusted for
inflation, it is still the highest box
office earnings. Up until 1939 it was the longest film at 3hrs 44minutes, and
one of the first films shot in Technicolor.
2)
This article gave everything that
was needed to be a good film review it didn’t drag on and explained the views on
the film without lacking any information, such as the personalities of the
characters the southern styled setting ,the disputes of the characters , the
conflicts and the strong will that both Scarlett and mammy displayed.
Information on the article that I did find interesting was Vivian Leigh didn’t land
the role as Scarlett until after filming had begun. She wasn’t sighed on until the
day of the famous burning of Atlanta was filmed. A stunt woman played scarlet
in the fire scenes it was unaware to the public. It was the most expensive film ever
made at $4million and it held that record for many years.
3)
From reading the article my opinion of the film didn’t
change at all , it actually was more of a crash course on the movie and it was
straight to the point and included the import aspects of the movie and its
characters ,and how the author felt
about the film. For example Scarlet was first depicted
as a pampered southern bell with a strong personality; who only had eyes for soon
to be married man Ashley. Unfortunately Ashley only had eyes for his cousin Melanie.
Scarlet soon locks eyes with the hardedge
mescaline and stubborn Rhett Butler. Who fancy’s Scarlett, all this is taken
place the night that civil war is declared. The author depicts the scenery and
the attitudes of the south as it was back then.
4)
I
would have never thought that I would watch Gone with the wind, and after
watching it, my views of the civil war have definitely changed. The film gives the views of how the southern
people felt about the war. I always had sides with the north and thought
southern people to be crude and nasty from reading history books on the civil war.
I never had compassion towards anyone in the south until I watched Gone with
the wind. Like the north they went through a lot of struggle and hardship and
lost loved one’s, and had there homes destroyed as well. Scarlett went threw a
lot in the movie with losing her parents and having her plantation nearly destroyed,
as well as losing her daughter and her husband towards the end of the movie.
Gone with the wind has all the true elements of an epic film and it grabbed my
attention from beginning to end, it is without a doubt a classic film that is
worth watching, because it has irony, great character placement and is a true
tale of being once loved and having it all slip away from you due to selfish
ways.
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