This date in 1939 saw the world première in New York of Gone with the Wind, starring Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland. Ten facts about the movie.
It was adapted from the 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell, produced by David O. Selznick of Selznick International Pictures and directed by Victor Fleming. In the beginning, George Cukor was director but he was fired, allegedly because, as a gay man, he wouldn’t be able to direct love scenes between men and women properly. Vivien Leigh and Dame Olivia de Havilland stayed in touch with him, though, and asked for coaching about their roles, behind the backs of Selznick and Fleming.
David O. Selznick purchased the movie rights from Margaret Mitchell for an unprecedented $50,000, just one month after the novel was published. At the time, it was the highest sum that had ever been paid for an author's first novel.
Selznick wanted Clark Gable as the male lead from the get go but it seemed that his contractual obligations with MGM would rule him out. Errol Flynn and Gary Cooper were considered. Gary Cooper was definitely not interested and is quoted as saying, "Gone with the Wind is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history. I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper." Margaret Mitchell is said to have preferred Basil Rathbone as Rhett, although in an interview, when asked who should play him, replied, “Groucho Marx”. Selznick eventually cut a deal with MGM, giving them half the film’s profits in exchange for letting him have Gable. Gable himself had his conditions. He allegedly said that he would refuse to take the role if any part in it went to Katherine Hepburn. Even so, he still hated the film because he deemed it "a woman's picture."
When it came to casting Scarlett, Selznick and his team decided to use the process to build publicity. They considered a huge number of actresses, both known and unknown, including Jean Arthur, Tallulah Bankhead, Susan Hayward and Lana Turner. While Margaret Mitchell refused to publicly state her preference, she thought an actress called Miriam Hopkins was closest to her own vision of Scarlett. However, Hopkins was in her mid-thirties at the time and was considered too old. Katharine Hepburn wanted the role badly and had George Cukor lobby for her, but Selznick didn’t think she was right for the role. That, or he knew Clark Gable would walk if he gave it to her. Another publicity stunt was getting movie fans to vote for their preferred choice. Vivien Leigh only got one vote (though to be fair she was virtually unknown at this point).
The first scene shot was the burning of the Atlanta Depot, on 10 December 1938. The fuel for the Fire was old sets the studio wanted to get rid of. The fire cost over $25,000 to stage, and local residents jammed the phone lines to the fire brigade because it seemed to them that the studio was burning down.
This was the first colour film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, and the longest film ever to win. Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American to be nominated for and win an Oscar, and the only one until 1990, when Whoopi Goldberg won Best Supporting Actress award for Ghost. Even so, some African-Americans criticised her for taking a role which reinforced racial stereotypes. Hattie replied that she’d "rather make seven hundred dollars a week playing a maid than seven dollars being one." This was in the times when America was segregated and McDaniel wasn’t even allowed to attend the film’s premiere. Clark Gable threatened to boycott the event unless she could attend, but she persuaded him to go anyway.
David O. Selznick asked Margaret Mitchell for her feedback on every aspect of production. She made comments on the appearance of Tara. It shouldn’t have columns, she said, and only one staircase. Her comments were ignored and she refused to make any more.
Some believe that this is the first film to include the word “damn”. That’s not true. The word had already appeared in some silent movie subtitles and in some talkies too, including Pygmalion, a British film, so not subject to the American prissiness of the time about swearwords.
The music was written by Max Steiner. 1939 was a busy year for him, in which he composed the scores for 12 films. He was given only three months to compose the three hours of music for Gone With the Wind, the longest movie score up until that point. It meant he often had to work through the night and take pills to keep himself awake.
Dame Olivia de Havilland was the longest surviving member of the cast. She was the only major cast member to live long enough to celebrate the 70th and 80th anniversaries of the premiere. She died on 26 July 2020, at the age of 104.
Christmas is coming!
A Very Variant Christmas
Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.
The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?
Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.
Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.
Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.
Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.
Available from Amazon and Amazon Kindle
No comments:
Post a Comment