It's impossible not to be carried away by the rich arterial force of this storytelling.
Gone With the Wind (1939)
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Reviews Counted: 58
Fresh: 56
Rotten:2
Average Rating: 8.7/10
Consensus: Filmed and presented on a scale not seen in modern productions, Gone with the Wind is, if not the definitive Hollywood film, then certainly near the top of the list.
Theatrical Release: Dec 15, 1939 Wide
Synopsis: Hot-tempered, self-centered, part-Irish Southern beauty Scarlett O'Hara, played to the teeth by Vivien Leigh, loves the gentlemanly Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard). Smug, rebellious, honest, blockade-running profiteer Rhett... Hot-tempered, self-centered, part-Irish Southern beauty Scarlett O'Hara, played to the teeth by Vivien Leigh, loves the gentlemanly Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard). Smug, rebellious, honest, blockade-running profiteer Rhett Butler, portrayed gracefully and naturally by Clark Gable, loves Scarlett. Ashley, who is also in love with Scarlett, marries his genteel cousin Melanie (Olivia de Havilland) because he believes that their quiet similarities will create a better marriage than Scarlett's passion. Meanwhile, sparks fly between Rhett and Scarlett at their first encounter and continue throughout Scarlett's first two marriages. Scarlett and Rhett finally wed, but Scarlett continues to pine for her beloved Ashley. Set against the Civil War and Southern Reconstruction, this tragic love quadrangle offers the burning of Atlanta and fields of wounded Confederates as part of its lush scenery. Meticulous backdrops, glorious sunsets, numerous silhouettes, and the ultrasaturated Technicolor film create a hyperreal vision. The romantic score is every bit as lush and dramatic as the photography, borrowing folk melodies from the Old South to make the tragic war concrete. Heavy nostalgic tones pervade the often witty dialogue and larger-than-life charms and faults of the leads. GONE WITH THE WIND stands among the greatest epic dramas ever filmed. [More]
Starring: Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Hattie McDaniel
Starring: Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Hattie McDaniel, Leslie Howard, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil, Evelyn Keyes, Butterfly McQueen, Ann Rutherford, George Reeves, Fred Crane, Oscar Polk, Victor Jory, Howard Hickman, Rand Brooks, Laura Hope Crews, Eddie Anderson, Harry Davenport, Jane Darwell, Ona Munson, Paul Hurst, Isabel Jewell, Eric Linden, Ward Bond, Jackie Moran, Cliff Edwards, Yakima Canutt, Louis Jean Heydt, Irving Bacon, Alicia Rhett, Everett Brown, William Bakewell, Mary Anderson, Carroll Nye, Cammie King, Leona Roberts, Mickey Kuhn, Lillian Kemble-Cooper, Olin Howland, Robert Elliott
Director: Victor Fleming
Director: Victor Fleming
Story: Margaret Mitchell
Screenwriter: Sidney Howard
Composer: Adolph Deutsch, Max Steiner, Hugo Friedhofer, Heinz Roemheld
Producer: David O. Selznick
Studio: MGM
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Reviews for Gone With the Wind
One of the truly great films, destined for record-breaking boxoffice business everywhere.
Grand old Hollywood at its most magnificent and melodramatic. Say what you like about the soapy characterisation and plotting, the spectacle flattens all in its wake.
A critic-proof movie if there ever was one: it isn't all that good, but somehow it's great.
Terrificly acted, staged and designed, Gone WIth the Wind remains one of the greatest period epics ever filmed.
Despite the star power of Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable, Wind has lost some of its bluster, yet it survives as a glorious Technicolored window into America's dusty, bygone past.
What more can one say about this much-loved, much discussed blockbuster?
Forget it, no Civil War film has made a nickel, producer Irving Thalberg told Louis B. Mayer about a melodrama that would break records and become a unique cultural phenom
Well, even if it is essentially four hours about a selfish, silly cow, it's impeccably well made, and should be seen by anyone with even a passing interest in romance or movies.
It's so full of iconic moments of plotting and dialog that a feature film could be edited just out of the most quotable moments.
...producer David O. Selznick's crowning achievement and a film that stands up as one of the screen's finest classics.
One of the classic films that defined American cinema, Gone With the Wind is a rare example of a collaboration involving hundreds of talents and egos that turned out great.
Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara remain the greatest pairing of irresistible force and immovable object in Hollywood romance.
Latest News for Gone With the Wind
August 26, 2008:
Fred Crane: 1918-2008 ![]()
Fred Crane, the actor who spoke the opening line in "Gone with the Wind," succumbed to complications from diabetes last Thursday. He was 90. More...
June 22, 2007:
AFI Announces Top 100 Movies of All Time ... Again
Ten years ago the AFI gave us a list of the Top 100 American Films Ever Made -- and when that was done they churned out 15 other lists every few years. And then last night they... More...
February 16, 2007:
Count Down Oscar History with RT's Best of the Best Pictures
We're kicking off a clear and sunny California Friday with a new feature: The Best of the Best Pictures, a convenient Tomatometer-sorted list of all 79 Best Picture Oscar... More...
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