Gone With The Wind

Obviously one of the best movies ever made, this adaptation is also true to the book. Although there are some themes that fail to shine through, this movie is very true to the text. The omissions (Scarlett's older child and her 2nd marriage, for example) only make sense, as the movie is already 4 hours long. The casting is wonderful, with the possible exception of Ashley. Scarlett is beautiful and charming, and Rhett is, well, all man. Ashley is a weak character in the book, and he is weak in the movie, so at least that's consistent. The last scene, with Scarlett running in the fog towards Rhett, was well done, but it would have been a more powerful scene if Scarlett's similar dream had been mentioned at some point. It would have been nice to see more of Scarlett's gradual warming towards Melly, but again, it would have been hard to fit much more into the movie. The death of Bonnie was as powerful and unexpected as it was in the book. Reading it, I had stopped and said "No!" out loud.


I felt that Mitchell spent a lot of effort painting the Civil War era, and it's not quite as powerful on film. One particularly strong scene involved Scarlett being reprimanded by a family slave. It's evident that Mitchell believed that the relationship between slaves and their masters was not always negative. In fact, the text seems to suggest that slavery was a legitimate way of life. Perhaps that was intentionally dropped from the movie, along with all the examples of southerners reduced to poverty and desperation because of the "War of Northern Aggression".


Thankfully the "Frankly my dear I don't give a damn" was trasferred faithfully to the screen. It is even more obvious on the screen that Rhett is in love with Scarlett, there is some doubt in the book. The pain she puts him through finally is enough, and he walks out of her life without looking back. And everywhere viewers nod, and say "it's about time."