On January 28, 1939, George Cukor directed the sequence of Ellen O’Hara’s return to Tara. This turned out to be Gone With the Wind‘s second jinxed scene.
In the scene, Barbara O’Neil as Mrs. O’Hara informs Robert Gleckler, who was playing overseer Jonas Wilkerson, that she had just come from Emmy Slattery’s bedside. Cukor and producer David O. Selznick were both pleased with that scene as well as others Gleckler had done.
But tragedy struck during a break in production: Gleckler died of uremic poisoning on February 25. Victor Jory was hired to replace Gleckler, and all of the previously filmed scenes were reshot under the direction of Victor Fleming.
Blog Bio: Pauline Bartel is the author of The Complete GONE WITH THE WIND Trivia Book and an expert on the film and its history. Visit the website (www.paulinebartel.com/resources/books/books-available) for further information.