A book to celebrate GWTW’s 75th Anniversary!
During Gone With the Wind‘s filming, Vivien Leigh complained constantly about the script’s unplayable dialogue and kept a copy of Margaret Mitchell’s novel with her to bolster her arguments. David O. Selznick frequently yelled at her to “please put that damn book away.”
One dialogue battle that Leigh went head-to-head with Selznick on concerned Scarlett’s line when Rhett visits after Frank Kennedy’s funeral. Victor Fleming directed this scene, as well as the scene in which Scarlett eases her widow’s grief with brandy, on Monday, April 24, 1939.
A tipsy, tearful Scarlett admits to Rhett that she is glad her mother is dead and can’t see her. “I always wanted to be like her — calm and kind — and I certainly have turned out disappointing.”
Selznick kept cutting the line, but Leigh fought for it. She believed it defined Scarlett’s character. Leigh won, and the line stayed in.
Happy 75th Anniversary, Gone With the Wind!
Blog Bio: Pauline Bartel is the author of The Complete GONE WITH THE WIND Trivia Book (2nd edition), which will be published in spring 2014, and an expert on the film and its history. Visit the website (www.paulinebartel.com/resources/books/books-available) for further information. Follow her on Twitter @PaulineBartel and “like” her on Facebook (www.facebook.com/TheCompleteGWTWTriviaBook).