A book to celebrate GWTW’s 75th Anniversary!
On Thursday, May 11, 1939, Sam Wood directed Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland in the aftermath of “Scarlett Killing the Yankee Deserter.” This sequence included Scarlett and Melanie deciding what to do with the body, searching the cavalryman’s pockets and haversack and preparing to move the corpse.
“If he bleeds across the yard, we can’t hide it,” Scarlett says. “Give me your nightgown, Melly. I’ll wad it around his head.”
This was the moment studio workers had anticipated ever since word had spread like wildfire that de Havilland would be wearing nothing underneath the garment. Little wonder then that a large crowd had gathered behind the lights to watch the scene unfold.
As de Havilland slipped off the nightgown, the hopes of the multitude were dashed. There stood de Havilland sans nightgown but wearing a camisole and a pair of pants rolled up to her knees.
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).