A book to celebrate GWTW’s 75th Anniversary!
On Friday, June 23, 1939, Victor Fleming directed Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable and a troop of extras in the pivotal scene following Scarlett and Rhett’s escape from Atlanta. Rhett witnesses a young soldier collapsing on the road, and that fuels his decision to join the Confederate Army.
Watch for two Gone With the Wind goofs:
- As Scarlett and Rhett’s wagon joins the line of retreating troops, a bearded, pipe-smoking soldier passes by carrying the young soldier. Yet, as Rhett looks back, he sees the young soldier collapsing and being picked up by the bearded soldier who was previously shown carrying him.
- Scarlett’s black mourning bonnet appears and then disappears.
After this scene was completed, Fleming moved cast and crew to another location where Gable and Leigh filmed “Rhett and Scarlett at Tara.” Rhett realizes that Scarlett draws strength from “this red earth of Tara,” and Scarlett wishes Tara could be the “way it was before the war.” Her wish is Rhett’s command. He agrees that she can renovate the plantation and that she can also build their new house in Atlanta.
Following this scene, Gable’s work for the day was over. But Leigh had to report to the Shantytown set to film her close-up shots and her face-to-face interactions with Big Sam and ruffians who attack her.
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) 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).