Here are some memorable moments from Gone With the Wind‘s night at the Oscars:
Sidney Howard’s win for Best Screenplay made him the first posthumous Academy Award winner.
When Hattie McDaniel’s name was announced as the Best Supporting Actress winner, she whooped a “Hallelujah” and hurried to the podium.
Being selected for the award, she said, “has made me feel very, very humble, and I shall always hold it as a beacon for anything I may be able to do in the future…My heart is too full to tell you just how I feel.” She sobbed a quiet “thank you and God bless you” and hurried back to her table.
Watch Hattie McDaniel’s acceptance speech on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7t4pTNZshA
There she buried her face in her hands and cried. Olivia de Havilland, who had lost to McDaniel, went to offer her congratulations. Then, feeling overcome by her own disappointment, de Havilland left the room and burst into tears herself.
Clark Gable was disappointed with not having won an Oscar for Rhett Butler. On the way home from the Academy Award ceremony, his actress-wife Carole Lombard tried to snap her husband out of his bad mood.
“Aw, don’t be blue, Pappy. I just know we’ll bring one home next year.”
“No, we won’t,” Gable said dejectedly. “This was it. This was my last chance.”
Lombard became furious. “Not you, you self-centered bastard! I mean me!”
Happy 75th Anniversary, Gone With the Wind!
Special 75th Anniversary Offer for Gone With the Wind fans: free personally inscribed, autographed bookplate for readers of The Complete GONE WITH THE WIND Trivia Book. Details here: http://paulinebartel.com/?p=1793
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).