A book to celebrate GWTW’s 75th Anniversary!
On March 11, 1939, action on Gone With the Wind‘s set centered around scenes and sequences at the Twelve Oaks Barbecue:
- “Melanie and Ashley’s Love Scene” In this tender scene, Ashley tells Melanie that she seems to belong at Twelve Oaks and that he fears their beautiful world will crumble if the war comes. Melanie reassures him that “no war can come into our world” and that she will love him until she dies.
- “War Talk” In this testy sequence, Rhett spoils “everybody’s brandy and cigars and dreams of victory” with his plain talk about the North’s war readiness. This marked the first time that Clark Gable and Leslie Howard shared a Gone With the Wind scene and the only time that all of the men who will marry Scarlett — Charles Hamilton, Frank Kennedy and Rhett Butler — were in the same scene.
- “Staircase Gossip About Scarlett” The tittle-tattle taking place about her on the Twelve Oaks stairs — “Well, men may flirt with girls like that, but they don’t marry them” — drives Scarlett to tears.
- “Scarlett and Her Admirers” Surrounded by admirers in the Twelve Oaks gardens, Scarlett revels in her role as belle of the barbecue until she sees Melanie and Ashley walking arm in arm. Glimpsing the intimacy of their togetherness makes Scarlett feel threatened. She refuses the cake brought to her by Charles Hamilton and ignores his declaration of love.
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)