Gone With the Wind Triumphant at the Oscars

Hollywood was abuzz and aglitter with Oscar fever on February 29, 1940, at the Cocoanut Grove of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. The 8:30 p.m. event was the twelfth annual awards presentation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. As was the custom,...

8.4 Ways to Celebrate Gone With the Wind’s 84th Anniversary

Gone With the Wind fans can’t wait to celebrate the film’s 84th anniversary on Friday, December 15, 2023, during 1939’s twin year. Here are 8.4 ways to mark this cinematic and calendrical milestone: Watch Gone With the Wind. If you have the 75th anniversary DVD, pop...

The Porch Scene

On Thursday, January 26, 1939, George Cukor called “Action,” and Gone With the Wind’s principal photography began. Vivien Leigh in her green sprig silk muslin dress warned the Tarleton boys that one more mention of war would send her right into the house. But when the...

Pivotal Paddock Scene

On Wednesday, May 24, 1939, Victor Fleming directed Vivien Leigh and Leslie Howard in the pivotal paddock scene also known as the “Orchard Love Scene.” To recap: Needing $300 to pay the taxes on Tara, Scarlett seeks advice from Ashley, whom she finds splitting rails...

Sam Wood to the Rescue

In April 1939, producer David O. Selznick recognized that the grueling pace of filming Gone With the Wind was taking a toll on his cast and crew, especially director Victor Fleming. On April 14, Selznick confided in a memo to executive staff that Fleming “is so...