full title Gone With the Wind
director
· Victor Fleming
· George Cukor (uncredited)
· Sam Wood (uncredited)
· William Cameron Menzies (credited as Production Designer)
leading actors/actresses Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Leslie Howard, Olivia de
Havilland
supporting actors/actresses Hattie McDaniel, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O’Neil, Ona Munson,
Butterfly McQueen, Alicia Rhett, Evelyn Keyes, Carroll Nye
type of work Feature film
genre Drama; war; romance
language English
time and place produced 1936–1939;
California
awards
· 1939 Academy Awards:Winner,
Best Actress in a Leading Role (Vivien Leigh)Winner, Best Actress
in a Supporting Role (Hattie McDaniel)Winner, Best Art Direction
(Lyle R. Wheeler)Winner, Best Cinematography, Color (Ernest Haller,
Ray Rennahan)Winner, Best Director (Victor Fleming)Winner, Best
Film Editing (Hal C. Kern, James E. Newcom)Winner, Best Picture
(David O. Selznick)Winner, Best Writing, Screenplay (Sidney Howard)—first posthumously
awarded Academy AwardWinner, Technical Achievement Award (Don Musgrave)An
honorary award for outstanding achievement in the use of color to
enhance dramatic mood (William Cameron Menzies)
· 1939 New York Film Critics Circle
Award for Best Actress (Vivien Leigh)
· Photoplay Awards Medal of Honor (David O. Selznick)
date of release December 15, 1939
producer David O. Selznick
setting (time) The Civil War and first part of the Reconstruction
Era
setting (place) Atlanta, Georgia and the surrounding countryside; one
scene in New Orleans and one in London
protagonist Southern belle Scarlett O’Hara
major conflict Scarlett struggles to survive and prosper during the
Civil War and Reconstruction Era.
rising action
· Part One: Scarlett sees the man she loves married to
another woman and escapes to Atlanta, where she is forced to confront the
horrors of the rising tide of the Civil War.
· Part Two: Left with nothing by Yankee looters, Scarlett
fights to rebuild Tara and her fortunes while negotiating a troubled relationship
with Rhett Butler.
climax
· Part One: Scarlett finally makes it back home to Tara
only to find her mother dead, her father sliding into madness, and
her beloved plantation a looted shell.
· Part Two: After Melanie collapses, Scarlett realizes
she and Ashley were never meant to be together and rushes home to
tell Rhett how much she loves him.
falling action
· Part One: After seeing the full extent of the destruction,
Scarlett swears she will do whatever she has to in order to never
go hungry again.
· Part Two: Rhett says that Scarlett’s love has come
far too late and walks out, leaving Scarlett determined to think
of a way to get him back.
themes The permanence of the land; the real cost of war;
self-reliance as the key to success; personal strength can lead
to loss
motifs Dreams; obsession; drastically changing circumstances
symbols Tara; Rhett’s gun; Scarlett’s hats
foreshadowing
· In Gerald O’Hara’s first scene the audience learns
that Gerald has long been chided for the recklessness of his jumps.
Later, it is one of these jumps that finally ends his life.
· After Bonnie stubbornly insists on jumping her pony,
Scarlett comments that she sounds exactly like Gerald. Moments later, Bonnie
dies in exactly the same way Gerald did. When Scarlett tells Rhett
how little she wants to be pregnant with his child, he cynically
tells her to hope she has an accident. Moments later, Scarlett falls
down the stairs with such force that she loses the baby.