In recent years, Avengers 4: Endgame and Avatar have alternated at the top of the box office lists of the most financially successful films of all time. The inflation rate is usually ignored. Today Gone with the Wind is on TV and is considered by many to be the “truly” most successful film of all time.
Gone with the Wind takes you back to the time of the American Civil War
Producer David O. Selznick’s dream project is based on the novel of the same name by Margaret Mitchell. Vivien Leigh plays Scarlett O’Hara, daughter of a cotton plantation in Georgia. In 1861 she dreams of her crush Ashley (Leslie Howard), but he gives her the cold shoulder. So Scarlett turns to the cynic Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). But she can’t forget Ashley, even in the turmoil of the American Civil War. Over the years, the film follows Scarlett’s sometimes unscrupulous fight for her true love and her family legacy, which is marked by tragedy.
MGM
Blown by the wind
Director Victor Fleming’s film was released in 1939, accompanied by a marketing storm. It ran in cinemas for years and was shown again several times. According to Box Office Mojo, in the USA alone over 200 million tickets for the film were purchased. The Guinness Book of Records and other sources list Gone with the Wind as the highest-grossing film of all time, with its box office, adjusted for inflation, estimated at over $4 billion.
As soon as it was released, the film was condemned for its depiction of African-American slaves
Actress Hattie McDaniel, who played the house servant Mammy, became the first African American to win an Oscar. However, the depiction of slaves was already the target of criticism back then. Molly Haskell leads in her book Frankly, My Dear: Gone With the Wind Revisited divided reactions from African-American circles. Some observers praised McDaniel’s performance, especially compared to the small roles usually reserved for black actors in Hollywood films.
MGM
Vivien Leigh and Hattie McDaniel
Others accused her of playing an Uncle Tom character, so there’s that Stereotype of a submissive black character. There were demonstrations in some cities against Gone with the Wind, which the Chicago Defender newspaper described as “weapon of terror against black America” as stated in the New York Times. The Pittsburgh Courier described the portrayal of slaves at the time as “happy domestic servants and thoughtless, helpless idiots”.
One should not ignore the romanticization of the American South in Gone with the Wind. The film shines with epic images that do justice to the emotional storms. The focus is on an incomparably stubborn heroine who brings about her own fate and misfortune with her eyes wide open. Scarlett is a complex heroine, rarely lovable, always fascinating. The However, the differentiated approach to character portrayal is not reflected in the way the historical era is dealt with. In Gone with the Wind, the reasons for the Civil War are glossed over, as is the everyday life of African Americans on a plantation. Each individual must unite these opposites for themselves or not.
This is how you can watch Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind is running today, January 1, 2024 from 8:15 p.m. on Arte, that is, without commercial breaks. Thanks to a running time of around 210 minutes, the film still ends shortly before midnight. The repeat will air on January 5th from 2:15 p.m.
In addition, Victor Fleming’s classic is available to purchase and rent from various providers.