MARY BRASWELL: Looking Back 75 years to ‘Gone With The Wind’

Each week Albany Herald researcher Mary Braswell looks for interesting events, places and people from the past. You can contact her at (229) 888-9371 or [email protected].

Fans came in droves to downtown Atlanta’s Peachtree Street Dec. 13-15, 1939 to see the stars of “Gone With The Wind.” Here is a look back at the film that remains a favorite 75 years later.

WHO’S WHO

— Margaret Mitchell — author of the 1,037-page novel first published in June 1936; recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937

— The movie — Victor Fleming, director; David O. Selznick, producer, and Sidney Howard, screenplay

— The O’Hara family — Gerald and Ellen (Thomas Mitchell and Barbara O’Neil) and their daughters, Scarlett (Vivien Leigh), Suellen (Evelyn Keyes) and Carreen (Ann Rutherford)

— The (main) servants — Mammy (Hattie McDaniel), Pork (Oscar Polk) and Prissy (Butterfly McQueen)

— The Wilkes family — John (Howard C. Hickman), his daughter India (Alicia Rhett) and son Ashley (Leslie Howard)

— Brothers Brent and Stuart Tarleton (George Reeves and Fred Crane)

— Hamilton siblings — Melanie (Olivia de Havilland) and Charles (Rand Brooks) and their Aunt Pittypat (Laura Hope Crews)

— Rhett Butler from Charleston (Clark Gable)

A POTPOURRI OF DETAILS

— Six weeks after publication, Selznick bought the movie rights from Mitchell for $50,000. At the time, it was the highest price ever paid for a first novel. Reportedly, he later sent the author another $50,000, saying she was undercompensated.

— O’Neil, Scarlett’s mother, was only three years older than Leigh.

— The film has more than 50 speaking roles and 2,400 extras, not including 1,100 horses.

— The first scene to be shot was the burning of the Atlanta Depot, a 40-acre blaze. Numerous old sets were used for the fires including those from “King Kong” (1933) and “King of Kings” (1927).

— Selznick used all seven of Hollywood’s Technicolor cameras in existence for the filming of the 226-minute movie.

— Howard never read the novel before filming began. He was also one of the few male characters who did not die in the war. The actor, in reality, died during World War II.

— In the scene where Scarlett goes looking for Dr. Meade among 1,600 soldiers, 800 of the bodies were dummies, a money-saving measure.

— Olivia de Havilland had never been a mother at the time of the filming. For the scene where Melanie has a baby, she visited a maternity hospital. Off camera, the director twisted her ankles and pinched her toes to give her “labor pains.”

— All four main characters, Scarlett, Rhett, Melanie and Ashley, appear together in only one scene of the movie. It is after the raid in Shantytown when Rhett tells Scarlett that her husband, Frank Kennedy, is dead.

— The horse ridden by Gerald O’Hara was later Silver on the “Lone Ranger” in 1949.

— Leigh worked on the film for 125 days and was paid about $25,000. Gable received over $120,000 for his 71 days of work.

— The film’s original billing went in this order: Clark Gable, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland and then, presenting Vivien Leigh.

— As a part of the pre-shooting publicity, the public was asked to vote on an actress to play Scarlett. Of the hundreds submitted, Leigh reportedly received only one vote.

— Leigh freely admitted that she did not like kissing Gable. She said his breath was terrible … or perhaps it was his dentures.

— Max Steiner was borrowed from Warner Bros. to write the musical score. It took him 12 weeks to complete the task. Five orchestras were hired and the final score features 99 separate pieces of music.

— The entr’acte music was played on a Novachord, the first use of an electronic synthesizer in a major Hollywood film.

— The Tara plantation facade remained on the lot until 1959, when it was dismantled. The location was later used for the outside set of “Hogan’s Heroes” (Stalag 13) in 1965.

—Selznick was required to give distribution rights of the movie to MGM for the use of Clark Gable.

— Neither Leigh nor Gable knew how to dance. During the scene at the ball, the two stood on a platform that could easily be moved or rotated by stage hands off-camera.

— Rhett was not allowed to speak the word “miscarriage” to Scarlett. Instead he says, “Maybe you’ll have an accident.”

— When quizzed about how she felt playing the role of a maid, Hattie McDaniel stated she would “rather play a maid for $700 a day than be one for $7 a day.”

— “Do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of” on the sundial during the opening barbecue scene. It is a quote from Benjamin Franklin.

— Film footage totalled in the neighborhood of 500,000 feet and reached 88 hours after the final shooting. Editing brought it down to 20,000 feet and just under four hours.

— Estimated production costs were $3.9 million. At the time, only “Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ” (1925) and “Hell’s Angels” (1930) had greater price tags.

SHOWTIME!

Wednesday, Dec. 13

— Ann Rutherford arrived in Atlanta first. She came into the Terminal Station at 10 a.m. and was whisked by car to the Georgian Terrace at Peachtree and Ponce De Leon.

— At 3 p.m.,Vivien Leigh, along with her lover, Laurence Olivier; Olivia de Havilland, and David Selznick and his wife arrived at Candler Field aboard an Eastern Airlines flight. All were taken to the Georgian Terrace.

Thursday, Dec. 14

— Rutherford spent part of her day visiting Confederate War veterans at the Old Soldiers Home near Grant Park.

— She and a group from the Junior Chamber, sponsors of that night’s gala ball, then met an airplane carrying Clark Gable and his wife, Carole Lombard. Their motorcade back to the Georgian Terrace followed a pre-planned route so some fans could see them.

— The guest list for the pre-premier ball included most of the cast, Southern politicians, the wealthiest Atlanta residents and select others. Leslie Howard (Ashley Wilkes) did not attend. He had already returned to Great Britain and the ongoing war.

— An Atlanta favorite, Laura Hope Crews (Aunt Pittypat) was in attendance at the ball but not Hattie McDaniel (Mammy) nor Butterfly McQueen (Prissy). Segregated Atlanta society forbade their presence. A boys choir from Ebenezer Baptist Church performed, however, of which 10-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. was a member.

Friday, Dec. 15

— Many of the cast and crew toured the Cyclorama. During the visit, Clark Gable quipped that “The only thing missing was a likeness to Rhett Butler.” After the comment, a plaster of Paris likeness of Butler was made and still remains on display today.

— In the afternoon, the group drove to Piedmont Park for a press party. Margaret Mitchell was one of the guests of honor.

— That evening, a cold one in Atlanta, crowds lined the streets for the arrival of the stars at Loew’s Grand Theatre. Cars paused to let the stars exit and loud cheers greeted each one.

— A lively ovation went out as a group of Confederate veterans arrived, guests of Margaret Mitchell.

— As the curtain came up and the music began, a hush fell over those gathered. At its end, there was still a crowd outside, smaller and quieter, but large nonetheless.

— Former President Jimmy Carter recalls the premiere as “the biggest event to happen in the South in my lifetime.”

AND THEN …

— Most of the cast and crew flew out that evening or the next day, many to New York City which would host its own premiere the following week.

— Although both were married to someone else, Laurence Olivier proposed to Vivien Leigh on their flight out of Atlanta. She accepted. Following divorces, the two married in 1940 and stayed together for 20 years.

— Hattie McDaniel, the first black ever nominated for the award, won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Other Oscars went to Vivien Leigh, director Victor Fleming, writer Sydney Howard and David Selznick for Best Picture.

Quiz Answer:

D) 300,000