Gone with the Wind (1939)

patrickios December 12, 2018

★ 9/10

I cannot fully explain all aspects of the movie easily and clearly in a text smaller than a large volume, but yet I will try to compress it decently here. First and foremost, the movie for me is like a spectacle which could go on with the same cast for 100 hours and still be interesting and captivating. I have always wished it had been a series with this cast instead of a movie. Futile wishes! The casting, to begin with, is very well matched to the book's spirit if not the physical descriptions. Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland and Hattie McDaniel. I stop here and will edit it bit by bit to complete it in a few days. It is too large to finish in one writing.

CinemaSerf June 19, 2026

★ 7/10

If there wasn't a word for melodrama before this film, there certainly was after it. It's a spectacular soap opera that allows some of the more memorable dialogue from English language cinema to merge with performances from a few of it's most accomplished character actors. "Scarlett" (Vivien Leigh) is the spoilt little rich gal living the life of a millionairess on her daddy's plantation and swooning over the dashing "Ashley" (Leslie Howard). Her path would seem to be set out before her, and with the Confederacy convinced that the looming Civil War would prove to be little more than a walk in the park for the gentlemen of the South, she is content. Meantime, the slightly rakish "Butler" (Clark Gable) is warning these complacent folks that with the industrial and military might predominantly in the North, they are about to get quite a surprise - and, of course, that proves red rag to a bu…