Project 501: Gone With the Wind
Everything I know, I learned from Gone With the Wind:
- The Sound of Music TOTALLY STOLE the whole making-clothes-from-curtains motif! It was apparently Scarlett O’Hara, and not Maria (soon-to-be) von Trapp, who pioneered roaming around [Atlanta] in nothing but some old drapes…only to have it stolen in wonderful fashion (ha, pun semi-intended) by Carol Burnett:
- If you can’t have what you want, marry somebody you don’t love. They’ll die a conveniently rapid death, leaving you to repeat the process until you decide you don’t want what you wanted anymore. Works every time!
- Horseback riding—and jumping in particular—is baaaaad.
- Radishes are disgusting.
- Clark Gable must have had the biggest (male) butt in old Hollywood. (Not actually new news—Project 501 has already covered It Happened One Night and Mutiny on the Bounty (click for reviews!), after all—but the way he wears his pants up to his armpits is not helping. Whether the pants are a cause or an effect of the size of his rear end is unknown.)
- When you find yourself in trouble, consult your local Hooker with a Heart of Gold. What she lacks in stature in the (above-board) community, she makes up for in practical advice and financial know-how.
- A wonderfully flawed character can carry a four-hour movie, no sweat.
- A pair of wonderfully flawed characters can constitute one of the greatest love stories of their century, regardless of how badly they need professional help.
In summary: Delightful in its willingness to go big or go home. Silly, dated, and not super-sensitive to the needs of anybody not white and male, but still awesome enough to be compelling 70 years after its release.
Next: Rebecca (1940), the only Hitchcock to win Best Picture.
For the origins of Project 501, click here; for other Project 501 Best Picture reviews, click here.
Project 501, Academy Awards, Best Picture winners, Gone With the Wind, Scarlett O’Hara, Rhett Butler, Clark Gable
August 28th, 2008 at 5:14 am
I still maintain that Scarlett is like a certain person we know. And it’s true - Clark Gable has a big butt! I just saw Mutiny on the Bounty myself, and I thought the same thing!
August 30th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Ooh, Rebecca is good. Saw it in film school. Totally creepy, but wonderful.