Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind, looked as though it was to be a very bad movie, because generalities have shown me so. But I found this movie extremely enjoyable, for it's time(circa 1939) its cinematography is absolutely stunning, the storyline is great, and the characters are memorable. The story is about a civilization that is about to be turned to dust, The South at the time of the Civil War. The mix of romance, war, drama, and humor, makes this movie a movie for the ages, and gets a 9.5 out 10 rating from me.Victor Flemming's portray of the South is Beautifully done, and it's people are to the T. The movie itself brings relevant questions from the Civil War to any era after it. How do we treat minorities? What is love? How do we deal with the loss of love and loved ones? Why do we love? All are brought up in this movie and are very powerful questions indeed.

The Movie follows the trials and tribulations of a young Southern Belle named Scarlet O'Hara(Vivien Leigh). At the beginning of the movie, Scarlett is secretly in love with a man named Ashley Wilkes(Leslie Howard), but He doesn't love her back. Soon at a party at the Wilkes' plantation Scarlett finds out that Ashley is to marry his cousin, Melanie Hamilton(Olivia de Havilland). Scarlett is Furious with Ashely and tells him that she loves him, but she is turned away. Then Scarlett finds a new man named Rhett Butler(Clark Gable, my favorite character in the movie) his wit and charm has caught her eye, but she is still in love with Ashely. After her run in with Rhett and Ashley, the plantation goes into an uproar, because the war has started. All the men go off to enlist and fend the Great South. So distraught over the loss of Ashley's love, Scarlett rushes into marriage with his cousin, Charles Hamilton(Rand Brooks). After a couple weeks of fighting, Charles is lost and Scarlett in "mourning". Wanting to get out of Tara(Her Plantation) she goes to Atlanta to a fundraiser for the troops, where she is the talk of the town because she is showing her face to the public, but she doesn't care. While there she meets again Captain Rhett Butler, she is quite surprised and seems to be falling in love with him, but Rhett's rougher charm doesn't catch hold. At the end of the night though Rhett gets what he wants, a dance with Scarlett.

Slowly but surely the South is crumbling, Scarlett is forced to stay in Atlanta to help the injured and dying. But while there Melanie is pregnant and too weak to deliver a baby by herself. Scarlett, and her sevant Prissy(Butterfly McQueen, a horrible character because of her "nails-on-chalkboard" voice) have to deliver it themselves. They do, but Melanie is very weak and they transport her to Tara, where on the way Rhett decides to enlist into the badly beaten Southern ranks. When the women return to Tara, they find out that Scarlet's Mother has died and the plantation has fallen into a state of ruin. Just before the intermisson, yes this movie is that long, Scarlett tells the world that she will do anything in her power to regain her wealth and never go hungry again.

Really the rest of the movie is way too good to give away, so I won't. It's the tale of Riches to Rags back to Riches, Love is lost and Love is found. One comes to hate or love certain characters(Rhett Butler), and this movie truly is one of the best movies that I've seen. So to end, all that I will say is that, "Frankly, This movie was Damn Good"