Gone with the Wind: How A Classic Compares To Other Love Stories

Gone with the Wind: How A Classic Compares To Other Love Stories
Once upon a time, there lived a woman who loved to write more than anything in the world.

Gone with the Wind: How A Classic Compares To Other Love Stories

    Once upon a time, there lived a woman who loved to write more than anything in the world.  Her grandfather would sit in his chair in her living room and tell stories of the “Old Antebellum South” before the Civil War as a young Margaret Mitchell eagerly listened.  These experiences would pave the way for her to write one of the most well known novels of all time.  Gone with the Wind set the standard for similar love stories to follow.
    Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was born in Atlanta, Georgia on November 8, 1900 in Annie Fitzgerald Stephen's house to parents Maybelle Stephens Mitchell and Eugene Muse Mitchell.  At an early age, Margaret was inspired to write.  Whether it was for a school project or just in her leisure time, she found writing to be a convenient way to tell her stories and express herself.  When Margaret had turned sixteen, she had already finished her first novel The Big Four, which consisted of fourteen chapters and four hundred pages.  After high school, she attended Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts for a short while, but had to rush home when her mother fell fatally ill.  Margaret returned to college but only to leave again in June of 1919.  Due to her formal education’s abrupt end, she soon realized she needed a job.  Margaret, convinced writing was her calling, attempted to get a job working for the Atlanta Journal.  Unfortunately, at that time, journalism was a more male-dominated profession and she didn’t get the job; however, she discovered another paper she could write for named the Sunday Magazine.  She was interviewed by Angus Perkerson, an editor of the Journal, who hired her on December 20th, 1922.  Although her job’s environment wasn’t the best (she nicknamed it “The Black Hole of Calcutta”), Margaret grew accustomed to the men’s behaviors and even the lack of cleanliness in the building where she worked (Filmsite). After two failed marriages, she stepped ahead into her third to one of her old friends John Marsh on July 4th, 1925.  They were happy as most couples go and liked to have parties at their modest three-room apartment.  Having John as another income, Margaret decided in May of 1926 to quit her job at the Sunday Journal and stay at home.  For a reason unknown, she started researching the Civil War simply because of curiosity.  She dug up old newspapers, read countless books and talked to her father to find out anything that pertained to the Civil War.  Her obsession later led to the longing to be engaged in a project and that year, she began a novel on a typewriter that was a gift from her husband John.  For eight years, she secretly wrote her novel, not letting anyone know what she was writing with the exception of John.  Margaret Mitchell was not quick to give it to a publisher, and when The Macmillan Company expressed an interest in her novel, she was a bit surprised as well as hesitant.  Not only was her novel unfinished, but also she believed here was a great deal of editing to be done; however, she gave Harold Latham her manuscript and he left for New Orleans.  As soon as Harold reached his hotel, a telegram from Margaret simply stated: Please send the manuscript back I’ve changed my mind (Pictorial, 56).  Harold continued reading it and completely disregarded the message.  In 1935, Macmillan decided to publish the book after Margaret did some substantial editing.  While she did some minor tweaking, the most significant change was the change of her heroines name from Pansy to Scarlett.  Margaret was finished with her novel, but it was still nameless.  Macmillan had suggested a few titles including Another Day, Tote the Weary Load and oddly enough even Baa, Baa Black Sheep.  She had always liked poetry, Ernest Dowson in particular, and she sought to find her title in a piece of his work.  While reading Non Sum Qualis, by Ernest Dowson, she had discovered her title.  “I have forgot much, Cynara! gone with the wind,” (Scarlett, 19).  Her novel finally had its title and a set publication date: April 21st, 1936.  Gone with the Wind created a wave of what became known as “Scarlett fever.” Initially, 10,000 copies were printed, but within three weeks, 176,000 copies had been sold.  By the time a year had passed, 1,690,000 copies had been throughout the United States alone.  It wasn’t long before Hollywood took notice of the splash Gone with the Wind was making.  A story editor for Selznick International Pictures in New York named Katherine Brown read the novel and immediately wired David O. Selznick to read Gone with the Wind, convinced he would want to buy the rights to it for a film.  He read the novel and just as Katherine had said, he did want to buy the rights to make Gone with the Wind into a film.  On July 30th, 1936, Margaret signed a contract with Selznick International Pictures for $50,000.  
    Finding the perfect actors to portray Margaret Mitchell’s characters was more than a difficult job.  In this search, various people all over the country had their own particular say.  The actor chosen to play Rhett Butler, by the readers, was Clark Gable.  He was born in Cadiz, Ohio on February 1st, 1901.  His father, an oil driller, and mother were both from Germany, which lead to Clark changing the spelling of his name from Goebel to Gable because of the Nazis in the forties.  Without completing high school, Clark moved to Akron in search of a career in acting.  Although drawn more so towards the theatre, he discovered he was just what Hollywood was looking for.  But when he learned the news of Gone with the Wind, he was dead set against playing Rhett Butler.  He believed his acting abilities were not great enough to meet the satisfaction of Margaret Mitchell’s readers.  His other minor reasons were acting in such uncomfortable costumes (as he had experienced prior), speaking in a southern accent and dealing with the director George Cukor because he was considered a “woman’s director.”  Clark, at the time, was married to his second wife, Rhea Langham, but desperately wanted to divorce her to marry Carol Lombard (who he was already having an affair with).  Rhea wouldn’t divorce him despite knowing he was having an affair.  Louis B. Mayer, the “emperor” of MGM studios, suggested for Rhea to make Clark pay $265,000 to settle their divorce.  Louis then proceeded to make Clark an offer.  If Clark were to accept the role of Rhett Butler, he would receive a bonus of $100,000.  By manipulating both parties, Louis had gotten what he wanted.  Clark Gable was to play Rhett Butler and in all the public polls conducted, he came out in the lead anyway, but the actress to play Scarlett was rarely the same.
In the search for Scarlett O’Hara, there were over 1,400 actresses interviewed and ninety tested, including Bette Davis, Norma Shearer and even Lucile Ball (VivienLeigh).  David O. Selznick, the producer, looked high and low for his Scarlett, but found that maybe the only real Scarlett O’Hara was in Gone with the Wind and no where else.  It wasn’t until David was filming the burning of Atlanta with all of the old movies sets that he saw Vivien Leigh. “The shadowy figure stepped forward, green eyes glinting in the half-light.  Selznick always maintained that from the moment her first saw Vivien Leigh, the flames of Atlanta playing across her face, he had known she was Scarlett” (Pictorial, 26).
    The story was perfect and the readers loved it.  An unknown English actress named Vivien Leigh read Gone with the Wind and knew immediately she wanted to play Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien, 267).  Everyone around her thought this pursuit ridiculous and told her so.  But she wouldn’t be pushed aside by what they thought.  After her memorable entrance during the burning of Atlanta, Vivien was still quite hesitant as to whether she would receive the role she disparately sought.  She had to wait until a Christmas party that year to find out the great news.
The character Melanie was not as notoriously sought after as that of Scarlett, but to Olivia de Havilland, it was the part for her.  She was with Warner Brothers at the beginning of her acting career, and had grown sick of being typecast in various films.  Olivia often explained all of her troubles to her sister, Joan Fontaine, who eagerly suggested to George Cukor that Olivia should be tested secretly.  David O. Selznick decidedly assured Olivia after her test she had the part.  What was extremely difficult was convincing Jack Warner to let Olivia off on loan to MGM.  Just as suspected, Jack said no.  Although Olivia was discouraged, she didn’t lose all hope; after all, she could always go to his wife.  She told Mrs. Warner everything and in return, she agreed to talk her husband into letting her make Gone with the Wind.  
To David, the idealist Ashley Wilkes was a character with the name Leslie Howard written all over it and the readers agreed (ScarlettOnline).  Ashley was maybe a couple years older than Scarlett which put him around nineteen or twenty, but Leslie was forty-five! Unfortunately for him, he was the only one who thought his age was a significant factor in casting him as Ashley, everyone else overlooked it as nearly meaningless.  Another obstacle to Leslie was that he considered himself not as attractive as Margaret Mitchell had portrayed him in Gone with the Wind.  The largest reason for his opposition was his lengthy past of being typecast as a “watered-down weakling.” The time came to pass, and David needed to find a way to tempt Leslie into playing Ashley.  After some consideration, David devised a plan.  Leslie would play Ashley and afterwards, he would be the star and the associate producer in David’s next film: Intermezzo.  Leslie took the bait and reluctantly agreed to play Ashley.  
Gone with the Wind was a huge success.  After a week had passed, it had gained over $954,000 and within the year, it had grossed $14,000,000.  The movie and novel’s many statistics set records unattainable for numerous years to come.  
It’s plot and characters may differ from other love stories; however, those other love stories will forever be compared with an earlier love story where its inspiration may have originated.  The 1940 classic Casablanca and Gone with the Wind have virtually nothing in common, but people tend to compare the two based on which is better.  A true and fair analysis couldn’t possibly occur because of how different these two films are.  
In Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart plays an American nightclub owner named Rick Blaine who runs into his “old flame,” Ilsa Lund, played by Ingrid Bergman.  They had met in Paris, but she ran off because she was married.  A Nazi major travels to Casablanca to find out how the German couriers were killed and what became of the documents they were carrying.  A man that frequented Rick’s bar was the one who killed the couriers and took the documents and he gives Rick the documents to keep for him so he could sell them later, but the man gets arrested.  The Chief of Police tells Rick that Victor Laszlo, the European Resistance leader, is now also in Casablanca and needs to get an exit visa to get out with his wife who turns out to be none other than Ilsa.  The movie ends with Ilsa and Victor getting away safely in an airplane as Rick watches.  
Gone with the Wind and Casablanca are two completely different stories, but the endings in both are somewhat similar.  Both Scarlett and Rick had to watch the one they loved leave them forever, but the difference was Ilsa was already married and failed to inform Rick of that ever so tiny aspect.  
Gone with the Wind continues to be quoted to this very day and movies are still being influenced by what Margaret Mitchell and David O. Selznick created over 60 years ago.

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Works Cited

Filmsite.com.  Gone with the Wind (1939).  6 Jan. 2004.       .
Gardner, Gerald, and Harriet Modell Gardner.  Pictorial History of Gone with the Wind.  New York: Wings Books, 1980.
Pratt, William.  Scarlett Fever.  New York: Collier Books, 1977.
ScarlettOnline.com.  Frequently Asked Questions.  6 Jan. 2004.  .
Taylor, John Russel.  Vivien Leigh.  London: Elm Tree Books, 1984.
VivienLeigh.iwarp.com.  9 Mar. 2001.  6 Jan. 2004.  .My english essay on GWTW...I just wanted to post it on here.

!~YS4e~!
Scarlett