Leads: Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Thomas Mitchell
"You should be kissed and often...and by someone who knows how" - Rhett Butler
Setting
Tara/Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 19th Century
The Plot
The [loooooong] story of Scarlett O'Hara, the deepest and most complex female character of the Oscar-winners so far; and her romance with Rhett Butler, the only man in the film who had her pinned. Amid the love triangle (oh and the American Civil War) she seems unaware of the romance, can he catch her between husbands long enough for her to notice?
The Review
Like a musical stage play, it opened with an overture which was a nice way to start the film...we even had a musical intermission in the middle (after which it was disc-changing time) then a musical entr'acte before launching back in. Talk about overkill for a film that isn't even a musical!
We follow the character of Scarlett emerging from a young débutante, living on her father's cotton plantation and in love with a man engaged to someone else. Having had everything and lost it all, the fear of poverty drives her for most of the story as she manipulates and marries her way through the people in her world.
Sometimes I had to take a deep breath and remember this is set in the 1800's and shot in the 1930's...lines such as "a simple-minded darkie" and the fact that all the (*ahem) 'darkies' played inferior characters is just typical of the day.
Clark Gable, last seen on here in It Happened One Night, is back and once again determined to annoy the woman he loves until she caves in, if only that worked in real life!
I absolutely loved Vivien Leigh's performance of Scarlett, she displayed the complexities of the character realistically throughout the film without going over the top. Sadly despite playing the main character, Leigh got second billing on the posters; women's lib was a few decades away yet.
Olivia de Havilland played love-rival and sister-in-law to Scarlett, and provided a steady and compassionate level-headed figure amid the chaos, always talking people up and thinking the best of them. With Scarlett around, of course, this proved tricky indeed! Thomas Mitchell played Scarlett's father Gerald O'Hara beautifully, from the pioneering immigrant head of the household through to his demise into senility, or as one character tactfully worded it "your father's gone idiot". Charming.
Most of the supporting cast were fantastic too, with the exception of chambermaid Prissy [Butterfly McQueen] whose nasal voice was quite simple ghastly! It was hard not to love Mammy, the larger-than-life nanny to three generations and the unofficial ruler of the roost; she was so well-played by Hattie McDaniel she took home the Oscar® for Best Supporting Actress, the first black person to win an Academy Award®. In fact, they had to gain special permission for her to attend the ceremony held at a "whites only" venue. Words fail me!
The subtle camera angles, the lighting and the costume design all worked together seamlessly throughout. I particularly liked the shadow effect used when Scarlett and Melanie were nursing war patients which gave an eerie feel to the scene.
"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn"...for some reason I'd always had that pinned as one of those famous lines never said. Well he said it, and if you cuddle up and watch it you'll hear it...eventually...after 220 minutes, but it's worth the effort.
We follow the character of Scarlett emerging from a young débutante, living on her father's cotton plantation and in love with a man engaged to someone else. Having had everything and lost it all, the fear of poverty drives her for most of the story as she manipulates and marries her way through the people in her world.
Sometimes I had to take a deep breath and remember this is set in the 1800's and shot in the 1930's...lines such as "a simple-minded darkie" and the fact that all the (*ahem) 'darkies' played inferior characters is just typical of the day.
Clark Gable, last seen on here in It Happened One Night, is back and once again determined to annoy the woman he loves until she caves in, if only that worked in real life!
I absolutely loved Vivien Leigh's performance of Scarlett, she displayed the complexities of the character realistically throughout the film without going over the top. Sadly despite playing the main character, Leigh got second billing on the posters; women's lib was a few decades away yet.
Olivia de Havilland played love-rival and sister-in-law to Scarlett, and provided a steady and compassionate level-headed figure amid the chaos, always talking people up and thinking the best of them. With Scarlett around, of course, this proved tricky indeed! Thomas Mitchell played Scarlett's father Gerald O'Hara beautifully, from the pioneering immigrant head of the household through to his demise into senility, or as one character tactfully worded it "your father's gone idiot". Charming.
Most of the supporting cast were fantastic too, with the exception of chambermaid Prissy [Butterfly McQueen] whose nasal voice was quite simple ghastly! It was hard not to love Mammy, the larger-than-life nanny to three generations and the unofficial ruler of the roost; she was so well-played by Hattie McDaniel she took home the Oscar® for Best Supporting Actress, the first black person to win an Academy Award®. In fact, they had to gain special permission for her to attend the ceremony held at a "whites only" venue. Words fail me!
The subtle camera angles, the lighting and the costume design all worked together seamlessly throughout. I particularly liked the shadow effect used when Scarlett and Melanie were nursing war patients which gave an eerie feel to the scene.
"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn"...for some reason I'd always had that pinned as one of those famous lines never said. Well he said it, and if you cuddle up and watch it you'll hear it...eventually...after 220 minutes, but it's worth the effort.
The Slap
Scarlett "Man Eater" O'Hara. Supremely well acted by Vivien Leigh, but ye gads what a manipulative and self-centred cow she was at times. To her credit though, she does seem to be likable and genuinely sets out to benefit her family and home as well as herself; she's sure handy to have around during a robbery too!
No comments:
Post a Comment