GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)

Laurence Olivier: I looked back at Vivien, her hair giving the perfect impression of Scarlett's, her cheeks prettily flushed, her lips adorably parted, her green eyes dancing and shining with excitement in the firelight; I said to myself, "David won't be able to resist that." I retreated, leaving the field to Myron; David and George were approaching and Myron stepped towards them. He indicated Vivien and said, "David, meet Scarlett O'Hara." *

Running Time: 220 minutes (color)
Director: Victor Fleming
Uncredited Directors: George Cukor and Sam Wood
Producer: David O. Selznick
Novel: Margaret Mitchell
Screenplay: Sidney Howard
Uncredited Screenwriters: John Balderston, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Michael Foster, Oliver H.P. Garrett, Ben Hecht, Charles Miller, David O. Selznick, Jo Swerling, John Van Druten
Music: Max Steiner
Photography: Ernest Haller, A.S.C., Lee Garmes (Technicolor), associates Ray Rennahan, A.S.C., Wilfred M. Cline, A.S.C.
Also photos: Fred A. Parrish, Clarence Sinclair Bull, and Laszlo Willinger
Production Designer: William Cameron Menzies
Art Director: Lyle B. Platt
Interior Decoration: Edward Boyle
Costumes: Walter Plunkett
Scarlett's Hats: John Frederics (he did it free)
Fees: Vivien's fee was $25,000; Clark Gable received $120,000
Opened: December 15, 1939, Atlanta, Georgia; London, April 17, 1940

Starring: Vivien Leigh (Scarlett O'Hara), Clark Gable (Rhett Butler), Thomas Mitchell (Gerald O'Hara), Barbara O'Neill (Ellen O'Hara), Evelyn Keyes (Suellen O'Hara), Ann Rutherford (Carreen O'Hara), George Reeves (Stuart Tarleton), Fred Crane (Brent Tarleton), Hattie McDaniel (Mammy), Oscar Polk (Pork, O'Hara House Servant), Butterfly McQueen (Prissy, O'Hara House Servant), Victor Jory (Jonas Wilkerson, O'Hara Field Overseer), Everett Brown (Big Sam, O'Hara Field Foreman), Howard C. Hickman (John Wilkes), Alicia Rhett (India Wilkes), Leslie Howard (Ashley Wilkes), Olivia de Havilland (Melanie Hamilton), Rand Brooks (Charles Hamilton), Carroll Nye (Frank Kennedy, Wilkes' Guest), Laura Hope Crews (Aunt Pittypat Hamilton), Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson (Uncle Peter, Her Coachman), Harry Davenport (Dr. Meade), Leona Roberts (Mrs. Meade), Jane Darwell (Mrs. Dolly Merriwether), Ona Munson (Belle Watling), Cammie King (Bonnie Blue Butler), and Mickey Kuhn (Beau Wilkes)

In "Gone with the wind" the dress Vivien wore as Atlanta burned was in fact twenty-seven versions of the dress in various stages of deterioration.

Vivien Leigh was pictured on one of four 25¢ US commemorative postage stamps issued on 23 March 1990 honoring classic films released in 1939. The stamp features Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara and Gable as Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind.

Vivien Leigh: I wanted to play Scarlett from the first time I read the book. That was in London when I was appearing in a flop play. I fell in love with the novel and I gave the rest of the cast copies of the book as opening night presents. I told them, "If I ever go to Hollywood, it will be to play Gone With the Wind". They all laughed and said I was crazy.

Clark Gable: I was pleased with the choice of Miss Vivien Leigh as Scarlett. She made Scarlett so vividly lifelike that it made my playing of Rhett much simpler than I had expected... She was Scarlett every minute and I am greatly indebted to her for her contributions to my performance.

Joan Bennett: If Vivien Leigh hadn't come to America to see Larry Olivier, I may have gotten the part in "Gone with the Wind." It was down to Paulette Goddard and me.

David Selznick: I took one look and knew that she was right. (1938, before "Gone with the wind")

George Cukor: (about Scarlett O'Hara role) I saw her in "A Yank at Oxford" and she seems to be a little static, not quite sufficiently fiery for the role.

Margaret Mitchell: She is my Scarlett. (1939)

Suzan Hayward: She should have been Scarlett!

Photos: Visit the Photo gallery

* The autobiography of the greatest actor of our times.
LAURENCE OLIVIER
CONFESSIONS OF AN ACTOR
Copyright Wheelshare Ltd, 1982

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