Gone With the Wind

Rating: 3/5

Adjusting for inflation, Gone With the Wind is still the highest box office grossing film. Though by today's standards, there are many, many reasons to criticize this almost four hour long epic, if you try to put yourself into the mindset of an audience member in the year 1939, you can clearly see why this film was such a success.

Gone With the Wind boasts an all star cast, a sweeping romance, and a very big budget. Though I don't claim to be an expert on the subject of classic film, I have seen more than my fair share of movies from this time, and with this Best Picture Winning Oscar Project, have watched many more of the supposedly "critically acclaimed" films from the classic movie era. Prior to this, to my knowledge, there hadn't been a long epic movie of this kind, and as an added draw, all 233 minutes are in vibrant, silhouetted sunset color. To watch the movie in its entirety, it's not hard to see why it won so many awards, why it made so much money, and why it has carved itself a hefty space in the cinema history archives.

With all that being said, Gone With the Wind is obviously problematic for its grossly inaccurate and offensive portrayal of life in the South and its viewpoint on race. The problems are so crystal clear, that if someone watches this movie in present day and can't figure out why it has glaring historical and representational problems, then perhaps there's more issues to address other than their lack of film analysis skills.

From a cinematic and technical standpoint, is Gone With the Wind an impressively made film? Yes. I'd be kidding myself if I stated otherwise. Did I watch this movie and find myself cringing with irritation and anger numerous times during its seemingly endless duration? Absolutely. Gone With the Wind has definitely not aged well, but from a 1939 perspective, its Academy Awards domination makes sense. From my own personal ratings standpoint, I couldn't bring myself to give it any higher than three stars, and that rating is really only that high because visually, it has some pretty beautiful shots in it, though I do think the whole sunset motif overstays its welcome a bit.

1940 Best Picture Winner-Gone With the Wind

1940 Best Actress in Leading Role Winner- Vivien Leigh

1940 Best Actress in a Supporting Role Winner-Hattie McDaniel

1940 Best Director Winner-Victor Fleming

1940 Best Writing, Screenplay Winner-Sidney Howard

1940 Best Cinematography, Color Winner- Ernest Haller and Ray Rennahan

1940 Best Art Direction Winner-Lyle R. Wheeler

1940 Best Film Editing Winner-Hal C. Kern and James E. Newcom